0. INTRODUCTION
Eduardo Chillida's wish to share his work led to the creation of the Chillida-Leku Museum, a special place where he could exhibit his most cherished pieces of art and convey the essence of his work. Today, this legacy is the Museum's reason for existence. It is the vehicle by which the sculptor is able to continue to share his life's work and thoughts with the public.
The policy of the Chillida-Leku Museum is based on a commitment to the coherent and scrupulous representation of the life and work of Eduardo Chillida in the particularly complex context of contemporary Basque art.
The Chillida-Leku collection comprises 391 sculptures and over 300 works on paper, including "gravitations", engravings and drawings. The collection includes all of the works from the Permanent and Temporary Exhibitions.
Throughout his lifetime, Eduardo Chillida's drive to explore new art forms led him to work with materials of all types. Inherently linked to the subject of his work, his use of materials created an extraordinary fusion of material, purely physical, and even mystical qualities.
Iron and the Basque ironworking tradition are perhaps what the public most closely associates with Eduardo Chillida's work. The Museum's collection, however, embraces the entire career of the artist, closely following his relationship with all of the materials and concepts involved in his work.
When it came to creating his artwork, the source of Eduardo Chillida's inspiration came from his homeland, the Basque Country. But other influences were also prevalent, including Greek culture, music and nature, plus a wide array of disciplines such as philosophy, literature, science or fashion. Like a tree with roots firmly planted in the Basque soil and branches that grow out toward the world, Eduardo Chillida was always been considered a universal artist.
1. PERMANENT EXHIBITION
The sculptures outside the Zabalaga farmhouse are large-scale projects. Strategically located on the green hillsides of Chillida-Leku, the steel, stone and reinforced concrete sculptures are subject to the whims of Mother Nature. These monolithic sculptures, making up the Permanent Exhibition, can be categorized into three groups:
The mighty corten steel sculptures twist and turn despite their solidness; the orange and rusty brown tones become more vivid or muted depending on the daylight. "Lotura" (Union), "Consejo al Espacio" (Advice to space), "Buscando la Luz" (Looking for Light) and "Peine del Viento" (wind's comb) are the names of these giants, some of which weigh over 50 tonnes. Their harmonious shapes somehow fit in perfectly with the natural outdoor setting.
The stone pieces are beautiful sculptures in rough or polished granite, where space has been carved out from within. The sculptures in the "Harri" (Stone) series are like jigsaw puzzles with pieces which don't actually interlock, but gently move or float with an uncanny lightness. "Lo profundo es el aire" (The Profoundness of Air) is the poetic title Eduardo Chillida chose for a series of sculptures in which the polished interior spaces allow sunlight and air to pierce the heart of the material.
Concrete is the least common material found at the Museum. The surfaces of these sculptures are scarred by the marks of the timbers used to make the moulds. However odd this material is to the world of sculpture, it allows for spaces and curves to soften the harshness of the concrete.
Throughout his life, the artist used steel, stone and concrete to express his ideas, to experiment and to ask questions. Every shape, space or movement is a way of communicating with matter, a dialogue open to interpretation and contemplation. All of these materials carry the stamp of a sculptor who shied away from straight lines and hidden spaces.
2. TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
In 2005 all of the temporary exhibits will take place in gallery 4 of the Zabalaga farmhouse. This room is set aside primarily for the artist's works on paper; "gravitations", engravings and drawings, in addition to his "Lurrak" (earth) pieces and small-scale sculpture projects. The exhibit will change every four months to give visitors an idea of Eduardo Chillida's more intimate work.
Paper is a material that was always in the hands of Eduardo Chillida. He worked with texture or tackled the matter vs. space question through black and white collages, engravings, and paper and ink drawings, all of which showed his skill as a graphic artist.
His works on paper also included his so-called "gravitations". These small gems take their name from the fact that they seem to defy gravity, suspended from delicate strings that allow space to mingle between the multi-shaped papers. Eduardo Chillida rebelled against the law of gravity and wanted to make his creations levitate, adding the mystical sense suggested by the word gravitation.
His "lurrak" or terracotta pieces are solid, carefully crafted sculptures with a primitive look to them. The mixture of different kinds of earth together with the baking process result in surprising sculptures. It is precisely the diversity of the material in its many variations that produces terracottas in black, red and white tones, plus the so-called "óxidos", sculptures painted with black copper oxide in the simple yet forceful style that so characterizes Eduardo Chillida's work.
In the farmhouse visitors will also find sculptures in plaster, felt or translucent materials such as alabaster. Alabaster, a material that captures and gives off light, rendering Chillida's sculptures almost spiritual. Polished or blanched, veined or grey, the material is capable of expressing the character of the Bay of Biscay or the solemnity of a space opened up in the interior of a mountain.
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