hurrengoa
the search: THE OTEIZA MUSEUM    Oteiza is the John Ford of Basque culture. (Judas Arrieta)
The Oteiza Museum is in the village of Altzuza, 9 km from Pamplona. This is the space that Oteiza chose to live and work in. The museum juts out of the ground like a solid red rock pointing skywards as if it had been pushed up by the clashing of tectonic plates. The building was designed by architect Francisco Javier Saenz de Oiza. He was a friend and colaborator to Oteiza and he was more aware than anybody that the museum to be built should be more a reflection on the character of the artist rather than a sheel to house his work. If we bear this is mind, we soon realise that every corner and edge was built with that purpose in mind. The fact that Oteiza’s house is incorporated into the museum bears witness to this.

When we see Oteiza define as the John Ford of Basque culture, it’s not an aesthetic analogy that springs to mind easily. Oteiza, like Ford, tries to get to the root of things, to the heart of the matter. What Plato called basic passion. The fount of Oteiza’s very personal limitless energy is a result of that evolution. That’s actually one of the figures characteristic of his work. What was important to Oteiza was the process and what was learned from the process. His chalk drawings, dozens of sketches and pieces of work bear witness to that. A piece of finished work was the end result, nothing more. It wasn’t an objective in itself, it was the result of a process.

“Art changes nothing, it doesn’t change the world, it doesn’t change reality. What the artist really changes, as long as he changes and develops his language, is the artist’s own head. And it’s that man, fired by art, who has the ability to change reality from his or her own life. The artist develops their language individually, but with social objectives in mind.”

In that spirit, the Oteiza Museum is not an objective in itself. It’s not just a showroom for his work. The museum is a result of Oteiza’s work. A space created by the artist’s language and evolution open to society.

Just like in the legendary The Searchers; the lone cowboy steps out of the shade of the house and stands gazing at the empty scenery before him as he repeats to himself: “I will search for her and find her... I will search for her and find her...

paper laboratory
from december 14th to the 25th of march

In this new exposition organised by the Oteiza Museum, the projects that Oteiza worked alone upon and which have never been seen before are on view. This is an interesting wide gathering of drawings and sketches that throws light on process in Oteiza’s work. Otoieza used drawings throughout his whole career. Most of them are hastily done sketches, the instant results of inspiration and creation and thanks to them we can try and piece together the artist’s aesthetic thoughts.