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EXHIBITION:
AITOR ORTIZ
GAUDÍ
Intimate Impressions
15.11.2019 - 16.02.2020
Curator: Javier González de Durana
A set of 120 images of various buildings designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (Reus, 1852 - Barcelona, 1926) are on show in the exhibition entitled Intimate Impressions of the photographer Aitor Ortiz; the buildings include Casa Milá, Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló, Parc Güell, Torre Bellesguard, Palau Güell, Casa Vicens, Casa Calvet, the Güell pavilions, the crypt of the Güell Colony and the mock-up workshop of the Sagrada Familia. Although the visitor is able to recognise the specific building of which this or that photo was taken, Aitor Ortiz does not try to facilitate this recognition nor does he try to impede it. As a specialist in photographing today’s complex, large-scale architectural structures, this is his first incursion into the field of a historical architect who possessed a unique, mighty visual power. Out of respect and admiration, the photographer establishes a delicate, intimate conversation with the architect in which each one speaks to the visitor.
In this project on Antoni Gaudí’s architecture it might seem that Aitor Ortiz has turned his gaze towards a designer who worked wonders with architectural space while masterly using a creative exuberance dedicated to the design of details; these two reasons prompted him to devote his attention to an architecture that was so different from any that had previously absorbed his attention.
Nevertheless, when photographing Gaudí’s architectural work, Aitor Ortiz does not renounce who he has been and who he is; the reason is that in the Catalan architect he has managed to find a Gaudí parallel to the beholder and one who amazes us with his shapes and colours, another Gaudí who is not less than the previous one, who also exists, although he has not been observed thoroughly, a more subtle, delicate Gaudí, a barely imperceptible, almost secret Gaudí, a Gaudí who passes unnoticed between the weird creations of his undulating imagination.
Aitor Ortiz's camera functions like a revealing eye of that which, while remaining in full view, remains invisible to an awestruck gaze, exhausted by a story brimming with narrative wealth. But there is another story in Gaudí: it is the one that this unique photographer with a solid personality has seen.
When one stands before buildings such as Casa Milá, Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló or Torre Bellesguard, is it possible not to end up with visual repetition, with the iconic stereotype tackled a thousand times over by image professionals, the mass media, or tourists? The photographic overfeeding surrounding the work of the Catalan architect, with the sequelae of visual noise and iconic saturation, compels us to desire and seek —in the mystery of the ultimate silence, in the dissolution that allows our consciousness to remember and understand it—
THE ARTIST:
 AITOR ORTIZ (Bilbao, 1971)
He has worked on architectural photography since 1995, transcending the simple document. Exploiting the factor of dissolution and transformation of the real that is associated with photographic representation, Aitor Ortiz works with space, architecture and the object as starting points to present us with a series of visual and cognitive unknowns.
His work has been displayed in individual exhibitions at the University of Navarra museum (Pamplona, 2018), at Le Centquatre (Paris, 2015), at the Canal de Isabel II (Madrid, 2013) and at FOTOGRAFISKA, the Swedish Museum of Photography (Stockholm, 2011). His work forms part of the Reina Sofía National Museum Art Centre collection, the Masaveu collection, the Guggenheim Bilbao museum and the La Caixa foundation contemporary art collection
ACTIVITIES:
Free guided visits
Every Sunday
At 6:30 in Basque and at 7:30 in Spanish.
Family Workshops
Family Workshops for accompanied participants aged 5-11
Every Saturday from 5:00 to 6:30 hours.
Price: €3
For further information and to book activities, you can call us on 943 25 19 37 or email
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Programmes for groups:
Guided visits
60 min
Price: €60
Guided visit-workshops
90 min
Price: €80
Programmes tailored to groups with special needs
For further information and to book activities, you can call us on 943 25 19 39 or email us at
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RELATED ACTIVITIES:
Presentation of the publication GAUDÍ. Intimate Impressions
November 21th at 7.00pm, Balerdi room -Tabakalera, 4th floor
Discussion between the photographer Aitor Ortiz and the designer Santos Bregaña
Free entrance until full
Guided tour with the artist and the curator
December 19th at 7.00pm - Completed!
Visit to the exhibition guided by Aitor Ortiz and the curator Javier González de Durana
Advance registration at the venue, by telephoning 943251937 or by emailing
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Christmas family workshops
December 26th & 27th and 2nd & 3rd January from 5.00 to 7.00pm
Price: €3
Advance registration at the venue, by telephoning 943251937 or by emailing
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Talk by Iñaki Bergera
17th January at 7.00p
Arquitectura y fotografía: habitar con la mirada (Architecture and photography: inhabiting with the eyes)
Free entrance until full
Music in the gallery
On three Saturdays, 18th and 25th January and 1st February
Fom 6.30 to 8.00pm,.
Students from Musikene will perform pieces by Frederic Mompou in the gallery itself to accompany the exhibition.
Free entrance until full
Concert Mompou and his contemporaries
6th february, 7 p.m.
Concert by Musikene students
Kutxa Kultur Kluba - Tabakalera , 1st floor
Free entrance until full
©Aitor Ortiz
CATALOGUE:
AITOR ORTIZ
GAUDÍ
Intimate Impressions
Price: 120€ (VAT included)
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