While keeping an eye on new gallery openings, like at Carreras Mugica, it is possible to find at least three shows worth our interest at Guggenheim and Bellas Artes Museum, namely: Henri Michaux, Goya & the Court, and Art & Space. Since those exhibitions need no introduction, let us move on to the events that might be smaller in size but not in meaning or relevance.
I.
EXHIBITION: By all means
ARTIST: Itziar Barrio
VENUE: Azkuna Zentroa
DATES: Until May 6th, 2018
Azkuna community centre is quite a place in itself, where all sorts of events juxtapose quite shamelessly. The swimming pool hangs over people walking into the indoors public plaza, some are going to the gym, others to the library and various hang out with no true destination. A visit to Itziar Barrio’s exhibition can happen almost as a side effect or randomly. Her work is presented as fresh, not scared of using different media, with a range of themes that aim to engage with the thoughts, fears, desires of all sorts of people, from professional power relations, to symbols, sex or even theft. For this reason, it not only works in itself, but within the space and the building where it is held.
Video installation at Itziar Barrio exhibition
II.
EXHIBITION: Papers
ARTIST: Joaquín Ureña
VENUE: Galería Lumbreras
DATES: Until March 16th, 2018
"I tell the story of my life through inhabited spaces, through books; I am the first viewer"
"My use of colour is intentional, very often colours are more a wish than a reality"
Joaquín Ureña
It is easy to label Ureña as hyperrealist. If we venture deeper into his art, we will find a world of nuances and slightly altered realities on canvases that surround us and event attempt to swallow us, like a powerful narrative, like our favourite book.
Dos botellas II, 2015 © Joaquín Ureña
III.
EXHIBITION: Without Going Further
ARTIST: Iñaki Oñate
VENUE: COAVN Vizcaya
DATES: Until March 28th, 2018
Quite bravely, Oñate sets out to show Bilbao’s architecture through photography, and the venue is precisely the Architects Association Headquarters. Everything could go wrong, but the result is a tasteful round trip through the city, without leaving the two floors of the exhibition space, located right across from the Guggenheim museum.
© Iñaki Oñate
Take a tour in Bilbao to discover more!
Header image credit: By all means, Itziar Barrio Exhibition Image © Azkuna Zentroa