Iñigo Manterola: an essential exhibition for understanding the soul of one of the best Basque creators
Iñigo Manterola: an essential exhibition for understanding the soul of one of the best Basque creators
After its debut in the French town of Tarbes, where it was on display in 2022, the exhibition entitled “Infancia robada” (“Stolen Childhood”) by Iñigo Manterola will be exhibited throughout this year in the artist’s studio in Zarautz. The two floors that make up this spectacular space for the creation and exhibition of artwork will display the drawings, paintings, and sculptures that make up this collection.
The name “Infancia robada” (“Stolen Childhood”) refers to a personal period of great difficulty that Manterola experienced when he lost a piece of his childhood due to having to deal with a complex family situation. Thus, the artist places childish lines atop his sea-themed work – lines that represent boats, houses, crabs, fish, and clouds. The contrast between the realism of the landscape and the innocence of the child-like drawings (made by scraping the canvas with the handle of the brush, representing the tear felt by the artist) generates mixed feelings within the viewer and, nevertheless, does not distort the discourse followed throughout.
Art critic Pedro Luis Lozano Uriz defines it like this: “With ‘Infancia robada’ (‘Stolen Childhood’), Iñigo Manterola offers us, in a very sincere and courageous way, a delicate part of his life – and he does so from a cheerful and positive approach, taking as a reference drawings and naive and concise forms that introduce us to the fanciful and fantastic universe of children’s art. With these pieces, Manterola continues on the path of his previous pieces about the sea, movement, and the continuity of the line; however, he introduces us to new nuances –both aesthetic and personal– to enrich his work as a whole in a coherent, open, and committed way.”
In order to do the lines that represent the children’s drawings, Manterola carried out a preliminary study with the students at a nursery school. After being inspired by the pictures done by dozens of children, the artist created his own designs, transferring them not only to painting, but also to sculpture. The three-dimensional pieces were created using the materials he habitually uses (steel, brass, and iron), bathing them, on some occasions, in primary colors with finishes reminiscent of children’s objects. We at BASQUE LUXURY highly recommend visiting this exhibition; the most personal of Iñigo Manterola’s career.
Iñigo Manterola
Ola Bidea, Unnumbered, Polígono Errotaberri, Zarautz.
Tel.: +34 617 332 813
