Víctor Goikoetxea provides proof of the plurality of artistic expression
Víctor Goikoetxea provides proof of the plurality of artistic expression
The ability to tackle multiple projects simultaneously –both on a creative and executional level– and having the skill required to be able to undertake them in various techniques and disciplines are the main keys to understanding the unstoppable career of the artist Víctor Goikoetxea. National and international institutions, companies, and individuals all contact him not only to buy works of art but also for advice and the creation of ad hoc pieces.
In 2019, the Jávea City Council commissioned him to make a sculpture to honor David Ferrer, a native of the town. Víctor’s proposal was to create a life-sized figure of the tennis player, racket in hand, made from thousands of washers welded together. The piece was installed at the end of that year on the Paseo del Arenal (Arenal Promenade), which bears the name of the athlete.
Completely changing his discipline, in 2020 Goikoetxea was commissioned to restore the landscape paintings of a century-old mansion in Olot. To update these panoramic drawings that had been damaged by the passage of time and which covered the walls of the main hall of this stately house, Goikoetxea used an ancient rabbit-skin-glue tempera technique that few contemporary artists are familiar with.
Also last year, the Basque Nationalist Party asked him for a large-scale piece to pay tribute to the town of Hernani. His proposal was a 6.5 x 3.8 meter mural in a mixed technique in which Hernani’s landmarks and customs are highlighted atop a topographic map of the town. All this topped off by two thermoformed pieces painted in white, green, and vermilion – the colors of the Ikurrina, flag of the Basque Country.
Thermoforming has greatly popularized Víctor’s work, who sometimes uses this technique partially, as a fragment of a larger composition, or as the main element of a piece. This latter case is true for a piece measuring 35 m2 that he has just created for a luxury hotel in Denia. This sculpture-painting, made up of several golden plates that he shaped using a blowtorch, has been installed on the ceiling of the establishment’s main hall.
In addition to the pieces mentioned above, the artist is currently working on several pieces of great importance. He has just designed, together with the architect Xabier Barrutieta, a 9-meter-high stainless steel sculpture that represents the Real Sociedad de Fútbol’s shield in 3D. This piece will be installed in front of the Reale Arena Stadium in San Sebastián. Another piece commissioned by an institution –in this case, an international one– came from Meinier, in the Swiss Canton of Geneva, where he is planning an architectural/pictorial project with a significant conceptual weight for the great assembly hall of the commune.
Likewise, he is about to begin the creation of an open-air museum in Benitachell, with the aim of recovering the historical memory of Les pesqueres del cingle. There is a traditional way of fishing on the Valencian coast consisting of fishing atop handcrafted wooden structures that hang from the steep cliffs. In remembrance of that dangerous fishing technique, which is no longer used, and of the men and women who employed said technique, Goikoetxea will cover two facades measuring 300 m2 with their faces and with a figurative painting that shows how they went about their task.
The urban project on which he is working to reactivate the Port of Getaria is also outdoors: the idea is to cover the deteriorated buildings with a mosaic created from square thermoformed pieces. He plans to work on the façade of the old factory where the nets were dyed, and under the vault of the adjacent tunnel. In the case of the factory, the mosaic will feature russet and reddish colors –emulating the fishing nets–, while the tunnel will be covered with the blue hues of the sea.
Víctor Goikoetxea has more than demonstrated his skills in classical disciplines and his creativity experimenting with novel materials. His pieces, which combine art with design and architecture, are the best way to get to know him and also act as true proof of the plurality of his artistic expression.
Víctor Goikoetxea
Tel.: +34 688 620 554
