Background
Jorge Oteiza was born on October 21, 1908 in Orio, Spain.
(Oteiza's Selected Writings presents portions of this theo...)
Oteiza's Selected Writings presents portions of this theoretical work to the English-speaking world. His radical voice restores the integrity of the historical avante-garde while offering a challenging counterpoint to the neo-avante-garde movements that he anticipated.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1877802433/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(The architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza and the scul...)
The architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza and the sculptor Jorge Oteiza worked together, and the professional relationship and personal friendship between these two exceptional talents bore fruit in two magnificent works: the basilica of Arantzazu, constructed in the 1950s, and, five decades later, design and construction of the Oteiza Museum in Altzuza.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8496185311/?tag=2022091-20
2006
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8493785881/?tag=2022091-20
2013
Jorge Oteiza was born on October 21, 1908 in Orio, Spain.
During the years of studying at Sacret Heart Scool from 1914 to 1920 in San Sebastian he was interested in the Basque myths which contributed to his strong pride of his Basque heritage. In 1921 he attended Lekarotz school. In 1928 Jorge Oteiza studied at the faculty of medicine at the University of Madrid, but dropped out and transferred to the School of Arts and Crafts which he didnt finish either. In 1935 he moved to Argentina, where he began his studies at the National School of Ceramics in Buenos Aires.
At the second year of studying at the University his father migrated to Argentina with Jorge’s brother, and Jorge Oteiza saw himself obliged to take care of his mother and his five siblings. He worked as a waiter and a typesetter to pay for his studies. It was the time he created his first sculptures, influenced by Epstein and Sanchez. In 1935 he went to Latin America where he stayed for 15 years and where he got acquainted with Edagar Negret and Joaquin Roca Rey. While staying there Oteiza organized exhibitions in Buenos Aires, Lima, Sao Paulo. He gave lectures on Basque national identity and art movements, and tought at the Universities of Popayan (Columbia) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). Jorge Oteiza organized conferences on the problems of modern art in different countries of Latin America (Argentina, Columbia, Peru). In 1948 he came back to Spain where he created his main sculptures and wrote books. His sculptures gained worldwide recognition. However church banned his project of adorning Basilica de Nuestra Señora de Arantzazu for being provocative. Later this work was given to Eduardo Chillida which made them rivals. In 1958, Oteiza began working on his highly geometric, matter-free spatial signs, considered by many to be proto-Minimalist sculptures.
The most famous works of Jorge Oteiza are "Triple and Lightweight Unit" (1950), series of "The Earth and the Moon” (1951-1955), "Empty Construction (1957), "Portrait of the Holy Spirit" and "Homage to Leonardo" (1958), etc. In 1960 he published "The end of Modern Art" where he gives the reasons why he abandoned sculpture in 1959. His sculptures were still well-known however he devoted himself to architecture, writing and philosophy. He published his essays and collections of poems. Jorge Oteiza studied Basque language and defended Basque identity, he opposed Franco’s regime. In 1992 he donated all his works to the city of Navarre.
Jorge Oteiza was a highly creative person who left over 1690 sculptures and 2000 experimental pieces from the artist’s Chalk Laboratory, and an extensive collection of drawings and collages as well as essays, books and poem collections.
His work is included in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, MNCARS, Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Palma de Mallorca, Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, and MACBA, Barcelona, among many others.
(The architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza and the scul...)
2006(Oteiza's Selected Writings presents portions of this theo...)
2005Quotations: "Art consists, in all epochs and in any place, of an integrating, re-linking process between man and his reality, which always departs from a nothingness that is nothing and concludes in another Nothingness that is Everything, an Absolute, as a maximum response and spiritual solution to existence"
Architect’s Association of the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre , Spain
1996
Alberto Sánchez, Jacob Epstein, Pablo Picasso
He was married to Itziar Carreño.
