Eduardo Chillida

EDUARDO CHILLIDA JUANTEGUI (San Sebastian, 1924 - 2002).
"Topaketa".1997
Woodcut on paper, copy 70/75.
Signed and numbered in pencil.
Measurements: 28 x 22 cm.(print); 9,5 x 8,5 cm.(plate); 43 x 34 cm.(frame).

Topaketa -a Basque term meaning "encounter"- condenses in small format one of the essential ideas in Eduardo Chillida's work: the dialogue between forms that approach, confront and complement each other in space.

The composition presents two black masses facing each other, constructed by means of a dense and vibrant weave of incisions typical of woodcut. The circular voids that puncture both forms introduce breath and rhythm, establishing a balance between full and empty, matter and space. As in his sculptures in iron or steel, the tension lies not only in the form, but in the space between them.

The intimate scale of the plank contrasts with the structural power of the image. Chillida turns wood into a field of experimentation where the trace of the cut and the texture of the material reinforce the physical character of the work.

Throughout his life, Chillida received numerous awards, including the Carnegie Prize, the Rembrandt Prize, the Wolf Foundation of the Arts and the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts. He was an academician of San Fernando, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Honorary of the Royal Academy of Arts of London and of the Imperial Order of Japan.

In addition to his Chillida-Leku Museum in Hernani, he is represented in museums and collections around the world, such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the MOMA in New York, the Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Tate Gallery in London or the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.