Ignacio Uriarte

In his new exhibition Ignacio Uriarte draws attention to the more poetic aspect of his work through the exploration of different common gestures, such as the randomness of folding sheets of paper, the observation of the natural wrist movement while unintentionally using a pen, or the systematic repetition of typing a single character with a typewriter. Each of the works presented constitutes a typology – of forms, gestures, fillings / voids, lines, accidents, inclinations and shadows. The exhibition as a whole is a typology of different types of typologies.

Despite being mainly a drawing exhibition, the sculptural qualities prevail. In Wrist Drawing Decrease (2016) lines traced with a gesture of the wrist form networks of concatenated empty diamonds, which alter sequentially in scale creating an effect of vibration; in Drawing Table Drawing (2016) and Translucent Diamonds (2016), the speed at which the drawings are made translates into plays of spaciousness and luminosity; in Diagonal Amorphous Matrix (2016), the fading of the filling gives an amorphous objectivity to each of the 25 shapes. The most striking expression of the sculptural aspect is presented in Random Diamonds (2016), a large installation of folded sheets of paper, where rhomboidal sequences of light and shadow are created. A lonstanding approach in Uriarte’s practice, the interplay of forms recalls earlier works such as Double Rhombus (2011) although the difference resides in how the rhomboidal figures develop here ambivalently between rule and randomness. This distinct typology of rhomboidal possibilities also refers to another recurring theme in the works of this exhibition: emptiness.

The voids generated through the intentional absence of drawing in Negative Slashes (2016) relates to the absence of ink in the works Drawing Table Drawing and Translucent Diamonds (2016), where the speed of a dried marker informs the shape of lines in the drawing. In Eastern philosophy, emptiness lies very close to creation, and is a significant space for the construction of the individual, replicated in Western philosophy with Plato´s notion of “being of the non-being”, bringing emptiness close to nothingness. Artaud subsequently makes a parallel between emptiness and the pure reality of nature, stripped of language. Uriarte embraces this perception with regards to the reality of his works, since the spectator provides them with sense and meaning. As the artist points out: “The underlying scores want to be deciphered to encourage an experience in the viewer akin to participation in a performance, turning the works into a footprint or documentation.”

The random and unintentional gestures that underlie Uriarte’s practice are subjected to different types of systematization, classification and order, which allow the viewer to understand the work in terms of its process, analyze ranges of variation and deviation, and recreate aspects of time and pace.