Asier Mendizabal
8 December 2011 to 12 February 2012
Raven Row presents the work of Asier Mendizabal (born Ordizia, Basque Country, 1973), in his largest exhibition outside Spain to date.
Mendizabal researches the symbols through which cultures are represented. He is especially interested in oppositional and sub-cultures, which are often defined by their adherence to such symbols. Mendizabal unpicks and re-imagines these, questioning the relation of cultural identity to cultural representation, and generating new forms of abstraction.
Mendizabal works with a variety of media, and this exhibition includes photography, graphics and photomontages, but its strongest register is with abstract sculpture. In a text written to provide a context for the exhibition, Mendizabal has translated a letter by Basque artist Jorge Oteiza, addressed (but never sent) to the jury of a competition organised in 1952 by the ICA in London, to select a monument to The Unknown Political Prisoner. He reconsiders Oteiza's argument for a radical abstraction to represent the political in art.
Mendizabal's solo exhibitions include: Asier Mendizabal, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2011; Asier Mendizabal - and/or Culturgest, Lisbon, 2010; and Asier Mendizabal, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2008. His work was recently included in the Venice Biennale, 2011, and To the Arts, Citizens!, Museu Serralves, Porto, Portugal, 2010. He is represented by Carreras Múgica Gallery, Bilbao, Gallery ProjecteSD, Barcelona, and Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London. He lives and works in Bilbao.
Events
Hard Edge #5, 2010
Hard Edge #6, 2010
MDF
Courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
La Ruota Dentata [The Cogwheel], 2009
Iron and concrete
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Figures and Preï¬gurations (Divers, B. Munari, 1936), 2009
Cut-out from offset print
Collection of Fernando Gutierrez, London
Figures and Preï¬gurations (Divers, N. Lekuona, 1935, #3), 2009
Cut-out from offset print
Private collection, London
Figures and Preï¬gurations (Divers, K.Teige, 1941), 2009
Cut-out from offset print
Private collection, London
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Figures and Preï¬gurations (Divers, K.Teige, 1941), 2009
Cut-out from offset print
Private collection, London
Untitled (Targu Jiu), 2010
Concrete and offset prints
Courtesy Carreras Múgica Gallery, Bilbao
The Staff that Matters (30,000), 2009
The Staff that Matters (SI), 2009
Cut-outs from offset prints
Courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
Bigger than a Cult, Smaller than a Mass (one, two backdrops), 2006
Fabric and newspapers
Collection of Patric San Juan, Bilbao
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Untitled (Targu Jiu), 2010
Concrete and offset prints
Courtesy Carreras Múgica Gallery, Bilbao
The Staff that Matters (30,000), 2009
The Staff that Matters (SI), 2009
Cut-outs from offset prints
Courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
5 Cents Solution, 2011
10 Cents Solution, 2011
20 Cents Solution, 2011
1 Euro Solution, 2011
2 Euros Solution, 2011
Polaroid photographs
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Otxarkoaga (M–L), 2007
Black and white photograph, iron frame
Collection of Esther and Alberto Ferreiro, Bilbao
La Ruota Dentata [The Cogwheel], 2009
Iron and concrete
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Auñamendi, 2006–10
36 framed photographic prints
Private collection, Spain
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Untitled (Memorial), 2009
Concrete
Collection of Teresa Fernandez, Bilbao
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Untitled (Memorial), 2009
Concrete
Collection of Teresa Fernandez, Bilbao
Untitled (Pikete) [Picket], 2010
Pigment print on cotton paper
Collection of Alex Gifreu, Figueres
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Delimitar #6 [Delimit], 2009
Engraving on gravoply mounted on birch plywood
Courtesy Gallery ProjecteSD, Barcelona
Know Your Rights, 2009
Plasterboard and aluminium
Courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Base (Prizemljeno) #1 [Grounded], 2011
Base (Prizemljeno) #2 [Grounded], 2011
Base (Prizemljeno) #3 [Grounded], 201
pvc tubes and concrete
Untitled, 2003
Colour photograph
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Reformzirkus, 2008
Stainless steel, chipboard, fabric,
black and white photograph behind acetate
Courtesy Carreras Múgica Gallery, Bilbao
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Delimitar #3 [Delimit], 2009
Delimitar #1 [Delimit], 2009
Engravings on gravoply mounted on birch plywood
Courtesy Gallery ProjecteSD, Barcelona
A Letter Arrives at its Destination, 2011
Offset prints
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Le Trou #2 [The Hole], 2009
Tiles and styrofoam
Courtesy Gallery ProjecteSD, Barcelona
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith
Figures and Preï¬gurations (Divers, P. Galadzhev, 1920, #1), 2010
Cut-out from offset print
Collection of Carlos Vallejo, Santander
Le Trou #2 [The Hole], 2009
Tiles and styrofoam
Courtesy Gallery ProjecteSD, Barcelona
Photograph by Marcus J. Leith