Ignacio URIARTE
12.13, 2014 – 2.15, 2015
Caochangdi
WHITE SPACE BEIJING is pleased to present its first exhibition with Ignacio Uriarte, opening on Dec.13th, showcasing his latest works include drawings, installations and videos.
The modern urban work environment and the rhythm of daily repetitive routine is not only a creative source for Ignacio Uriarte, but also the subject of his long-term studies and methodology of his artistic practice-he takes everyday office objects and repetitive routine to which we are all accustomed and
transforms them into works of art. These works can consist of folded A4 paper, an Excel sequence, marks from a monochrome ballpoint pen, the scribbles jotted down from phone conversations, or even the sound of typing… According to the artist himself, these transformed behaviors are not complex to begin with and actually have a strong minimalistic characteristic to them. However, this process of transformation involves several complex issues which conceptual art has long grappled with, such as dematerialization, the boundaries of daily life and art, and the artist's self-identity. This perennial creative focus on the same motifs, which is closely linked with Ignacio Uriarte's early experience doing administrative office work at large corporations. At the same time, the artist using a strictly logical approach, takes the tiny details, messy elements, and repetitive processes of the working environment to create a foundation, which can connect to the individual's profound spiritual experiences. In other words, Uriarte's works highlight how aesthetic tension is precisely reflected within dully mechanical and mathematical structures and the venting of obsessive-compulsive tendencies. By ambushing the audience with this style of repetitive behavior, his works impart a sense of neurosis and inner conflict. This kind of experience, in the context of daily life's numb drudgery and art's elusiveness, opens up a pathway where the theme of "time" is at once the most easily perceived and the most obscure.
Ignacio Urarte was born in 1972 in Krefeld, Germany and raised there. From 1992 to 1995 he studied Business Administration in Madrid and Manheim and worked since then for corporations such as Siemens, Canon, Interlub and Agilent Technologies in Germany, Spain and Mexico. Parallel to his administrative work, he studied Audiovisuals in Guadalajara, México from 1992 to 2001 and quit his last serious full-time job in 2003, dedicating himself since then to what he calls 'office art'. Since 2007 he lives and works in Berlin. Recent exhibitions includes: Acht Stunden zählen, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany. Unos Ceros, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo,Spain; Binaries, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, USA;Line of Work, The Drawing Center, New York City, USA.
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