Agustin Ibarrola

AGUSTÍN IBARROLA (Bilbao, Vizcaya, 1930-2023).
Untitled.
Oil on paper.
Signed in the lower central margin.
Measurements: 14 x 24 cm; 26 x 37 cm (frame).

Painter and sculptor key to understanding the development of avant-garde art in Spain during the second half of the 20th century, Agustín Ibarrola was born in Bilbao, and soon began his training at the School of Arts and Crafts in his hometown. In 1948, when he was only eighteen years old, he held his first individual exhibition in the Biscayan capital, the success of which led him to move to Madrid. There he continued his training in the workshop of Daniel Vázquez Díaz, and began to develop his own style based on the combination of the avant-garde with the Basque pictorial tradition. In 1950, when he was twenty years old, he met Jorge Oteiza, an artist who brought him closer to constructivism and had a key influence on his work. In 1956 he moved to Paris, where he produced several works and founded Equipo 57 together with José and Ángel Duarte and José Serrano. With this artistic group he will develop an important research work that will be formally embodied in a language of geometric abstraction, and theoretically in a series of manifestos and articles on art theory and the role of the artist in society. He returned to Bilbao in 1961, and in those years he met José Ortega, from whose hand he learned the techniques of engraving and joined the Estampa Popular movement. Ibarrola will be the creator of the Estampa Popular de Vizcaya. In 1962, however, he was arrested for his membership in the Communist Party and sentenced to nine years in prison. In prison, Ibarrola continued to paint and draw, although he was not allowed to sign his works or exhibit them. However, in 1963 Appel by Amnisty will organize a traveling exhibition of these "illegal" works in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany and Italy. Two years later, in 1965, Ibarrola was released from prison. He then embarked, together with other contemporary Basque artists, on the creation of the artistic groups Basque School, Gaur, Emen, Orain and Danok. However, in 1967 he was imprisoned again, and was not released until two years later. Back on the street, the artist took part in important contemporary art events such as the Pamplona Art Meetings in 1972 and the Venice Biennale in 1976. In the early eighties he was appointed professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of the Basque Country, although five years later he was dismissed, theoretically because he lacked a degree. From then on, Ibarrola withdraws to his farmhouse in Kortezuki to focus on one of his best known works, the "Bosque de Oma" (1986-91). At the same time, Ibarrola continues with his line of experimentation and creates large format works using materials as diverse as railroad sleepers or concrete. In recent years he has been recognized with the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts, which he received in 1993 along with the other members of Equipo 57, the Medal for Merit and Recognition of Work (2001) and the Medal for Constitutional Order and Merit (2003). Works by Agustín Ibarrola are currently preserved in important collections such as that of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, among many others.