Eduardo CHILLIDA

Eduardo CHILLIDA (1924 - 2002)

Eduardo Chillida is a Spanish artist known for his colossal public installations. Working mainly with iron, wood and steel, Chillida's sculptures reflect her interest in space and materiality. "The sculptures are very large and my work is a revolt against gravity," he explains. "There is a dialectic between empty and full space." Like his Spanish compatriot Antoni Tàpies, the sculptor works in the field of abstraction, uses geometric and connected forms to create oversized and physically imposing works. Born on January 10, 1924 in San Sebastián, Spain, Chillida studied architecture at the University of Madrid, then turned to art and moved to Paris in 1948. Upon his return to Spain in the 1950s, he became interested to light, landscapes and space issues. He won the International Grand Prix for sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1958 and died on August 19, 2002 in his hometown of San Sebastián, Spain at the age of 78. Its own museum, the Museo Chillida-Leku, was created in 2000 in Hermani in Spain.