Zurt

Eduardo Chillida was a Spanish Basque sculptor who achieved international acclaim. Best known for his iron sculptures, Chillida worked with many different materials, including marble, granite, alabaster, and wood. He had a deep connection to these materials and the way he could manipulate them in space. Indeed, he took a hands-on approach with his blacksmith team. At times, Chillida himself coated metal sculptures with an alloy to produce rust as they oxidized. 

Chillida also worked across graphic media, creating etchings, lithographs, and woodcuts. His interest in space, architecture, and form is evident in these prints, too. There is a weighty quality to Chillida’s works on paper, as if he is carving out sculpture even on two-dimensional surfaces. In Zurt, the upper third of the sheet is the only part of the composition with etched lines. The lower two-thirds are a blank expanse, meeting the etching’s horizon line with stark, curvilinear forms jutting out against the chaotic ink sky.