Mikel Lertxundi

Mikel Lertxundi - UNTITLED

Artist Biography: Berriatua, Euskal Herria, 1951. His is a very unique sculptural language; Whether on materials, on paper, or on other supports, it is a clear and direct language, which speaks but, above all, lets the materials and elements themselves speak, from their being and being. Lertxundi's sculptural work, easily recognizable by its suggestive assemblage of materials stone, wood and iron to which he occasionally adds the spatial elements of water, air and fire, presents a discourse that goes beyond mere materials, forms and spatial conditioning. The essence of his plastic research lies in generating the correct interaction between the concepts and participating elements that he recognizes are part of a broader whole where each material assumes the game of assimilation and, in turn, of difference and individuality. Key concepts such as complementarity and the need for communicative interrelation provide the coordinate guidelines in the same living space, which seeks harmony and balance. Theirs is a very early option that has been in line since childhood. Lertxundi does not know which of the two he discovered first, Art or Nature; What's more, he doesn't know if it was he who chose them or if they chose him. His thing has always been and is a constant observation and dialogue with Nature, to whom he knows he belongs and in whom he recognizes the teacher and guide of his journey. But Lertxundi also belongs to that generation that in a short space of time has witnessed the greatest changes in values in society; to the one that has gone from seeing a humanity that respects and venerates Nature and of which it feels a part, to seeing a humanity that believes itself to be unique and supreme and that acts with excessive arrogance and interest. Perhaps for this reason, a work and author with the principles consolidated in the journey of different continents and contemplating the landscape of life from the balcony of maturity sees that all the road traveled leads him to be a bridge: a bridge of connection and reunion of man with Nature. And perhaps that is why the works that "come out" are born as metaphors that induce a return to Nature. "I found my voice when I discovered stone, wood and iron. I fine-tuned my tone when I got to simplicity. I have tried to reveal the beauty of nature through the materials closest to it. I have let the materials speak of themselves, of their entity as autonomous bodies and of their contribution to the whole that is nature. I wanted them to express themselves in a direct way and to transmit themselves. I have penetrated into the depths of his being to observe, analyze, look for textures, behaviors, nuances, contrasts. And they have led me to know our own nature."