{"id":279628,"date":"2025-10-05T13:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T13:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/279628\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T13:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T13:57:11","slug":"at-sdma-exploring-the-work-of-sculpting-giant-eduardo-chillida-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/279628\/","title":{"rendered":"At SDMA, exploring the work of sculpting giant Eduardo Chillida \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Curator\u2019s Words<\/strong> is an occasional series that takes a critical look at current exhibitions through the eyes of curators.<\/p>\n

To say that the new Eduardo Chillida exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art is \u201cmonumental\u201d would hardly be an exaggeration. It is, after all, the biggest assemblage of the Spanish sculptor\u2019s work in North America in nearly half a century.<\/p>\n

SDMA\u2019S Associate Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, Rachel Jans, talks about the Balboa Park museum\u2019s newest exhibit, \u201cEduardo Chillida: Convergence,\u201d which is on view until February.<\/p>\n

Q: This is the most comprehensive look at Eduardo Chillida\u2019s work in North America in nearly 50 years. What makes him one of the most important sculptors of our time?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) is a sculptor whose work invites you to experience space, material and nature in entirely new ways. Inspired by the land and traditions of his native Basque Country, he created works in iron, wood, stone and other materials, responding to light, wind, sound and nature\u2019s invisible forces. With this exhibition, we\u2019re reintroducing Chillida to U.S. audiences \u2014 he is one of the most celebrated artists in Europe and Latin America \u2014 showing how his work joins material, nature and his lifelong explorations of philosophy, music and architecture. I find it extraordinary how his simple, elegant forms \u2014 created with a single material \u2014 open to the mysteries and wonders of the world around us.<\/p>\n

Q: How did this exhibition end up in San Diego?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> I was thrilled to organize and share this exhibition with our audiences as part of the global centenary celebration of Eduardo Chillida\u2019s birth. With a long tradition of showcasing innovative sculpture, SDMA is the perfect place to reintroduce Chillida to the U.S. public and let visitors experience his remarkable vision for themselves. Working closely with Chillida Leku, the artist\u2019s museum in San Sebasti\u00e1n, Spain, we\u2019ve shaped an exhibition that celebrates his extraordinary works of art and explores how his work unites material, nature and human creativity. It\u2019s a rare chance to engage with an artist whose sculptures inspire reflection, respect and wonder \u2014 a truly special moment for our museum and our community.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The \u201cEduardo Chillida: Convergence\u201d exhibit at San Diego Museum of Art is on display through Feb. 8, 2026. (Michael James Rocha \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

Q: How many pieces are part of this groundbreaking exhibition, and where did the pieces travel from before reaching San Diego?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> The exhibition brings together over 85 works, ranging from intimate collages and drawings to monumental constructions. We are lucky to have key sculptures created in the 1950s and \u201960s from U.S. museums \u2014 including loans from the Hirshhorn (in Washington, D.C.), the Guggenheim in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, many rarely seen \u2014 alongside major works from private collections and Chillida Leku.<\/p>\n

A major highlight is the reunion of two monumental sculptures from his \u201cRough Chant\u201d series, each over 3,000 pounds of delicately balanced salvaged Basque oak and not exhibited together since 1967. During his life, Chillida was disheartened that these wood sculptures were so rarely seen, and I am delighted we were able to bring them together. As you can imagine, transporting and installing them was a major undertaking, requiring an immense amount of planning and precision.<\/p>\n

The exhibition also features a virtual-reality experience of Chillida\u2019s iconic \u201cComb of the Wind XV\u201d (1976), letting visitors experience his iconic site-specific sculpture in San Sebastian, and to experience the wind, the waves and even the scent of the sea \u2014 a reminder of how his work lives in dialogue with place, space and nature.<\/p>\n

Q: What do you hope the audience will take away from this exhibit?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> I hope visitors leave with a real sense of how Chillida\u2019s deep sensitivity to his materials brought each sculpture to life. He worked with iron, wood, alabaster and clay with such respect and curiosity, revealing the weight, texture, sound and even the silence within them. His work encourages us to slow down and notice the beauty and dignity that come from such respect \u2014 for nature, for tradition and for place. Chillida approached the world with wonder, and I hope his work inspires that same feeling in everyone who experiences it.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>The \u201cEduardo Chillida: Convergence\u201d exhibit at San Diego Museum of Art is on display through Feb. 8, 2026. (Michael James Rocha \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)
\nSan Diego Museum of Art presents \u201cEduardo Chillida: Convergence\u201d<\/p>\n

When:<\/strong> Through Feb. 8, 2026<\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong> San Diego Museum of Art,\u00a0 1450 El Prado, San Diego<\/p>\n

Tickets:<\/strong> $25, general admission; $15 for seniors 65 and over; free for youth under 17. Virtual-reality experience an additional $5.<\/p>\n

Phone:<\/strong> 619-232-7931<\/p>\n

Online:<\/strong> sdmart.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the Curator\u2019s Words is an occasional series that takes a critical look at current exhibitions through the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":279629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,8159,1582,276,171,1370,3549,3550,7264,1072,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,5548],"class_list":{"0":"post-279628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-balboa-park","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-latest-headlines","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-things-to-do","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa","24":"tag-visual-arts"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115321913026251191","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}