Regional Renaissance: eight years after the opening of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, the art scene in the Basque Country is thriving

Art in America, Nov, 2005 by Kim Bradley

In its temporary exhibitions, the GMB has done a better job on its promise to show Basque art. Major exhibitions have included a solo show of work by Iglesias (1998), a Chillida retrospective (1999) and "The Tower Wounded by Lightning," which featured work by six up-and-coming Basque and Spanish artists (2000). (11) But by far its most important contribution to date was a long-awaited retrospective of a highly influential figure in Spanish and Basque art, the late Jorge Oteiza [see A.i.A., June '98, and article this issue]. Co-curated by Margit Rowell and the Basque artist Txomin Badiola, "Oteiza: Myth and Modernism" featured 183 works including over 100 sculptures, as well as drawings, collages, essays and poems by the constructivist sculptor and theorist, who died in 2003 at the age of 95. On view from Oct. 8, 2004 to Jan. 23, 2005, the show traveled to the Reina Sofia museum and was shown in a slightly reduced form at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. (12)

The remainder of the GMB's program has been true to the Guggenheim's well-known modus operandi: star-studded collections (Thannhauser, Panza, Blake-Purnell, Broad), splashy retrospectives of acclaimed figures (Rauschenberg, Warhol, Paik, Clemente, Gehry, Klein) and historical overviews ("China: 5,000 Years," "Paris: Capital of the Arts," "Degas to Picasso: Painters, Sculptors, and the Camera" and "The Aztec Empire"). This programming brings works that would otherwise not be seen in the Basque Country, and a recent Calder exhibition provided one of those rare, magical occasions when art and architecture existed in perfect harmony. (13)Nevertheless, local critical assessment of the GMB (particularly by artists) includes the frequent complaint, "It's so spectacular," an opinion shared by those who believe the GMB's shows are mostly glitter and flash and not sufficiently about art (exhibitions such as "The Art of the Motorcycle," which from Nov. 24, 1999, to Sept. 3, 2000, drew a record-breaking 870,776 visitors, come to mind).

A Museum Transformed

It's far from certain that the GMB's success has been at the expense of other Basque institutions, as some critics insist. One could argue, to the contrary, that the growing conviction that historical and contemporary Basque creation merits attention and support, combined with the regional expectation of benefiting from the GMB's popularity, has inspired other venues in each of the Basque Country's three provincial capitals to fill in the gaps.

During the years when all eyes were fixed on the GMB's undulating silhouette taking shape, Bilbao's Fine Arts Museum, located a few blocks away, was quietly transformed top to bottom, thanks to its dynamic young director, Miguel Zugaza. He spear-headed a $2.9-million building renovation, and considerably increased private support. Due to his efforts, the museum received a generous $7.3-million credit from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argenteria, to be used for acquisitions and paid back over a 10-year period (the museum's annual budget is now about $6.5 million). The roughly 150,000-square-foot facility, a stern, red-brick edifice dating from 1945, with a nondescript modern wing built in 1972, now boasts an additional 70,000 square feet used for a spacious new entry, temporary exhibition galleries, an auditorium, two restaurants (one on the rooftop) and a library. Two new glass facades open the building to the popular park behind it, thus integrating it into the urban fabric and lending a light and airy feeling to previously gloomy interiors.