On its 25th anniversary, it showcases a hundred jewels from its collection, full of masterpieces of modern and contemporary art
Twenty-five years ago, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao opened its doors and on its anniversary, it shows off its prodigious brawn of genius and titanium and looks to the future with confidence. Frank Gehry’s building, which launched the city that launched it and changed the history of art, celebrates the silver anniversary of its dynamic institution with a historic exhibition: ‘Sections/Intersections’. It occupies three floors and displays more than a hundred pieces from his beautiful collections. A hoard of only 170 pieces, signed by undisputed art geniuses since the mid-20th century and which at the last appraisal amounted to almost 900 million euros.
“It wants to pay tribute to the characteristics of the house: collection and architecture,” says Ignacio Vidarte, who has led the project for 31 years, 25 of which as director. Rothko, Baskiat, Warhol, Chillida, Oteiza, Koons, Kiefer, Baselitz, Mertz, Motherwell, Barceló, Bourgeois, Beuys, Tàpies and Doris Salcedo are just some of the artists on display. Always with essential works. “We couldn’t afford many of them today,” explains Lucía Agirre, curator of the house, highlighting the high quality and small amount of their purchases, in which they have invested some 115 million since 1995.
Two pieces stand out in the anniversary show, a recent installation by veteran Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who plays with lights and mirrors in ‘Infinity Mirrored Room’, and another from Ghana’s El Anatsui, ‘Crescent Sea’, the latest addition to the museum. It is a monumental piece measuring 8 by 14 meters, a kind of curtain that evokes the movement of the sea, made with bottle caps that it cuts to sew gigantic pieces.
Frank Gehry’s design is one of the most recognizable icons of 20th century architecture. A titan of titanium, a sinuous cathedral for the arts that has housed the greatest geniuses during these five decades. It was not only a symbol, but also the decisive engine of change for Bilbao, which turned from a gray industrial city into a colorful city with a future that has received more than 25 million tourists.
“Thirty years ago there was a lot of skepticism, but the Guggenheim is a paradigmatic example of how culture is an element of positive transformation,” Vidarte boasted. “It’s not a franchise model. There are others for that,” he said to differentiate him from his brothers in New York or Venice, and from the one about to be born in Abu Dhabi.
The enviable ‘Guggenheim effect’ restored Bilbao, which left behind the severe industrial crisis of the 1980s, placed itself among the world’s major cultural and art cities and today is a magnet for tourists and art lovers.
It was inaugurated on October 18, 1987 and opened its doors to the public at 11 a.m. the next day. Its construction cost 132 million euros. Many predicted the worst, but it is estimated that in the first year of the operation alone, the effect on Basque gross domestic product exceeded 144 million. During this quarter of a century, it is estimated that the contribution to GDP has been nearly 6,000 million euros, contributing 900 million euros in tax revenues and preserving some 5,500 jobs a year. The direct expenditure in the Basque Country in connection with the museum amounts to 6,516 million euros.
Of the 24,000 square meters of space, just under 10,000 are devoted to the exhibition. In these twenty-five years, it has presented 215 exhibitions showing some 18,000 works. Of all, ‘Motorcycles’ was the most successful. The Art of the Motorcycle’, with 870,000 attendees. It is followed by ‘Shadows’, by Andy Warhol, with 820,000, and the recently closed ‘Motion’, about cars, art and architecture, which has been viewed 751,000 times
The museum receives an average of one million visitors a year, while initial estimates were no higher than half a million. In these twenty-five years, a total of 24.7 million people have visited the rooms, more than 60% are foreigners. The most frequent visitors are the French, 17%. 15% are Basque and 24% come from other autonomous communities.
Two animals are the great symbols, ‘Puppy’, Jeff Koons’ gigantic flowered dog, and the no less gigantic ‘Mama’, Louise Bourgeois’ spider, both icons on the north and south flanks of the titanium ship Gehry floated over. the mouth of Bilbao.
Also Frank Gehry, (Canada, 1921), presents his graceful 93 years in celebration, he became a world-renowned genius completing this eaves assignment. “In the Guggenheim in Bilbao, art and architecture are one,” said the doyenne of American art critic Ada Louise Huxtable.
Gehry’s magical building unashamedly resembles its older brother, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who completed it in 1959 to display tycoon Solomon R. Guggenheim’s collection on New York’s Fifth Avenue. It will soon be measured against the emporium’s fourth museum to open in Abu Dhabi. Gehry has been working on it since the beginning of the last decade with the goal of building a building bigger than the one in Bilbao. It will be located on Saadiyat Island and the work is expected to be completed in 2025. The Bilbao museum will also be expanded in the Basque Country, in the Urdaibai nature reserve, for which the first steps have already been taken.
After Gehry, there was an explosion of buildings designed by great architects in modernized Bilbao, in which projects by Rafael Moneo, Álvaro Siza, Santiago Calatrava or César Pelli were realized.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
