Jose Ramón Anda

ARTIST

Jose Ramón Anda is one of the great names in contemporary sculpture. His work is part of the landscape of numerous municipalities in his native Navarre and in the Basque Country, inevitably creating a certain interaction between the forms of his monumental pieces and passers-by. Indifference is not an option: each of these pieces in their context –whether made of granite, bronze, weathering steel, limestone, concrete, iron, or aluminum– is something remarkable in and of itself. Starting in the 70s and continuing strong until the new century, Jose Ramón has continuously installed sculptures in public spaces. In addition, he has exhibited individually in the best exhibition halls of the region, like the Oteiza Museum, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, and the San Telmo Museum, as well as in other Spanish cities and also in Paris. His last major retrospective show took place in 2019, in the Sala Kubo at the Kursaal Convention Center in San Sebastián. He discovered his vocation at a very early age. In fact, when he was just five he was already sure that he wanted to be a sculptor and was using the family cabinetmaking workshop to create wooden pieces in unconventional shapes. After studying Fine Arts in Madrid, he went to Rome on a scholarship – a period that allowed him to soak up art and culture in all its forms.

Since college, the cube articulated in three has been the basis of his work.this has, in turn, led him to study basic geometric shapes and their development.this exploration of space ends up materializing in planes, prisms, sculptures, furniture, and logs that welcome emptiness as part of the sculptural proposal.

His geometric pieces with titles like ‘Triangular Twinned Ribbons,’‘eccentric Half Point,’‘obelisk,’ and ‘Ovoid III,’ share space in his Bakaiku studio with others that pay homage to Basque culture, such as ‘Txalaparta,’ ‘Pilotara,’ ‘Tartalo Biluzik I’ (‘Naked Polyphemus I’ in Basque), ‘Tribute to Oteiza,’ and ‘Head of Unamuno.’ On one of the walls of his workshop, a large shelf displays the clay, wire, cardboard, and plaster models that he uses as a starting point when making life-size sculptures – a process that can take him decades.

Furniture is another fundamental pillar of his work: a chaise longue in stuccoed oak, a chestnut wood bench, an oak bar cabinet, and a square table in Rietveld style that combines boxwood, chestnut, walnut, oak, cherry, and yew. Despite having the appearance of sculptures, the furniture designed by the artist is completely ergonomic.

Anda’s impeccable work,awarded in multiple competitions, is based on the natural element and uses geometry to create pieces of great beauty and uniqueness; works that have become the foundation of the culture of our land and of our era.