In recent decades the artistic heritage of the Basque Country has been enriched by numerous open-air interventions by local artists in both urban areas and natural environments. We have selected five of the most important examples.
From the Comb of the Wind to the Forest of Oma. A journey through public sculpture in the Basque Country
05 Mar 2025
Comb of the Wind. Eduardo Chillida, 1977
Eduardo Chillida (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1924-2002), the most universal of Basque artists, created his most emblematic work for his hometown. Installed in a place that has held significance for the artist since his childhood, at the foot of Mount Igeldo and open to the sea, the ‘Comb of the Wind’ combines art, architecture and nature. This work is part of a series of some twenty pieces, started in 1952 and completed in 1999, in which the artist condenses his essential concepts around space, matter, and gravity.
The one finally installed in San Sebastian is the fifteenth in the series. It is made up of three pieces of ‘corten steel’, each weighing more than 10 tonnes, with their respective ‘arms’ that bend around to comb the sea and the wind. Chillida created these location-specific pieces in collaboration with the architect and urban planner, Luis Peña Ganchegui. Arranged in a triangular composition, two of the pieces face each other while the third stands upright, facing the horizon. Together, they rest on the rocky shore, seeking to connect with nature.
In recent decades the artistic heritage of the Basque Country has been enriched by numerous open-air interventions by local artists in both urban areas and natural environments.
Prime Numbers. Esther Ferrer, 2003-2023
In 2003, Esther Ferrer (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1937), one of the pioneers of performance and conceptual art in the Basque Country and Spain, created ‘Prime Numbers’, a sculptural intervention specifically designed for Prado Park in Vitoria. This was her first permanent public work. In 2003, after years of deterioration, it was restored to its original state and reinstalled, under the artist´s supervision, in the inner courtyard of the Artium Museum of Contemporary Art. Mathematics and prime numbers, a fundamental line of work in Ferrer´s career, particularly the graphical representation known as Ulam´s spiral, serve as the foundation of the work. Around 10,000 plates are installed on the ground, including red and blue diagonals and printed prime numbers from 41 to 10,039. Following their own logic, they create a complex and intriguing structure that reflects a universal internal order, which is never repeated yet remains both the same and different.
Ceramic mural at the pelota court in Usurbil. José Luis Zumeta, 1973-1974
During the final years of the Franco dictatorship, in a context of rich creativity linked to the Basque avant-garde cultural movement known as Ez Dok Amairu, José Luis Zumeta, a prominent member of the Basque School, created a large ceramic mural for the back of the pelota court in his hometown of Usurbil, Gipuzkoa. It is one of the most notable examples of the painter´s mature style, developed between the late 1960s and early 1970s, characterised by informalist abstraction.
Intent on taking art from the canvas to the public square, Zumeta used 18 tonnes of clay and created 3,000 pieces of glazed ceramic to cover the 145-square-metre wall. Starting with a small painting as a kind of sketch, Zumeta transformed a chaotic composition of vibrant rhythms into a monumental scale, where a complex variety of floating and biomorphic elements interact, creating a stunning explosion of colour. The volumetric character of the mural stands out alongside the energetic image of zigzagging shapes and intense reds, blues and yellows.
By seeking a balance between the aesthetic, symbolic, and functional, art interacts with urban planning, architecture, and the landscape to redefine and humanise public space.
Hondalea. Cristina Iglesias, 2021
Tucked away on Santa Clara Island in the middle of La Concha Bay sits a monumental sculpture by Cristina Iglesias (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1956), the most prominent contemporary Basque artist on the international stage. ‘Hondalea’, a poetic term found in Basque literature, means ‘abyss’ and ‘depth’ of the sea. The sculpture offers visitors a unique experience that starts with a boat ride from the port of San Sebastián, continues with a walk up the path on the island for a new view of the city, and culminates inside the lighthouse keeper´s house.
Set within the empty, excavated building is a large bronze vessel that visitors can walk around and view from above. Water flows through the vessel in various cycles, streaming through numerous orifices and crevices, reminiscent of underwater rocks. Time slows down as observers find themselves in a living sculpture that is constantly transforming. This intimate space, with its sense of waiting, sound, and the feeling of standing before a rocky chasm, becomes a refuge and a place for reflection on the importance of conserving the natural environment.
The Forest of Oma. Agustín Ibarrola, 1982-1985
In the 1960s and 1970s Agustín Ibarrola (Bilbao, 1930-2023) developed a type of painting clearly rooted in social and political commitment. Between 1982 and 1985 he created his first and best-known intervention in a natural space. Located in the municipality of Kortezubi, Bizkaia, near the artist´s farmhouse and the Santimamiñe cave, which features some of the most significant cave paintings in the Basque Country, he painted several pine trees. Through the visual interplay of different trunks, he aimed to create changing images of geometric shapes, human figures, and animal forms, such as eyes, pictograms, and geometric compositions. These images appear and disappear based on the viewer´s position. Within the tradition of land art, the trees serve as kinetic supports, creating a dynamic and immersive experience. This setup requires spectators to move about, walking along the various slopes to fully engage with the artwork. Open to the public until 2018, the installation was moved in 2022 and 2023 to a nearby location due to the end of the forest´s biological cycle between. This relocation helped restore lost artistic ensembles, allowing visitors to enjoy the Forest of Oma in a more complete and authentic way that aligns with Ibarrola´s original vision.
Mikel Onandia is an art historian and exhibition curator. His research focuses on modern and contemporary art and art collecting.
