Thomas J Price. Reaching Out. Obra invitada

Lo profundo es el aire
[How Profound is the Air]

The title of this work comes from a verse by Jorge Guillén, a poet from Valladolid and a member of the Generation of ’27. The two creators met at Harvard University in 1971 and struck up a friendship. Years later, when Chillida wanted to pay tribute to Guillén, he found this verse: “Más allá, lo profundo es el aire” (“Beyond, how profound is the air”). It was the link between the two artists. This series is a tribute to the poet: “When I paid homage to Jorge Guillén, I first re-read his entire work to try to find a concept through which we could both be on the same page. I found it in Cántico. One part says ‘Lo profundo es el aire,’ which for me is a perfect concept.”

All sculptures in the series were an exploration into his unrealized project on Tindaya Mountain on the island of Fuerteventura. His starting point was a sculpture in alabaster in 1984 called Mendi Huts, which means “empty mountain”: “Years ago I had a vision that I sincerely believed was utopian. It was to create a space within a mountain for men of all races and colours, a great sculpture of tolerance. One day the opportunity arose to create the sculpture on Tindaya, Fuerteventura. This was the mountain where utopia could be reality. The sculpture would help protect the sacred mountain. The large space created within would not be visible from outside, but the men who penetrated its heart would see the light of the Sun, of the Moon, inside a mountain leaning towards the sea, and towards the horizon, unreachable, necessary, non-existent...”