Aitor Ortiz

Aitor Ortiz - Light Walls 007

Técnica: Digital photography impression on aluminum

Biografía del Artista: Bilbao, Spain. 1971 Beyond documentary photography of architecture and industry, claiming the dilution factor and the transmutation of reality that is associated with photographic representation, Aitor Ortiz works with space, architecture and objects as elements that give rise to a series of visual and cognitive unknowns. Ortiz is repeatedly interested in posing a series of dilemmas between representation and interpretation (perception) and establishes a relationship between the content of his images, the physical properties of the materials on which he reproduces his work and the position of the pieces in the exhibition space. Aitor Ortiz seeks to establish a broad spectrum of works and the relationships between the places photographed, the conscious and subconscious mechanisms involved in the process of manipulating an image: the eye (interpretation, frame, contextualization...), the camera (focus/blur, optical distortion, transmission of movement...) and the brain (the limitations of an imperfect artefact in the interpretation of data and empirical skills: experience, association of concepts...) that culminate in the exhibition space, where the physical experience once again transcends the content of his photographs as part of a process of constant interaction between representation and the perception of the viewer. His most recent solo exhibitions include those held at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (2011); Fotografiska (Swedish Museum of Photography, Stockholm, 2012) and the Community of Madrid at the Sala Canal de Isabel II, Madrid (2012). His work has earned him, among others, the City of Palma Prize, the ABC Photography Prize, the Grand Prize of Honor of the Alexandria Art Biennial (Egypt), and the First Prize of the Villa de Madrid Photography Prize. His works are part of collections such as MNCARS, La Caixa Foundation, ARTIUM, CAB, IVAM, AXXA, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, MACUF, Foto Colectania, Fundación Telefónica, etc.

Beyond documentary photography of architecture and industry, claiming the dilution factor and the transmutation of reality that is associated with photographic representation, Aitor Ortiz works with space, architecture and objects as elements that give rise to a series of visual and cognitive unknowns. Ortiz is repeatedly interested in posing a series of dilemmas between representation and interpretation (perception) and establishes a relationship between the content of his images, the physical properties of the materials on which he reproduces his work and the position of the pieces in the exhibition space. Aitor Ortiz seeks to establish a broad spectrum of works and the relationships between the places photographed, the conscious and subconscious mechanisms involved in the process of manipulating an image: the eye (interpretation, frame, contextualization...), the camera (focus/blur, optical distortion, transmission of movement...) and the brain (the limitations of an imperfect artefact in the interpretation of data and empirical skills: experience, association of concepts...) that culminate in the exhibition space, where the physical experience once again transcends the content of his photographs as part of a process of constant interaction between representation and the perception of the viewer. His most recent solo exhibitions include those held at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (2011); Fotografiska (Swedish Museum of Photography, Stockholm, 2012) and the Community of Madrid at the Sala Canal de Isabel II, Madrid (2012). His work has earned him, among others, the City of Palma Prize, the ABC Prize for photography, the Grand Prize of Honor at the Alexandria Art Biennial (Egypt), and the First Prize for the City of Madrid in photography. His works are part of collections such as MNCARS, La Caixa Foundation, ARTIUM, CAB, IVAM, AXXA, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, MACUF, Foto Colectania, Fundación Telefónica, etc. In Muros de Luz, the contrast between the organic nature of the landscape and the structured nature of the marble extraction process from a quarry attracted me to create other constructive possibilities based on the experience of a photographer and an architect to configure, suggest and confirm new spaces. The close and the immeasurable, the visible and the imaginable, the limits between the inhuman and the habitable, between light and shadow, danger and vertigo are recurring aspects in this work. This series of photographs was taken in collaboration with architect Josep Egea. A dialogue between architect and photographer was generated from a series of images, addressing the idea of ​​physical vacancy through virtual procedures and mechanisms of visual perception and interpretation to highlight the construction of a mental space, a place with non-existent coordinates, but which take shape before our eyes. In general, the project is aimed at producing immaterial realities, but which the mind is capable of constructing. Suggesting and reconstructing from the individual experience of the spectator. A place of contact between physical space and mental construction.