Eduardo Chillida

Iru Burni, 1986

Three Irons, 1986

Sculpture, 3 elements: 117 x 57 x 33 cm; 111 x 59 x 33 cm and 139 x 59 x 33 cm

From his early works in the fifties to the last public installations of the nineties, Eduardo Chillida’s sculpture can be understood as a continuous dialogue with space, the void and the idea of limits. Whether large sculptural compositions or smaller works, Chillida is interested in the interior space: not that which lies outside form and matter, but the space that is generated within. A space in the physical sense, but also close to the notion of consciousness and inner vision.

The 1980s saw Chillida produce monumental work that grew in size to occupy space in an organic way. This is the case of Iru Burni, from 1986. Made from large iron plates – since 1959, one of Chillida's favourite materials, linked to the artisanal and industrial tradition of the Basque Country – this work illustrates his move toward the monumental.

Chillida positions three iron blocks more than a metre high that dialogue at a certain distance from each other. Iru Burni is part of a series of the same title in which the inner space that is created between the forms acquires great importance. Slightly geometric and with some geometric incisions and openings, the work evokes the ancient world of totems and large megalithic constructions as a result of its monumentality and location, and the fact that it emanates a certain energy.

Original title:: Iru Burni
Registration number:: 1853
Artist:: Chillida, Eduardo
Date created:: 1986
Date acquired:: 2002
Fonds:: MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation
Object type:: Sculpture
Media:: Aloña Steel
Dimensions:: 3 elements: 117 x 57 x 33 cm; 111 x 59 x 33 cm and 139 x 59 x 33 cm
Credits:: MACBA Collection. MACBA Foundation. Telefónica Art Collection
It has accessibility resources:: No

The MACBA Collection features Catalan, Spanish and international art and, although it includes works from the 1920s onwards, its primary focus is on the period between the 1960s and the present.

For more information on the work or the artist, please consult MACBA's Library. To request a loan of the work, please write to colleccio [at] macba.cat.

If you need a high resolution image of the work, you must submit an image loan request.

Iru Burni, 1986

Technical details

Other works by Eduardo Chillida