The logo produced to mark the presentation of the city’s candidature to be European capital of culture has been created by Luisa Chillida, the designer and granddaughter of the sculptor, Eduardo Chillida.

 

The image for Donostia 2016 is a faithful reproduction of one of the several preparatory studies that Eduardo Chillida carried out in order to make a medal that he had been commissioned to produce by San Sebastián Town Hall in 1989. The logo reproduces and takes up a drawing again and replaces the fine line outlined in pencil with black ink that now occupies the part that represents the land and material elements. The commemorative medal that was made, based on this series of drawings, is called San Sebastián. It is a small gold piece that Chillida gave as a present to his people. Its design is unmistakeably inspired by La Concha bay, which is an undisputed emblem of the city. Two sets in silver with 25 copies of each one were also made from the imprint by using the lost wax casting method. There is also a larger model in silver that can be found in San Sebastián Town Hall.

Eduardo Chillida. Untitled. Pencil drawing, 1989

Furthermore, both the pencil drawing and the medal refer formally and conceptually to other works by Eduardo Chillida. A profile of the city can be made out in which the refinement of the forms and the recovery of the characteristic essence of the artist stand out. The pieces allude to the concept of limits and the spatial conception of the sculptor in his eternal dialogue with space. They also refer to his close direct relationship with the city of San Sebastián, especially with the bay and its geographical setting. Nature has been a basic theme that has been ever-present throughout his artistic career. The sea, the waves, the wind, and the human being facing up to the forces and size of nature particularly mark his sculpture. The three steel pieces that form the Wind Comb, placed on rocks at the edge of the city questioning the sea are an integral part of this exploration process.

Bibliography:

BARAÑANO, Kosme: Chillida. Medals: Eduardo Chillida’s work in precious metals. Ed. IVAM, Valencia, 2004.

“... Chillida proves that the geographical setting not only provides the artist with material, but above all the framework in which he has placed the subject of all his sculpture since 1948: limits and their inter-relations, and the human scale. In this space formed by the Basque bay of La Concha, its island and its quays, Chillida shows us how to look at the land and the sea, and their form and shape, but above all he shows us how to perceive that time is a dimension of space.”

Kosme de Barañano

 

CHILLIDA, Eduardo: Questions. Ed. . Ed. San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid, 1994.

 

“What is there behind the sea and my way of looking at it?

What is there behind the sea and my way of hearing it?”