Aitor Ortiz Photographs 1950 - 2010

Images of architectural landmarks, between documentation and imagination.
Aitor Ortiz (*1971 in Bilbao) has photographed monumental structures, such as Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and Norman Foster’s viaduct in Millau in the south of France. Yet his large-format images are not classic architectural photographs. Upon closer observation, they confute their documentary effect and prove to be works of art in and of themselves. Architecture and space are reduced to such elementary forms and structures that they lose their figurative status and usual sense of reality. The works refer to Bernd and Hilla Becher, Thomas Struth, and Andreas Gursky, while at the same time, the artist skillfully deviates from this tradition to present his photographs in conjunction with sculptural works. This publication, elaborately produced and richly illustrated, is the first to present an overview of Ortiz’s artistic oeuvre, accompanied by insightful essays.