artnexus #18

Ignacio Iturria (Uruguay, 1949) is a painter who works with everyday elements, which he does not reproduce directly, but uses to create a world of fiction. It is a world in which his childhood memories, fantasies, and family circumstances become the protagonists of a reality which he reinvents as he searches out the remembered objects and places them in a new setting. Cutlery, small figures, lead soldiers, pieces of porcelain, or furniture lose their humdrum everyday functions and acquire new, more imaginary dimensions, which reflect the realities of the Uruguayan landscape, its colors and people, with man becoming a small figure in that landscape. Space too contains all the marks left by its occupants: hence the importance of inanimate objects, which recall their earlier functions, now forgotten or changed. This melancholy game is accompanied by Iturria’s use of color, inviting us to plunge into a reality full of experiences which end up involving the spectator.

Iturria’s status as a painter who is difficult to classify into a specific tendency was recently acknowledged by two events: his acquisition prize at the last Venice Biennial and the purchase by the Metropolitan Museum of his oilwork entitled Lady of the Night.

IVONNE PINI