Symbolism: Ignacio Uriarte solo show opens at Gaep

Symbolism, the third solo exhibition of Ignacio Uriarte with Gaep, in Bucharest, presents new drawings and sculptural pieces, including a large group of nine drawings that signal a new direction in the artist's practice.

"Without relinquishing his adherence to the tools, gestures, and routines of office environments, Uriarte embraces a more colorful aesthetic and a more playful approach to corporate life," the gallery explains.

Uriarte, who worked corporate jobs before becoming a full-time artist, adopts the reductionist strategies of minimalism (less is more) while committing to everyday materials and a restricted field of action (do more with less). He works with office supplies, such as pens, ink, markers, rulers, and repetitive gestures. The two sculptural wall installations in the exhibition, made using office rulers, "honor the intrinsic value of these materials, while the drawings feature various visual effects – of movement, three-dimensionality, distortion, light, and shadow – achieved with one single technique: scribbling."

The nine drawings that give the exhibition its title are inspired by logos from the 1950s and 1960s, when a new design language emerged, defined by formal simplification and post-war optimism. Particularly new for Uriarte is the chromatic play he devised for this group. As described by the artist, "It's a trip through the rainbow," inspired by playing with his eldest daughter.

In the other drawings in the exhibition, Uriarte limits his palette to tones of blue or black and uses geometric forms (triangles, squares, circles and semicircles) to play with visual perception or to create structures through repeated motifs. The construction of space is often his focus, as well as the question of dynamic forces that influence a system's direction or stability.

Ignacio Uriarte, who lives and works in Valencia, Spain, studied art at the Centro de Artes Audiovisuales in Guadalajara, Mexico, after initial studies in Business Administration. His numerous exhibitions include solo shows at The Drawing Center (New York), Berlinische Galerie, Museo ABC (Madrid), Kunstraum Lakeside (Klagenfurt), La Ciudadela (Pamplona), Leopold Hoesch Museum (Düren), as well as in galleries in Madrid, Cologne, Berlin, Milan, Rome, London, Reykjavik, Beijing. Before Symbolism (2025), Gaep presented two of his solo exhibitions: Sequential Operations (2022) and Three Ways to Draw and One Way to Call for Attention (2019). His work is included in collections such as MUSAC Léon, ES Baluard Museu (Palma de Mallorca), Fundación Helga de Alvear (Cáceres), Colección JUMEX (Mexico City), FRAC Lorraine (Metz), S.M.A.K (Gent), Berlinische Galerie (Berlin), Museum Ludwig (Cologne), and The Morgan Library & Museum (New York), among others.