Asier Mendizabal

Agoramaquia (The Exact Case of the Statue) (2014) by Asier Mendizabal was presented at the 31st Biennale of São Paulo. This installation comprises multiple sculptural interpretations based on Jorge Oteiza’s monument to the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. Each piece, crafted in rubber plates mounted on internal iron structures, measures approximately 100 × 230 × 140 cm. Through precision cutting and meticulous assembly, the forms translate monumental archetypes into abstract, “incomplete” gestural compositions.

Tactile yet industrial, the rubber surfaces challenge our concept of permanence and monumentality. By choosing flexible material suspended in rigid frames, the work instantiates a tension between presence and absence, echoing Oteiza’s legacy and Mendizabal’s investigations into form, process, and historical trace. Installed across the Biennale pavilion’s diverse architectural contexts, the sculptures re‑inscribe collective memory within contemporary art discourse.

Born in Ordizia (Gipuzkoa, 1973), Mendizabal integrates constructivist principles and cultural symbolism in his oeuvre. With training in the Basque Country, London, and Maastricht, his practice is defined by exploring modular systems, repetition, and the poetics of material transformation. Agoramaquia highlights these preoccupations through its referential dialogue, material paradoxes, and sculptural craftsmanship.