Chillida and his Contemporaries. International Conference in Frankfurt

In line with the creation of the Eduardo Chillida Chair, set up together with the Etxepare Basque Institute , the Goethe University of Frankfurt  has organized an international conference with the Basque sculptor, his artwork and his contemporaries as main topic. It be held at the West Campust of the Goethe University  Frankfurt from 3 to 5 July, under the title: Form-Materia-Space. Chillida and his Contemporaries.

Chillida frequently positioned his work in a field of artistic and philosophical discourse that emphasises medium specificity and a metaphysics of form. He referred to the exemplary nature of the art of Brancusi, Braque and Giacometti for his own creative work; and, in his philosophical exchange with Martin Heidegger, developed the notion of sculptural space as an ontological space evoking the boundless nature of „being“ itself.

The conference reconsiders the prevailing interpretations of Chillida’s work, based largely on his own statements, as a seamless continuation of a modernist aesthetic. It takes its cue from the observation that Chillida has rarely ever been viewed within the context of his contemporaries, specifically minimalist and conceptual artists such as Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt or Anthony Caro.

The idea of this conference was developed at the Institute of Art History, Goethe- University, in cooperation with Jon Wood (Henry Moore Institute, Leeds), Thomas Kirchner (Deutsches Forum für Kunstgeschichte, Paris) and the Carl Justi- Vereinigung e.V., Dresden.

PROGRAM  Form-Materia-Space. Chillida and his Contemporaries.