In the Plaza de los Fueros de Vitoria-Gasteiz there is a new metal sculpture that welcomes the exhibition of Nestor Basterretxea (Bermeo, 1924 – Hondarribia, 2014). The exhibition brings together more than 300 works created by artists from different areas, such as posters, graphic works, experimental photographs, portraits, furniture, table games, films… The paintings depicting the cruise of the
Bermeotarra people in the Argentine exile begin the journey of the exhibition. It is followed by the sketches of the murals made from the dark works of art for the crypt of the Basilica of Arantzazu and the sculptural proposals.

Along with this, there is the Basque cosmogonic series created in a single night. The mythological characters are the inspiration of this work he did in the 1970s. Basterretxea believed that Basque mythology needed another treatment, outside of the magazines' comics. The draft of the eighteen images was developed throughout the 1970s, and the polyhedral and restless creator cultivated the images in the wood.

In this first part of the exhibition The Sacred, we discover the masks of the lunar grandmother, the discoidal steles and the photographs and emotions of the objects of worship he made for the church of Lasarte (Álava). In the words of Basterretxea, what we can find in his work is sacredness. Because the artist seeks freedom that gives the sacred, because the sacred is pure imagination.

In the second part of the exhibition is the trajectory of the formation of the creator. The abundance of unpublished pieces distances us from Basterretxea’s vision as an empty sculptor, allowing us to approach its less facet conocida.En as far as the third and last area, there is
a journey from painting to space. On the one hand, the public works have a great weight, as two wooden sculptures representing Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa and another one of stone. On the other hand, its contribution to industrial design is shown. You can see the draft design of chairs and armchairs that today would be totally fashionable and miniature models and actually, with a vintage touch of them.

Portrait of family members, photomontages, experimental photography, posters and a lot of graphic work are quoted in this retrospective activity of this famous artist. The exhibition gives us the opportunity to learn about the personal history of GAUR, the promoter and colleague of the group of Basque artists of Abanlaguardia, to build the present through the knowledge of the past.