Artist
Biography
Atchugarry, Pablo
1954
Painter and sculptor. His father, who trained under Constructivist artist Joaquin Torres Garcia, guided and encouraged him to take up painting. At an early age he showed his works which employed different forms and materials such as cement, iron, and wood. His first exhibition was in Montevideo in 1972. There he began to experiment with sculpture. In 1977 he traveled to Europe to study and perfect his art. He visited Spain, France and Italy investigating and perfecting sculptural techniques that gave him a mastery of forms and volumes within contemporary sculpture.
In 1978 he held his first solo Italian show in the city of Lecco. As a result of this show, his paintings were exhibited in numerous European cities. In 1979 he took up carving marble and created his first sculpture in Carrara marble, La Lumiere. His first monumental sculpture made with Carrara marble was completed in 1982. His poetic sculptural style enabled him to express himself through monumental works, which can be found in various public spaces and important private collections in Europe and Latin America. His sculptures were initially inspired by religious motifs and later evoked natural forms of caves, stalagmites, and stalactites that populate Europe and America.
He founded the Museo Pablo Atchugarry in Italy in 1999. In 2002, he received the Michelangelo Award in Carrara in recognition of his career as an artist. The following year, he represented Uruguay in the Venice Biennale with an installation of eight sculptures in Carrara marble and Grey Bardiglio marble titled Dreaming of Peace. In 2007 he opened the Fundacion Pablo Atchugarry in Manantiales, Uruguay. The institution aims to provide a stimulus for the arts and creates a place for artists of all disciplines to meet. In 2011 he held a solo show at Hollis Taggart Galleries in New York City and the Time Square Alliance Association selected his sculpture, Dreaming New York, to be exhibited in Times Square during the Armory Show Art Fairs during March 2012. He lives and works between Lecco and Manantiales where he oversees the development of the Fundacion and the international monumental sculpture park.
His sculptural language braids elements of late Surrealism with Abstractionism carved in marble. The spiky and monolithic columns with sinuous hollows and volumes of soft forms, project majesty and mystery unto his sculptures. His sculptures act as a bridge between the material and spiritual, as well as culture and nature.
Some of his most important exhibitions are: Maison de l’Amerique Latine (Paris, 1979); Salvini Museum (Coquio Trevisago, 1988); Galerie L`Oeil (Brussels, 1992); National Museum of Fine Arts (Buenos Aires, 2005); Groeninge Museum (Bruges, 2006); “The Plastic Space of Light” National Museum of Visual Arts (Montevideo, 2008); “Olympic Spirit” Albermale Gallery (London, 2012) “Journey Through Matter” Pablo Atchugarry Foundation (Montevideo, 2013) “Invocations of the Soul” Hollis Taggart Galeries (New York, 2016).
Works
Untitled
Atchugarry, Pablo
2020
Marble
Victoria Alada
Atchugarry, Pablo
2015
Bronze Sculpture