Selected Works
Ignacio Iturria, Concierto, 1997, Oil on canvas, 90 x 70 cm
Ignacio Iturria, En el filo, 2020, Oil and spatula, 10 x 10 x 2 cm
Ignacio Iturria, Memoria, 2010, Oil on canvas, 80 x 100 cm
Ignacio Iturria, Saliendo al mundial del 50, 2020, Acrylic and wood, 15 x 23 x 21 cm
Ignacio Iturria, Untitled, 2021, 120 x 90 cm
Ignacio Iturria, El Escondido, 1997, Oil on canvas, 90 x 70 cm
Ignacio Iturria
Born 1949, Uruguay
One of the most recognized Uruguayan painters of his generation, Ignacio Iturria is known for his surreal interpretations of memory and space. As the Latin-American artists around him developed Abstract Expressionism, Iturria chose to create pictorial compositions centered around the human figure. Distilled with the atmosphere of his hometown, Montevideo, Iturria’s paintings are rich with earth tones evoking the murky waters of the Río de la Platas River.
After marrying his wife in 1977, he moved to a small town of artists on the Mediterranean coast, not far from Barcelona, Spain. In 1984 he returned to Uruguay where he began exhibiting in Punta del Este and other Latin American cities. He was one of fifteen artists selected by the Fund of Artists Colonies of New York in 1988 where he participated in a three-month long residency that spearheaded his later (2004) project “Casablanca art in action” (a school of arts dedicated to various artistic disciplines). In 1994 he won the Grand Prize of the IV international Painting Biennial of Cuenca, Ecuador and the following year won the renowned “Casa di Risparmio” award in the Venice Biennale. In 2004 he was invited to participate as a juror in Guatemala’s XIV Biennial of Art Paiz. During his time there he helped create “Coatepeque,” a small artist collective. In April of 2006 he returned to Spain where he spent three years painting, and receiving frequent visits from students he mentored. He later established the “Ignacio Iturria Foundation” in Rosario, Colonia, Uruguay, where he currently resides— the foundation serves as a place in which emerging artists with limited resources can continue to develop their careers.
Selected Exhibitions
2023
Caos&Orden, Galería Lyle O Reitzel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
2020
El mundo como escenario, Fundación Atchugarry, Manantiales, Uruguay
2018
Galeria Espai d’Art, Cadaques
2017
A studio in the gallery, the playful Universe of Ignacio Iturria, Neuberger Museum, NY, USA
2016
Juguetes y Pinturas, Galería Sur, Punta del Este, Uruguay
Escalas alteradas, Galería Enlace, Lima, Perú
Interformas, Galería Lyle O Reitzel, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
2015
Pintar es soñar, el MNAV, Montevideo, Uruguay, curated by José Jiménez
2014
Arqueologia cotidiana, el Centro Cultural Peruano Norteamericano, Arequipa, Perú
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
Persistencia de la imagen,Espacio Cultural Plaza de la Fuente, Guayaquil, Ecuador
Encuentro de tres artistas, tres generaciones, tres países, Galería, CAF del Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina, Caracas, Venezuela
Destination Latin America, Louisiana State Museum, USA Maestro/Alumna, Galería P Art Corner de José Ignacio, Uruguay
2010
Participating artist, Darte y Deporte, el Ministerio de Educación y Cultura del Uruguay
Group Exhibition, Mercedes, curated by Prof. Alicia Haber Group Exhibition, Galería Oriol, Barcelona, Spain
2009
Group exhibition, curated by Miguel Angel Muñoz, Guanajuato, México
Permanent exhibition at “Spai D’Art”, Cadaqués, Spain
2008
Contributed to exhibition, Las Américas Latinas, curated by Phillipe Daverio at el Spazio Oberdan, Milan, Italy
Videos
Artist Podcast | Ignacio Iturria
Piero Atchugarry Gallery presents a video podcast about Uruguayan painter, Ignacio Iturria.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Iturria’s paintings are timely and profound. A mirror held up to society, the paintings show both our loneliness in separation, but also the sincere optimism for the potential of our newfound downtime. As we adapt to staying at home, Iturria’s surreal paintings remind us that our imagination’s reach is far beyond our doorstep.