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Basque Studies Program Newsletter · Issue
50, 1994
Basque Sculpture Installed at Reno
City Hall
Basque artist Mikel Angel Lertxundi returned to Reno
to install his sculpture, “Camino del Equilibrio”
(Path of Equilibrium) in the plaza fronting City Hall. The
sculptor had spent part of the summer of 1990 here at the
University of Nevada, Reno preparing an art exhibit that was
very well received (See BSP Newsletter no. 42, Oct. 1990),
and the City of Reno had decided to purchase one of his
works for public display.
Lertxundi is well known in Europe, especially the
Basque Country of Spain, for his outdoor sculpture and has
installed several pieces in public plazas and parks there.
These monumental works feature his theme of the balance of
nature and utilize what he considers to be the three main
elements of the earth-stone, wood, and iron-juxtaposed in
aesthetically simple forms yet expressing the profound idea
of equilibrium of all things. The artiest states, “We
too are made from these materials-we come from the earth,
and use these resources for everything we need: shelter,
sustenance, material goods...Everything needs balance to
live, as in nutrition, relationships, and so
on.”
The sculpture done for Reno’s City Hall plaza is
of medium size (covering roughly 3 x 2 x 2 yards) and is
made from local materials-granite from Nevada, and oak from
nearby in California. The design is part of a series,
“In Search of Equilibrium,” that the sculptor has
worked on for about six years.
In discussing the work, Lertxundi says, “The
rock comes up from the earth, giving way to an iron arm that
ties it to the wooden arch, which returns to the ground. In
the distance that these materials pass over from the earth
up to the light and back again, the turning wheel of life is
demonstrated: birth, life, death.”
The artist has exhibited his works in Spain, France,
the U.S., and Germany, and looks forward to an upcoming
exhibit in Japan.
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