



Arantxa Etcheverria
Doors
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| Editor(s) | Baril Gallery, Solly Gold Studio |
| Author(s) | Alina Şerban, Ami Barak |
| Design | Arantxa Etcheverria |
| Cover | Hardcover with debossing |
| Size | 21 x 21 cm |
| Pages | 156 |
| Illustrations | 80 |
| Language(s) | English, French |
| ISBN | 978-3-947563-81-4 |
The Mythical Power of Grids
Arantxa Etcheverria’s (b. 1975, France; lives and works in Bucharest) creative practice encompasses painting, sculpture, performance, photography, and film. Since 2006, she has been especially interested in modernist architecture, a ubiquitous sight in her adopted country, Romania. Blending rationalism with speculation, the artist draws on historical references including post-Communist turbo architecture, Op art, and minimalism for works that balance between figuration and abstraction, construction and deconstruction. This book documents Etcheverria’s more recent panel paintings and installations, seen in interaction with actors in monochrome costumes. With essays by the Paris-based Romanian curator and critic Ami Barak and the art historian and curator Alina Şerban.
Arantxa Etcheverria studied fine arts at Villa Arson, Nice, and stage design at the Théâtre national de Strasbourg.
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