Cristina Iglesias' 'Entrespacios' at Centro Botín Blends Sculpture and Architecture

The Centro Botín in Santander presents 'Entrespacios', a retrospective of Basque sculptor Cristina Iglesias (b. 1956, San Sebastián), curated by Vicente Todolí, director of HangarBicocca in Milan. The exhibition runs until March 3, 2019, and features 22 works from 1992 to the present, arranged non-chronologically. The show's starting point is Iglesias' permanent installation 'Dal Sotterraneo' (2017) in the adjacent Pereda Gardens, created for Renzo Piano's building opened in June 2017. This work comprises four wells and a pond in stone, water, and steel, metaphorically connecting the city to the Cantabrian Sea. Inside, works like 'Padiglione di Cristallo I' (2014) invite meditation, while suspended roofs, perforated iron corridors, and labyrinthine rooms create spaces within spaces. Materials include wrought iron, bronze, steel, concrete, stone, and wicker. Notable pieces include 'Pasaje I' (2002) in light woven wicker and 'Sin Titulo' (1993-97), a tapestry on steel panel. The most recent work, 'Growth I' (2018), marks a stylistic shift with an amorphous iron cylinder with fused colored glass inserts, resembling natural rock and plant formations. Iglesias' next public commission is a site-specific intervention at the lighthouse on Santa Clara Island in San Sebastián. Her previous architectural collaborations include a bronze door for Rafael Moneo's 2007 expansion of the Museo del Prado and a sculptural element at Norman Foster's foundation in Madrid.