Fronteras de oro [Golden Frontiers] (2012)
Iron gilded with gold paint
100 x 70 x 8 cm
BA Collection
Inventory No.: 2012.207.2
Fronteras de oro [Golden Frontiers] are part of the Quiero mi Montaña [I Love my Mountain] series, produced between 2011 and 201. This piece dates back to 2012, when the decision was taken to temporarily suspend the Schengen Treaty and strengthen the border between Spain and France for an ECB meeting to be held in Barcelona. The passage from one country to another was blocked, as if a large crack had opened a real separation along the line marked on the map. Amaia Gracia’s intention with this piece is to decode the idea of border: she aestheticizes the symbol to draw attention to it and emphasise the capriciousness of this line (often non-existent in nature) agreed upon by those who made the political decisions of history. The depiction of this broken line can be understood as a demystifying, satirical and irreverent gesture that relativises and questions what we understand by authority, geographical and ethnic privileges, language and culture.
‘Fronteras de oro’ is a special piece. It is a special piece because the metal plate is torn by a border line. Because of the way it is built, it is a piece of furniture/map, joining support and place in the same block. A shining golden place, a border crossed by so many in one direction and another, some fleeing the European war, others from the Franco dictatorship and the civil war or in search of work. What differentiates it from maps is that the two sides of the line are the same. There are no two countries with different colours, there are no names, no marks of the border sign. The same materiality unites both sides of the line despite the respective linguistic, cultural and political diversities of each country. And the crack separates a single matter in two. In this piece, the border is not discerning, it is like the water of a river that truly joins the two banks.’ (Imma Jiménez in ‘Landscapes that belong to the space of art’, in the ‘Quiero mi Montaña’, BilbaoArte Foundation, 2012).
Amaia Gracia Azqueta graduated in in Fine Arts and has a Master’s Degree in Research and Creation in Art from the University of the Basque Country (EHU/UPV). Amaia works in sculpture, using drawing and photography. Her projects draw on the autobiographical, universal problems that address the political and the personal. The process and the choice of material stand out in her technique. She previously worked on the mountain, territory, identify and emotions. Since she gave birth for the first time, she has researched the notions of time, resistance, speed and durability.