Breaking new ground — unique sculpture venues in Spain

In mutual desire to appreciate modern sculpture and the way art pieces are represented and displayed in not typical art spaces, the members of Online Club virtually transferred to northern Spain with the help of our guest experts. 
First, Rinus van de Sande from Arte-Contemporary, a wonderful Sculpture Park and Gallery near the Ebro Delta, followed by Pablo Bernáldez from EspacioArteVACA, an old mansion transformed into an exhibition space in La Rioja.

In mutual desire to appreciate modern sculpture and the way art pieces are represented and displayed in not typical art spaces, the members of Online Club virtually transferred to northern Spain with the help of our guest experts. 

First, Rinus van de Sande from Arte-Contemporary, a wonderful Sculpture Park and Gallery near the Ebro Delta, followed by Pablo Bernáldez from EspacioArteVACA, an old mansion transformed into an exhibition space in La Rioja.  
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Starting the presentation from early years, Rinus van de Sande shared his journey from being an art enthusiast to courageous moving to England from Holland for 25 years to his most recent relocation to Spain with a new sculpture project Arte-Contemporary La Ràpita Delta de l’Ebre. 

Rinus van de Sande was growing in the environment ‘far from art and art scene’, his family was running a small bakery in Holland. With first interest in contemporary art, Rinus van de Sande also had a quick dive into pop-culture: traveling to London, getting to know brit music with its unique sound and visuals - by the end of his journey the passion for art only increased. So when the moment came to pick the career and live path, his eye caught an interesting item - a catalog of a contemporary gallery in an old farm building. That’s when the clear idea of the future finally came to mind - the family house to be transformed into a space 'introducing art to local community’ in Dutch countryside. Thus, late 1980s early 1990s were about balance for Rinus van de Sande, who run his family bakery and a small gallery Kunst Kijkhuis. The concept of the gallery was to display contemporary art pieces from different European countries and sharing artistic experiences.   

Later on, completely losing interest in bakery, Rinus van de Sande found his passion in contemporary sculpture. With such dramatic change of heart and not seeing any prospects in Holland the family took a chance and moved to Devon a county in southwest England in 1997. As a result, a master house, hotel and some land with a running river formed The Broomhill Art Hotel and Sculpture Foundation. 

‘I always wanted to be a part of something that would attract and engage people who are not necessarily wanted to come to a gallery or museum’. 

The sculpture garden in English countryside was all about implementing art pieces in nature and make both - art and nature - complete each other. Some art pieces became a part of permanent exhibition, still new temporary works were more than welcome to be displayed in The Broomhill Sculpture Foundation. 

As the main concept of the sculpture park was to unite people from different countries, of various ethnicities and artistic background, Brexit turned out to be an uneasy challenge. In 2021 the urge to reunite with the European community brought back the idea of moving, so Rinus van de Sande took his curated project to Catalonia. After almost a year of preparation, the gallery with natural landscapes was ready to greet visitors and introduce new art pieces to the public. 

 

 

 

 

Arte-Contemporary La Ràpita Delta de l’Ebre
 The source of pic: https://enlarapita.com/nostres-socis/arte-contemporany-la-rapita/ 

 

 

Arte-Contemporary La Ràpita Delta de l’Ebre is a 3 hectares Sculpture Park in ancient olive groves in the outskirts of the Ebro Delta. This new project is about approaching visitors not just with art, but introducing complex experience: beauty of nature, art pieces and outside activities. Such approach allows everyone to discover something amusing for themselves. So far, the idea of the park in Devon found its rebirth in Spain. The private collection is always complemented by temporary exhibitions and internationally curated projects.       

Arte-Contemporary and its founder Rinus van de Sande make an effort to help artists create their sculptures with ease and joy. One of the goals of the venue is to create a connection between artists, visitors and local communities whiles promoting the sustainable development and harmony through art pieces.  

 

Jessica Wetherly
To be as light as the sky, 2022
Resin fiberglass
The source of pic: https://www.jessicawetherly.com/to-be-as-light-as-the-sky 

 

 

 

One of the art pieces displayed in Arte-Contemporary Sculpture Park is ‘To be as light as the sky’ by Jessica Wetherly, a London based sculptor. With the use of traditional artistic technics and materials, she reflects on climate change and ecological issues. Rinus van de Sande invited Jessica Wetherly to stay for a while in La Rapita and create an art piece for the permanent display in the Park. So within 3 weeks the sculpture was created, curious enough the team of Arte-Contemporary was clueless yet initiative about the project, so they ended up volunteering.  
This sculpture depicting a union between a man and an animal as a symbol of knowledge and possibilities of respectful companionship.

 

Jesper Eriksso
From Coal to Steel, 2022 
The source of pic: https://www.instagram.com/p/CedI8LWoCxj/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= 

Another composition worth seeing is a sculpture by Swedish artist Jesper Eriksson. His outstanding work with carbon first fascinated the founder of Arte-Contemporary back in England. After moving to Spain, Rinus van de Sande welcomed a young artist for yet another residency, resulting in ‘From Coal to Steel’ installation in the Park. Jesper Eriksson developed the idea of support, union and equality, making coal and steel co-dependent and balanced.     

 

 

Alexander Glass
The Gateway II, 2022
Steel, plexiglás
The source of pic:- https://www.instagram.com/p/CeYCC60I_RC/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

One more artist, who continued his collaboration with Rinus van de Sande, is Alexander Glass. Eight years after ‘The Gateway’ appeared in Devon, ‘The Gateway II’ became a twin installation in a new Sculpture Park in La Rapita. The art piece is heavily inspired by science fiction and the idea of time and space travel - ‘The Gateway II’ suggesting itself as a portal to another world right in the middle of a natural landscape. 

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The next speaker - Pablo Bernáldez - started his presentation with a quick review of his path as well. Born and raised in Madrid, Pablo Bernáldez decided to leave the city and quit his job to get back to his family roots and move to a small village in the north of Spain to start his project together with two companions, trying to connect art and rural life. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Viniegra de Abajo
The source of pic: https://espacioartevaca.com/visitanos/ 

 

 

La Rioja is a well-known region for winery, with traditional villages and mountain landscapes. Viniegra de Abajo - Pablo Bernáldez’s hometown - is a breathtaking yet hardly crowded place, with only around 40 people staying in the region for winter. Referring to the area as ‘beautiful, but fragile and vulnerable’ Pablo Bernáldez shared his approach to the development of the project: no negative impact should be made while taking a first step in creating a connection between people and the place itself and surroundings. 

 

 

 

EspacioArteVACA
The source of video: https://youtu.be/5246IOtBMdw 

 

 

Finding his way back home, Pablo Bernáldez finally took a chance to follow his passion and create a non-profit organization for contemporary art. EspacioArteVACA started with a simple idea to bring back to live an old 150 years old family mansion without modifying or significantly changing it.   

‘The place preserves the original style of a big house with different infrastructures, and it speaks a lot about how people used to live at the place before’. 

Art pieces normally find their spots in 3 locations: 
Ancient stables on the ground floor of the house. The place where people and animals used to work together day by day, preserves the original atmosphere of labor and cooperation. 
Surrounding garden with its original plants and rural decorations.
Washing building with running water supplies. 
These facilities allow artists to use several spaces at once and find inspiration in its original functions.  

EspacioArteVACA is a project about creative freedom, still one rule should be followed — the art pieces must have strong visuals, otherwise the space with quite dramatic atmosphere dominates and unintentionally ruins the work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carlos Zorromono 
Fragmentos Rituales, 2021
The source of pics: https://carloszorromono.es/project/fragmentos-rituales-2 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carlos Zorromono is an outstanding artist, who courageously used all 3 spaces in EspacioArteVACA. With the idea of organic transformation and rural inheritance, Zorromono created strong vibrant forms and volumes with charcoal and bones, linen, paint and chains. 
   
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Extensive information about Arte-Contemporary and EspacioArteVACA can be found on the following links:
https://www.arte-contemporary.eu/
https://espacioartevaca.com/