Breakfast is a yummy cheesey Spanish sandwich and coffee and then we buy a Barik travel card and take the tram to the Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. Pinch me.
It's a glorious day. About to get even more glorious. Entry to the Guggenheim is €15 which we don't think is too bad. There are two big exhibitions on at the moment - Jeff Koons, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. And so much more besides.
But first, we go to see 'A Matter of Time' by David Serra. It is one of the most magnificent art installations I have ever seen. Actually, make that THE best. I had seen photos but really had no idea of the scale of it, of how walking around it, in it, through it makes you marvel at science and art blended so beautifully together. Huge steel panels in shades that vary from rust to patina. With hues of black and blue and brown thrown in. Massive panels that snake, coil, curve, take you far into their depths, invite you to their very core. Shaped to perfection, it is a blend of maze and avenue, spiral and torque, wave and ellipse. It is hard to describe, but suffice to say I took plenty of photos! (Do take a look at them separately, but be warned, it is still nothing like being there).
You can take photos while walking around within it, but not from the viewing balcony above. This spectacular perspective gives you an overview of how it comes together. Looking down upon it is completely different to being inside it, which is at times disorientating and impossible to work out. It toys with your sense of space, envelopes you, each stand-alone piece luring you in and leaving you speechless. Kids run through it squealing with glee, innocently unaware of what a masterful creation this is. Some people walk swiftly in and out, looking up and down and all around yet still not seeming to fully appreciate the magnitude of its creation. More fool them.
I myself am completely and utterly gobsmacked by what I am experiencing. I am in a state of disbelief. Can this really exist? I love every inch of it and look at it from every which way I can.
After going through each piece, examining, marveling, loving, I spend time in a room that displays models and plans and a video of how it was made and installed. Brett is long gone off to explore something else but my focus is on this mind blowing installation. I just don't want to leave. I can't draw myself away. I want to be here forever, wandering through this incredible work. The concept and construction is utter genius, simple, but mind twisting at the same time. It surrounds you, astounds you and totally confounds you.
But, eventually dear artwork, I must leave you, there is so much more to see ...
The Jeff Koons exhibition is vast, covering many years of his work, which is often kitsch and cheesy, sometimes edgy and quirky, at times confronting. I find some of it irritating, some of it beautiful, mainly his stainless steel work. Most of the large scale pop-artworks, which are a cacophony of colour and design, look rather like paint by numbers ... which, in effect they are. You don't even have to look too closely. Whilst Jeff devises and plans the concepts, he has a team that works for him, painting canvasses in 'by number' style. He is a business entity, and, to my mind anyway, there is a lot of spin around it all. Vacuum cleaners in glass boxes with neon lights are not my thing. Nor are balloon animals made of metal. But on a grand scale, with every pucker exact, and finished in shiny-coloured chrome, his works, for better or worse, are something to behold in the flesh. His ideas are whacky and his research exhaustive. He seems more entrepreneur than artist, and charisma must be his middle name.
We pop out onto the terrace to watch some of the high diving off the bridge. It is impressive stuff. To jump off something that high, putting in a series of spins and tumbles, requires real guts. The crowd is cheering, and we have a birds' eye view. The weather could not be better.
We move on to view the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. An anguished young black man, he found fame against the odds, and solace amongst the likes of Andy Warhol. His is graffiti-style art. He mixed media with passion and a sense of self expression that helped him towards recognition at a young age. He collaborated with Warhol. He produced a lot of work. He focussed on oppression of blacks. He died at 27 from a heroin overdose. He would be older than me now if he was alive today. The exhibition itself is careful not to divulge the cause of his early death but it is no surprise to learn the truth upon googling. He led a colourful and creative life by the sound of things, embracing art and music and humanity. It's an intriguing collection, not all aesthetically pleasing to my eye, but thought-provoking and gritty.
In the film and video section is a rather beautiful, surreal and unusual digital abstract film by a Pakistani woman. I am entranced by it, the shapes, the colours, the patterns, the music. Beautiful.
I can't help but return to have another look at 'A Matter of Time' and it captures me all over again. I go through each piece, even more amazed than the first time. I so don't want to leave, but I must, and Brett is itching to get going. Well, I suppose we have been wandering around here for six hours ... Six glorious hours ...
We walk into the main strip and seek out El Petite Gastro Bar that has been recommended to us. We find Rafa, the owner, and order a G&T. We like how they make and serve G&Ts in this part of the world. The whole process is so much more exciting than pouring gin and tonic into a glass with a slice of lemon. Rafa is young and lovely. His bar is truly small but very well-stocked, with lots of tables in the pedestrianised street. We chat a while. He recommends we eat around the corner at Iruna restaurant. In similar vein to its namesake in Pamplona, but brighter and bubblier, it is beautifully decorated, with little surprises through this door and that. Our meal is both enormous and delicious. Service is efficient if somewhat officious. We need a rest between main and dessert and then find room for Pedro Ximeneth, the after-dinner sherry we have come to love.
Eventually, we waddle off and take the tram back to the old town. En route we find a little bar where we have a wine and chat to the barman. We ask him where we might spend a night between Bilbao and the west coast. He recommends Cudillero, a fishing village tucked into the northern coastline. He shows us photos of brightly-coloured houses steeped into the cliff side and says the seafood is very good. Looks great. Decision made.
Another fantastic day and night complete. And we are replete.
Observation of the Day: What a masterpiece 'A Matter of Time' is, I'm not sure it can be surpassed for this style of art, in my mind anyway. I do declare that it would be worth a trip across the world, just to view that art installation alone. It is outstanding. With its size and construction it is a permanent exhibit and isn't going anywhere else any time soon. I hope one day I may return and experience again.
Recommendation for Life: Get to the Guggenheim in Bilbao! Wander through 'A Matter of Time'. Just take and make the time to do it!
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