The visual artist Manu Muniategiandikoetxea presents "Schola Navicolare di Traiano" on the terrace of Azkuna Zentroa - Alhóndiga Bilbao, a constructive-pictorial intervention based on Gigantomachy, the project he worked on during his recent residency at the Spanish Academy in Rome.
Interested in construction and geometric patterns, most of the artist’s recent work is inspired by the geometric pavements at the archaeological site of Ostia Antica, the ancient port of Rome, and more specifically the ones preserved in the banquet hall at the third century Schola di Traiano, the shipbuilders' school.
In “Schola Navicolare di Traiano”, he has created three-dimensional structures built for the Terrace which are reminiscent of the worktables found on the Osta Antica pavements, on top of which rest a series of paintings made with geometric grid stencils.
The ensemble displays an intervention in progress, which has a bearing on how it is made and also its origins. It is an unfinished work whose pieces are in continuous development. The artist also plays with the idea of the studio and the importance of context, expanding the concept of the work to include the entire productive environment. The table, the frames, the stencils, the easel, the text or the canvas itself are all elements of work and creation.
