Dance Casts Sparkles in Water by Argiñe Ceballos (Ugao-Miraballes, 1999) features the latest work of the artist produced during her BilbaoArte grant with loan of studio in 2023-24, and her subsequent time at the Otxarkoaga Opengela studios.
Photographs, fabrics, sculptures and different videos in installations make up the project designed specifically for Sala URIBITARTE40. The works—the outcome of her experimenting with materials and different disciplines—dialogue with each other creating a fantasy dream world, where reality merges with fiction.
The project’s title —Dance Casts Sparkles in Water– emerged from thinking about the fabric, skin, submerged in water. A material that the artist sees as a space for experimentation. Ceballos expands, skews and joins the fabric; she wraps items and bodies with it, submerges it in the medium of water and carefully observes the changes caused by the light or the flow of the current. Changes and fleeting mutations that the artist captures in photos and videos in an attempt to record the intangible, and to create new bodies whose existence is only sustained in the temporary relationship with the other.
This interest in the fabric enveloping a body and its transformation is related directly to the concept of ‘ecdysis’ or the process when some reptiles shed their oldest skin. A renewal of the skin that, when it comes away, envelops and caresses, becoming proof of a vital stage of the body, an archive of the body memory and, in turn, a metaphor of development overtime.
Once the skin is no longer the being wearing it, and emerges as an autonomous entity or object, transforms into a type of being without a skeleton that reacts to the surrounding physical elements. A type of mercurial, elastic, translucid and fine covering that acquires new corporealities as regards other bodies.
This quest to capture the experience of the moment, where the object or the physical work is presented as a future aspect of nature, urges viewers to interact, by inviting them to form part of that sensory reality that awakens the senses and allows awareness of their own and personal corporeality, and their relationship with the environment that shapes us, cradles and envelops us.
FACT SHEET OF THE EXHIBITION
Títle: In the Water, the Dance Merges into Glimmers
Artist: Argiñe Ceballos Gelozaga (Ugao-Miraballes, 1999)
Venue: URIBITARTE40 Hall (Paseo de Uribitarte, 40. 48009 Bilbao).
Dates: February 14 – March 30, 2025
Untitled (2024). Colour photograph
Studio view at BilbaoArte
Argiñe Ceballos Gelozaga (Ugao-Miraballes, 1999) is currently pursuing a Master’s in Research and Creation in Art at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). She graduated in Art in 2023. She has participated in group exhibitions in spaces such as Okela, as part of the Gau Irekia program (2022), Bizkaia Aretoa (2023), and the URIBITARTE40 Room at BilbaoArte (2023).
Her artistic practice primarily focuses on photography, sculpture, installation, and the documentation of actions. She uses these disciplines as a way to approach her personal imagery, reflecting her interests and desires in the present moment. Whether gathered or scattered, her goal is to create connections between different bodies, emphasizing what occurs during the creative process and using those moments to build images. In this way, she seeks to downplay the concept of the “final image,” prioritizing the process and the elements that emerge throughout it. Her work involves establishing relationships between action, mediated by the recording of the moment, and the creation of materials or objects that are manipulated within the context of the scene. By bringing together different bodies, she creates new ones, transforming the function of these objects and granting them autonomy and ambiguity in their meaning. Working with different bodies, connecting them, and transforming them is a practice that allows her to create new bodies and spaces. Sewing, cutting, stretching, playing with connections—these acts intertwine in her process of exploration. In this context, textile identity goes beyond a mere fabric; it becomes a space for experimentation. These materials help her play with light and shadow, playing a fundamental role in her practice, as they are used as key elements that are only captured at a single moment, adding layers as bodies and space are in constant transformation. Through the image, she approaches her personal imagery, a dreamlike space where relationships with the world and objects merge to become an essential part of her being.
@arginecg
PUBLIC PROGRAMS
OPENING PROGRAM
Opening and public presentation
Date: Friday, February 14
Hour: 7.00 – 9.00 p.m.
Guided Tour with the Artist
Date: Saturday, February 15
Hour: 12:30 p.m.
Free entrance
GUIDED TOURS
Wednesday February 26 (Basque), March 12 (Spanish)
Guided visits simultaneously in Spanish sign language and spoken.
Dates: Wednesday, February 26 (Basque), March 12 (Spanish)
Hour: 7.00 p.m.
Duración: 45 min.
Free entrance
WORKSHOP “Entre un lago de arena y piel” with ESTELA MIGUEL
Thursday February 27, March 6 and 13 de marzo, 18:00-20:00 h
Dates: Thursday February 27, March 6 and 13 de marzo, 18:00-20:00 h
Venue Hall URIBITARTE40
Capacity: 12 people
Price: free, upon the registration through a formulary from February 17 to 20.
BOOK AND WORKSHOP RESULTS PRESENTATION
Thursday March 20, 7.00 p.m
Participate: Argiñe Ceballos (artist), Estela Miguel (artist) + the participants at both the exhibitionn ans the book editing proces.
Venue: Hall URIBITARTE40
Date: Thursday, March 20
Hour: 19:00 p.m.
Free entrance.