On Friday, February 20, 2026 at 7:00 pm the URIBITARTE40 hall of BilbaoArte opens the exhibition “Ipar-Hegora” by Leo Burge, artist in residence at BilbaoArte in 2024-25.
As part of the inaugural program, on Friday, Februray 20 at 6:00 p.m. the artist will offer a free guided tour,
The exhibition will be open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm, and Sundays and holidays from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm until April 5.
Free admission.
THE EXHIBITION
The Ipar-hegora exhibition is presented as a journey, bringing together different facets of the work: drawings, reliefs, display prototypes and process fragments. Mechanised rods are used extensively in the studio, forming different types of sequences. The encounters and brittle finishes are sometimes used as a constructive principle, structuring the works through their inherent disparity. This interplay between a structured form and the margin of error that constitutes it is a constant feature of the pieces.
In addition to some key works from the artist’s recent career, new productions are presented, especially some mural drawings developed from smaller-scale essays. Through drawing and its staging, we can glimpse some openings into the artist’s psyche, with references as pertinent to the domain of abstraction in art as to other worlds. Some works, perhaps not so unexpectedly, seem to gravitate towards the visual subcultures of rock, surfing and DIY.
Much of the material comes from works exhibited throughout the year on different occasions, such as the KAMC residence (Yokohama), the exhibition No amago res a les butxaques at Sala Souvenir (Barcelona), the exhibition Blue Lines at Sala Rekalde (Bilbao), Hypopressive at Ethall (Barcelona), and finally, some murals designed for the Túnel project at Atoi (Bilbao), which will be reissued specifically for Sala URIBITARTE40.
THE ARTIST
Leo Burge (London, 1991) studied at the University of the Basque Country (Bilbao) and KABK (The Hague). He has exhibited individually and in duo with Blue Lines (2025) at Sala Rekalde, Estructuras Constantes (2023) at Jorge López Gallery, Metofam (2020) and Petal (2018) at Carreras Múgica Gallery, Display Series III (2022) at Bulegoa Z/B, and has held exhibitions and residencies at KAMC Yokohama, Halfhouse and Fundación BilbaoArte. He has also participated collectively in exhibitions and projects such as Koganecho Bazaar (2025), Sonic Fielding (2024) and Bi Dos Two (2018) at Centro Azkuna, as well as being involved in renowned ephemeral projects such as Gio Bat and Kalostra (both in 2015). His texts have been published for venues and organisations such as Centro Centro, Musac, Racoon Projects and Eremuak.
His work bridges drawing, relief, freestanding sculpture, writing and the spaces where these take shape. He often processes refined lines by cutting and reshaping steel and carbon rods, ribbons and the textures or imprints that appear as a result.
Burge takes the supporting/surface aspect of a project as a principle and even an end in itself, exploring forms empirically and phenomenologically. Recent works such as the Tool series and the sculpture Empty Form stand out, both as explorations of linear volumes closely related to body scale and surrounding space. He maintains an extensive repertoire of drawings that featured in his latest exhibition, Blue Lines.
Throughout his career, he has written and published literary essays for both his own projects and collaborations with different artists, in the form of reports and exhibition notes.
Image: Juan De Dios Jarrillo