Art and friendship: the story of a transformative meeting

Ariel Elizondo was born in Brussels, where the family had moved from Paris, the city where his father, a native of Bilbao, studied architecture. His mother, a painter, was from Tafalla (Navarra). And there they returned years later. "My father and I bought a quarry and created a natural stone import business . We started traveling around the world looking for stones for construction that were different from what was available here. And we started working with some important architects such as Patxi Mangado, Juan Miguel Otxotorena, Carlos Ferrater, Julio Mejón, Rafael Moneo, Santiago Calatrava or David Chipperfield", explains Ariel. 

Then came the crisis, the family moved to San Sebastian and continued importing and selling stones on a smaller scale. "It was then that my artistic restlessness came to me again. I had studied Fine Arts. And I started drawing again," says Ariel. Soon his restlessness went to the Issue and he began to work with stone and steel.

Stone and steel were the materials of his childhood: the stone from the quarry in Tafalla; and the steel with which ships were forged in the shipyard in Barakaldo where he spent his summers. There Ariel found the inspiration for his sculptures. "I started looking for a way to marry those two materials, to make them converge with each other," he explains. "It wasn't easy because they are two very hard materials," she adds. "I had no experience in forging. I took some pieces of steel and went to Tafalla, to the quarry, and there I started to bend it by hand, with nothing but my strength. And I joined it to the stone," he recalls. Ariel became interested in the art world and his work began to have some success among gallery owners and clients. 

It was shortly after, in 2021, when he met Juan Roquette. "Are the sculptures yours?" he asked him. "They are very good. You should dedicate yourself 100% to them." Now, Ariel's work includes small and medium-sized carvings for galleries and individuals; and large sculptures for public places.

From raw stone for the esplanade of the Communication building to molding "Barrutik". 

This chance meeting led to others. Professor Roquette invited him to campus and introduced him to some professors at the School of Architecture. "Juan asked me if I was willing to collaborate with the University. And of course I was," Ariel says. He recalls that, in fact, he had already been linked to the center for years: his father and he provided the stone for the esplanade that the architect Ignacio Vicens built between the School of Communication building (also his work) and the Main Library. "In the end, that first partnership ended up materializing in a project with some students who created a conceptual chess. I gave them the stones and some ideas on how they could do it," he recalls.

The conversations with Juan and other professors at the School continued, and so the project to write"Barrutik", a monograph on his work published by EUNSA, was born. "His work seemed to me to be of a very high quality and I thought that from the University we could help him to intellectualize it, giving it an academic rigor, with opinions, comments and analysis", explains Juan. Ariel quickly agreed. "The book tries to show that my work is inspired by architectural elements and my strong experience in the world of stone. That's when we started a very intense work , both essay and reflection," he explains.

The project was soon joined by Fernando Alonso, also a professor at the School of Architecture. "Juan and Fernando have been like two angels that have appeared in my life, giving me light and showing me the way," Ariel confesses. "They have great knowledge in art and, of course, in Architecture; and for me they are an important reference. I consult with them on any idea that comes to me so that they can give me their opinion. I am sure that our friendship will lead us to work together on other sculptural development projects, and architectural ones, of course," he assures. 

Friendship is the core topic in all of this. "Sometimes work at the university ends up being very bureaucratic and it's easy to fall into a routine. Doing different, more creative things allows you to see beyond: you have a good time and make friends," explains Juan. "Other professors from the School have collaborated on the book and thanks to that we have been able to get to know each other better and grow in friendship," he concludes.