Celebrating Menorca’s 2024 Season

The gallery strengthened its existing relationships with schools and educational institutions across Menorca, through dedicated learning visits, workshops and online resources, as well as the Education Lab activities. As a result 49% of the schools on the island have incorporated Hauser & Wirth artists into their classrooms, either within their art curriculum or other subjects through cross-curricular learning.

The gallery continued its learning partnerships with local not-for-profit organizations Fundación Isla del Rey Menorca, Menorca Preservation, Plastic Free Menorca, who all contributed to this year’s Education Lab.

Our collaboration with the Xarxa de Biblioteques de Menorca and Consell Insular de Menorca brought a new selection of art books to local libraries on the island. Following the donation of Susana Chillida’s memoir ‘Una vida para el arte’ (2024), the selection encompassed a range of titles that delve into contemporary art, nature, identity, and creative expression, such as ‘Mark Bradford: Ágora’ (2021) and ‘Luchita Hurtado: I Live, I Die, I Will Be Reborn (2019), as well as Hauser & Wirth Publishers titles ‘Rita Ackermann: Mama’ (2021) and ‘Anj Smith: Drifting Habitations’ (2023).

About ‘Roni Horn’
The acclaimed New York-based artist Roni Horn, awarded the Joan Miró Prize in 2013, and known for her conceptually oriented work in diverse media, presented her first solo exhibition in Menorca, which featured a selection of sculptures and installations that interacted with the historical gallery spaces and natural surroundings. Although varied in medium, all the works derived from longstanding themes that have propelled Horn’s ongoing poetic study on the protean nature of identity, meaning and perception. An ambitious installation of solid cast glass sculptures invited visitors to witness the interplay between light and weather.

About ‘Chillida in Menorca’
On occasion of ‘Eduardo Chillida 100 years’ and in collaboration with the Estate of Eduardo Chillida, ‘Chillida in Menorca’ celebrates the artist’s profound connection with the island through a major presentation of sculpture and works on paper, including several created during his time in Menorca. Featuring over 60 works spanning half a century from 1949 to 2000, the exhibition exemplifies the full breadth of Chillida’s oeuvre. The presentation concept, developed by architect Luis Laplace with a focus on local materials, amplifies the artist’s bond with the island and its natural environment.

About the Education Lab, ‘An Invitation to Look’
Inspired by Eduardo Chillida’s practice, the Education Lab invited visitors to look closer at the landscape and natural surroundings on the island. ‘An Invitation to Look’ took as its starting point the summers Chillida spent in Menorca during 1960s and how he responded to the landscape and sea. Inspired by Chillida’s sculpture ‘Homenaje a la mar IV (Homage to the Sea IV)’ (1998), the Education Lab is an invitation to look closer at our natural surroundings. In the interactive space, resources were provided to engage in activities to observe the landscape and artworks on Illa del Rei through new perspectives. As part of the initiative, we collaborated with users of day care centers across the island so they could create their own tributes to the sea, utilizing recycled plastic collected from the coastline, developed alongside NGO Menorca Preservation’s Plastic Free Menorca and Chillida Leku Museum. 

About the Outdoor Sculpture Trail
Four sculptures by Eduardo Chillida, Gary Simmons, Stefan Brüggemann and Pipilotti Rist were presented alongside the gallery buildings and embedded in the natural landscape of Illa del Rei. In the midst of Piet Oudolf’s perennial garden was the painted bronze sculpture, ‘Untitled (Crow 2)’ (2023), by Los Angeles-based artist Gary Simmons. Beside it, in the sandstone water tower, was a neon work by Stefan Brüggemann, ‘OK’ (2023). In the olive-tree forest by the sea were two hanging sculptures by Pipilotti Rist, ‘Enlightened Granddaughter <Die erleuchtete Enkelin> (Familie Elektrobranche)’ (2020 – 2023). Finally, as part of the exhibition ‘Chillida in Menorca,’ the corten steel ‘Saludo a los pájaros II (Salute to the Birds II)’ (2000) by Eduardo Chillida stood outside the large window at the end of the North Galleries, surrounded by trees and views of the harbor.