The exhibition brings together drawings and watercolors created by the artist during his travels to various global locations. It includes over 40 travel notebooks, personal diaries, and small images he sent to his mother in letters from New York. Many of these pieces have not been previously displayed to the public.
The intimate trace of Pedro Cano's journeys inaugurates the EHU's Oteiza Room as a new exhibition space. Cano, with an extensive international career, is particularly associated with Rome, Italy, and the Mediterranean. He studied at the San Fernando Superior School of Fine Arts in Madrid and completed a residency at the Spanish Academy in Rome.
Amaia Elizalde, the EHU's Director of Culture, highlighted that Cano's work offers a different way of traveling and experiencing the world, characterized by a slow, deliberate gaze that pays attention to both the landscape and the small details of daily life. "Cano's work proposes not just a journey, but also a different way of being in the world," she stated.
In response to the EHU's invitation, Basque writer Harkaitz Cano has created literary texts that engage with the artist's work. These texts are displayed on the exhibition walls and on a foldable handout for visitors, fostering a dialogue between image and word.
The exhibition originated from a meeting between the EHU rector, Joxerra Bengoetxea, and Pedro Cano in Murcia. After encountering the artist and his work, the rector considered bringing a selection of his travel notebooks to Bilbao.
According to the EHU's Directorate of Culture, this initiative aligns with the university's commitment to strengthening the role of art and creation within academia and promoting collaboration between the university community, artists, and cultural institutions.
Furthermore, today, September 9th, at 18:30, Pedro Cano and Miguel Zugaza, director of the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, will participate in a colloquium at Sala Bizkaia. On September 10th, the artist will give a master class to Fine Arts students at the Leioa campus, and on September 11th, another will be held for Architecture School students at the Ibaeta campus.
Cano's exhibition also marks the beginning of a new phase for the EHU's Oteiza Room, which will now host works by students from the Faculty of Fine Arts. During the second semester, pieces created during Pedro Cano's master classes will also be exhibited.
