Aitor Ortiz

Bilbao, Spain. 1971
Beyond documentary photography of architecture and industry, vindicating the dilution and transmutation of reality associated with photographic representation, Aitor Ortiz works with space, architecture, and objects as elements that give rise to a series of visual and cognitive unknowns.
Ortiz is repeatedly interested in posing a series of dilemmas between representation and interpretation (perception) and establishes a relationship between the content of his images, the physical properties of the materials on which he reproduces his work, and the position of the pieces in the exhibition space. Aitor Ortiz seeks to establish a broad spectrum of works and the relationships between the photographed places, the conscious and subconscious mechanisms involved in the process of image manipulation: the eye (interpretation, framing, contextualization, etc.), the camera (focus/blur, optical distortion, transmission of movement, etc.), and the brain (the limitations of an imperfect artifact in interpreting data and empirical skills: experience, association of concepts, etc.). This culminates in the exhibition space, where the physical experience once again transcends the content of his photographs as part of a process of constant interaction between representation and the viewer's perception.
Among his most recent solo exhibitions are those held at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (2011); Fotografiska (Swedish Museum of Photography, Stockholm, 2012) and the Community of Madrid at the Sala Canal de Isabel II, Madrid (2012).
His work has earned him, among others, the City of Palma Award, the ABC Photography Prize, the Grand Prize of Honor at the Alexandria Art Biennial (Egypt), and the First Villa de Madrid Photography Prize. His works are part of collections such as MNCARS, La Caixa Foundation, ARTIUM, CAB, IVAM, AXXA, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, MACUF, Foto Colectania, and the Telefónica Foundation.