https://issuu.com/barriatv/docs/alkarren_barri_305_urria-octubre_
Translation:
04.10.2024
For the 75th anniversary of the Diocese
The sculptor Joe Gitterman creates a sculpture for Urkiola
The work of art `Beech of Urkiola´ by the New York sculptor, will be part of the sacred and natural ensemble of the sanctuary from this coming Sunday, October 6. The sculptor wanted to make this contribution in the commemoration of the 75th anniversary, in a space that he discovered only five years ago. The environment has inspired him so much that he created a unique sculpture that aims to capture “the essence of the Basque beech” and offer the visitor “a feeling of rejuvenation of life”. Bishop Joseba Segura will preside over the celebration at 12:00 p.m. and later, he will bless the work in the presence of the author.
Joe Gitterman has made the sculpture in the Alfa Arte workshop, in Eibar, built with a single piece of steel, which measures 3 meters and weighs approximately 400 kilograms.
He first projected the work in his mind and then it took shape in a model that has become a beautiful work of large dimensions. This Sunday, it will be installed in the sanctuary of Urkiola, in the place where the author imagined it.
In an interview with the diocesan magazine Alkarren Barri, the sculptor tells the origin of the project.
The tree and the stained glass window
Joe Gitterman points out that the natural sacredness of the forest “is made fully explicit in his Sanctuary, dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Anthony the Abbot,” where the sculpture will be installed. As Gaspar Martínez, head of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Assets of the Diocese of Bilbao, points out, “the stained glass window next to which the ‘tree’ will be installed projects its multicoloured light through its ‘branches’, thus metaphorically giving the fruit that the prophet Isaiah saw coming out of the trunk of Jesse” (* Book of Isaiah, chapter 11)”
But the stump of Jesse will sprout,
from its root a shoot will sprout
upon which the Spirit of the Lord will rest:
with justice he will judge the helpless,
with righteousness he will sentence the oppressed. (Book of Isaiah, chapter 11)