José Ramón Amondarain

San Sebastián, Spain, 1964.
Lives and works in San Sebastian

“In my work, I do not pursue programmatic objectives; rather, I propose a sustained attentiveness to initiate a process. Far removed from strategies or calculated maneuvers, I am concerned with how a process defines itself, regardless of the outcome. This condition compels me to create a kind of simulacrum—a decoy that I will ultimately betray. For me, the methodologies traversing a process are fluid and highly expansive; any sign can find its place. Consequently, it is essential to establish a concrete methodology—one that I will eventually subvert, and which will reveal to me the true nature of what I am seeking. My work has generally revolved around painting; and while we know that disciplinary boundaries have dissolved, there are processes—such as the one I am engaged in—that are intrinsic to thinking through painting. My work is not rooted in ideas, but rather in ensuring that my working process does not falter. As veteran dancers know, one must anchor oneself to a stable point in order to spin as fully as possible.” — J.R. Amondaraín.

José Ramón Amondaraín (San Sebastián, 1964) holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). He held his first exhibition in 1988, and since then, his work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions at art galleries and institutions in cities such as Madrid, London, Berlin, Brussels, Barcelona, ​​Istanbul, Bilbao, Rome, San Sebastián, Palma de Mallorca, Pamplona, ​​Valencia, and Amsterdam. In 2018, he was awarded an artist-in-residence and research grant at the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome and won First Prize at the 15th Gas Natural Fenosa Exhibition in A Coruña. In 2021 and 2022, he received production grants for the visual arts from the Basque Government, in addition to earlier awards such as the residency at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2004) and the Marcelino Botín Foundation Grant (1999).

His works are part of renowned private and institutional collections, such as those of Grupo Endesa, Madrid; the Arthur Andersen Collection, Madrid; the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; the Banco de España Collection, Madrid; the Unicaja Collection, Madrid; the Caja Madrid Collection; the Madrid City Council Collection; the La Caixa Foundation, Barcelona; the CAB Caja Burgos Collection; the Marcelino Botín Foundation, Santander; Artium (Basque Centre-Museum of Contemporary Art), Vitoria-Gasteiz; the Coca-Cola Spain Foundation; the ING Bank Collection, Amsterdam; and DA2 Domus Artium, Salamanca.