KMSKA presents Philip Aguirre y Otegui
A sanctuary for art and soul
From 3 October 2026 to 17 January 2027, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) will present the largest retrospective exhibition ever dedicated to Philip Aguirre y Otegui. Featuring monumental sculptures, intimate figures, drawings and prints, the exhibition covers more than forty years of the artist’s career, from the 1980s to the present day. The exhibition invites visitors to step into Aguirre’s world, where classical beauty meets the complex realities of today.
Philip Aguirre’s refined sculptures and powerful drawings bear witness to a deep faith in humanity and constitute a plea for dignity, vulnerability and solidarity. This focus on the human condition stems in part from his family history: his father fled the Basque Country for Belgium during the Spanish Civil War. A keen awareness of the world has been the defining thread throughout Aguirre’s remarkable career, which reaches a new high point this year with a presentation at the Venice Biennale and a solo exhibition at KMSKA.
Art is not going to save the world, but it may touch an individual, make them think or bring them joy.
Aguirre is a close observer of humanity and society. His work aligns with that of artists ranging from Bruegel and Goya to Rodin and Ossip Zadkine. Just like Zadkine, who sought to capture the human condition in a changing world, Aguirre also creates space for reflection on contemporary themes, without explicitly taking a political stance.
Aguirre’s vision fits seamlessly with the mission of KMSKA: a museum where visitors can find hope and connection and be moved by the power and beauty of art. In a world full of stimuli and uncertainty, this exhibition offers a moment of tranquillity and an invitation to look at the world with an open mind.
Somewhere between beauty and reality
Philip Aguirre y Otegui transforms the museum into a kind of sanctuary. From this vantage point, the artist explores the tension between ‘within’ and ‘without’, between the familiar and the vast, turbulent outside world.
How do we reconcile our longing for a private paradise with a disordered world? In his works, Aguirre evokes this quest for balance. By arranging the halls as an engaging, spatial experience, he invites visitors to immerse themselves in an ongoing narrative about what it means to be human.
Aguirre’s passion for his craft is apparent in his use of a wide range of materials, such as plaster, bronze, wood, terracotta and paper. Reinterpreting classical motifs in unexpected ways, he transforms a majestic triumphal arch into a fragile form of poetry, while the classical caryatid no longer supports a building but instead carries a wounded figure on her head.
While Aguirre is constantly seeking beauty and poetry, reality is never far away. Through sharp contrasts, the artist draws attention to universal themes such as migration, inequality and conflict in a poignant way.
Art in the public space
Art in the public space
The exhibition also highlights Aguirre’s impact beyond the museum’s walls. In public spaces, he gives a voice to forgotten stories and people such as in Matrasdrager (Mattress Porter), 2001, which depicts a classically styled figure bearing the everyday weight of a mattress. Through this combination of classical and contemporary visual language, Aguirre creates a language of his own that poetically portrays the ills of his time.
Water, too, is a recurring element in his body of work. A notable example is Théâtre Source (2013), a functional water source and architectural meeting place that Aguirre designed for a shanty town in Douala, Cameroon. The project reflects Aguirre’s deep conviction that art has social relevance, far removed from the exclusivity of the art market.
A special momentum
Featuring over a hundred works, Philip Aguirre y Otegui is the largest exhibition ever dedicated to the artist. Key works spanning his entire career are brought together with previously unseen creations from the studio, important loans from public and private collections, and recent sculptures that are also on view at the Venice Biennale.
As a native of Antwerp, Aguirre continues a rich artistic tradition that resonates far beyond our borders. His work tells universal stories about humanity and the world in which we live. KMSKA wishes to share this powerful visual idiom with a wide audience and demonstrate just how relevant his exceptional oeuvre is today.
