German-born Ignacio Uriarte gave up his job as a clerical worker to work full-time as an artist, applying his expertise in his old job to his output in his new one. He produces art using the same methods that he used as an office worker, and the same work routines. There are clear links here with the conceptual art of the 1960s and with the concept of 'aesthetics of administration' coined by historian Benjamin Buchloh in his analysis of the academisation of these forms of expression. Uriarte uses a particular touch of humour to reinstate a world-view suited to the way in which he works, using Excel and a typewriter and insisting on regarding doodling as a discipline in art. Like Herman Melville's scrivener, the signs are that Uriarte 'would rather not' perform either the boring chores of an office worker or the work of an artist who seeks to express himself through his work. In this studied, careful ineffectiveness that extends in both directions, Uriarte highlights the conventions and paradoxes associated with working days and those which, in contrast, tend to be associated with what is considered as the most vital time in the output of an artist. Producing art is supposed to be exceptional rather than everyday and holds the promise of complete personal realisation, though Uriarte also keeps his distance in this respect.

Solo exhibitions of his work have been held at venues such as the Mies van der Rohe Foundation in Barcelona (2015), the Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, (2015), the White Space Beijing (2014), the Berlinische Gallery in Berlin (2014) and the Drawing Center in New York (2013), among others. His work is shown regularly at the Nogueras Blanchard Gallery, which has premises in Madrid and Barcelona.

Beatriz Herráez