Surf Like You Are, Live Like You Surf is a temporary exhibition by the multidisciplinary artist, designer and surfer Jorge López de Guereñu, who in this exhibition connects two of his great passions; art and surfing.

It is a project that began more than two years ago and has been growing and evolving until reaching this exhibition, which brings together a selection of works made during this time and some of his most recent creations that include boards painted by the artist, three large pieces based on portraits of surfers and a short film.

Boards and audiovisuals

The exhibition presents three surfboards produced and painted in three workshops that represent the history of this industry up to the present day, and connects modern art with what this artist considers to be another art form, the making of the boards.

The creative process and the making of these three boards is reflected in El Alma, a short film, directed by Annika Von Schütz and co-directed by Sunny Breger, which deals with part of the history of surfing in the Basque Country and specifically in Bizkaia. A short audiovisual piece that mixes images and conversations filmed in the workshops where these three works have been produced and in different locations in Bizkaia. In addition to the three shapers involved, Jorge Imbert, the first professional surfer in Europe, and Jorge López de Guereñu himself appear surfing with the boards in different locations in Uribe Kosta.

Sculptures and portraits

For the first time, two sculptural pieces made of paper bags of surf brands of two surfers are exhibited, the first of their kind that Jorge has developed.

The exhibition is completed by the original project with paper bags with the imprint of some of the most prominent brands in the world of surfing and the faces of surfers who have or have had a special relationship with them, handmade in ink and gouache.

Portraits of local surfers and people who, in some way, occupy a prominent place in the Basque surf industry, a subjective selection as Jorge López de Guereñu explains: “the people I chose are not there because of their popularity or because they are famous competitors, although some are or have been. They are there because they are involved in social or environmental protection projects, or simply because they are examples of self-improvement, because of their personality and even because of the way they relate to sport and nature, because of the way they transmit the values that interest me. It is my particular vision of the world of surfing, of the relationship of its protagonists, industry and market with the environment, with the sport and its essential values”.

The exhibition is part of the programme of the Laboral Kutxa Bilbao Surf Film Festival, which takes place at Itsasmuseum between 24 and 26 February.