Luis Carlos Aljure
Artículo en el periódico El Tiempo. Sábado 24 de julio de 1992
The stone and brick towers, which long ago surpassed in height the solitary palm tree on Carrera 7 and Avenida Chile, will add a public plaza to the city’s urban space. They will add to the city’s urban space a public plaza where five bronze deer, created by Bogota sculptor Nadín Ospina, will graze meekly.
The space will have an extension of 345 meters and in addition to the sculptures, there will be a water fountain, a garden and the centennial wax palm that was preserved in front of the façade.
Three more deer will be placed inside the building, once the construction of the first tower is finished, which is estimated for the end of July.
This work by Nadín Ospina was chosen by Colcultura to participate in the Joan Miró international visual arts competition being held in Barcelona as part of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America.
“The project is like a spearhead to open a new concept that helps to understand the need to install works of art in urban spaces”. Expressed the artist.
Pre-Columbian animal
He has been working for 20 years on the concept of installation, the same one he applied in the work of the deer that was finished four months ago. The installation,” he explains, “consists of the placement of various pieces, the fragmentation of diverse elements that fill and appropriate a space.
The work aims to rescue, at the same time, ecological and pre-Columbian values. Because the deer is an endangered species of the Bogotá savannah and, in addition, it was a common symbol of the original cultures of America.
The elaboration of the deer required the construction of clay molds that weighed between 150 and 200 kilograms.
The tradition of foundry casting was almost totally lost,” said the artist, “because sculptors abandoned conventional materials such as bronze and stone in the face of the rise of new elements such as aluminum and the tendency to use waste materials.
The project of the eight bronze deer is called “The Return of the Princes” and for the moment the five figures have been installed and will remain in the public square. To protect them, they are currently covered with wooden boxes and will only be released on June 30.
According to Nadín ospina himself: “It is very important and much needed in Colombia to revitalize and rescue public spaces as places where people can enjoy art”.