05 Jul 2010

Javier Marin's 'RETABLO' in Zacatecas, Mexico

JAVIER MARIN - RETABLO
Opening June 27, 2010 at 6 p.m.

Sculptural project by Javier Marin in collaboration with Gantous Arquitectos. On June 27th the unveiling of the piece 'Retablo,' executed by Javier Marin in collaboration with Gantous Arquitectos, will take place at the Basilica de Zacatecas Cathedral. This contemporary artistic intervention, dedicated to the people of Zacateca and to the bishop of Zacateca, Fernando Mario Chávez Ruvalcaba, will be unveiled by the state governor Amalia Garcia Medina. The Cathedral will open its doors to the general public on June 27th at 9:30 p.m.

In 2008 the State of Zacateca and the Zacateca State Tourism Secretariat made a call to artists to execute the principal nave and the presbytery of the Basilica de Zacatecas Cathedral, located in the historic centre of the city. It was decided that the Cathedral be endowed with an important work of contemporary art, which will enhance the existing aesthetics of the building and the city. Javier Marin was selected among sixteen Mexican artists who were invited to propose a project for the Cathedral's principal nave and the presbytery.

As of June 2010, the Basilica de Zacatecas Cathedral, declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity by Unesco, will house the piece 'Retablo,' executed by Javier Marin in collaboration with Gantous Arquitectos.

The artwork, sculpted in less than a year, consists of the high altar as main visual focus in the principal nave, the presbytery area and the altar - composed of four wings that hold a marble plaque, as well as low relief carvings and sculptures of smaller dimensions.

The body of the altarpiece, composed of rhythmic geometric and modular forms of great precision, provides space to house images of saints executed in linear organic forms; the result is a balanced composition in accordance with the conditions and the nature of the site.

Even though the high altar and the presbytery were conceived, executed and sculpted as a single piece, the singularity of the gestures, the expressiveness of the molding, the characteristics of the materials, and the evidence of the process clearly show the artistic personality of Javier Marin, in harmony with the architectural proposal of Gantous Arquitectos.


Basilica de Zacatecas Cathedral
Hidalgo
Zacatecas, Mexico