On a representative date for Mexico and the United States -May 5- that commemorates the triumph of the Mexican army against the French armies of Napoleon III, the effigy of Benito Juárez, seen in perspective, seems to display the wings of victory in the Plaza of the Americas in Chicagowhere this Thursday afternoon the already iconic piece “Wings of Mexico“, by the sculptor Jorge Marín.
In front of the statue of Benemérito de las Américas, flanked by flags from all the countries of the continent, the “Wings of Mexico” installation can be admired by the more than 9 million inhabitants of the Windy City, 1.6 million of them from Mexican origin, which constitute the largest Latino community in the city and one of the largest national conglomerates in USA.
And although the “At“ from Marin necessarily refer to Mexico, the truth is that the piece expresses a universal language. “Marín gives wings to bronze: angel wings,” wrote Carlos Fuentes in 2011 for the prologue to the commemorative book celebrating ten years of sculpture. And angels are common and evocative in all cultures.
Jorge Marinwho in his facet as a sculptor has become a promoter of art in public space, finds himself at ease -with his wings outstretched- in Chicago, a city of great importance in contemporary art and one of the most invested and committed to the aesthetics of the urban landscape.
Installation “Wings of Mexico” took flight in Mexico City in 2010, and to date has traveled to more than 25 cities around the world, including Dubai, Toledo, Beirut, Guangzhou, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Cairo, Oslo, and Anaheim ; and has permanent headquarters in Los Angeles, Madrid, Chihuahua, Quebec, Singapore, Berlin Tel Aviv, and Mexico City, to name a few.
Photo EE: Courtesy
Everywhere, people line up to take their photo; for example, in Dubai, it is the most “instagrammable” sculptural piece; More than 5 million people have been counted posing with their wings behind them.
What about this piece? Why does it pull so much? I ask the artist. “I would immediately say that because it is an interactive work, it is completed with the viewer, and secondly, this piece has the great achievement, and forgive me for saying so, that it has the ability to pull the viewer and seduce him, and invite him to participate.
The inaugural ceremony, which the author attended remotely, was accompanied by Lori Lightfoot, mayor of the city of Chicago; Reyna Torres, consul general of Mexico in the city; Roberto Velasco, head of the Unit for North America of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico; Jesús “Chuy” García, congressman of the House of Representatives of the United States of America, among other officials and sponsors.
The installation will remain six months in Chicago; later it will be exhibited in front of the Mexican consulate in the city of Brookhaven, in the southern state of Georgia, and other works also by Jorge Marín will occupy space in streets, parks and in front of museums in that city.
“Wings of Mexico”, will continue to summon thousands of people who wish to see themselves with wings, to fantasize about flying or imagine themselves as angels, and will unite many and diverse voices, as Fuentes wrote: “(…) as if a common language, Irish, Gaelic, Manx, Breton, Celtiberian, meet here, for a moment, in sculpture, and thanks to bronze, they will sing to Mexico”.
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