Beached Whale Hidden in the Forests of Argentina
Imagine Your Surprise at Discovering This on a Walk in the Woods!
You might forgive people thinking you are telling a tale (or would that be a tail?) when you exclaimed that you found a life-sized Blue Whale in the forests of Argentina, outside of Ushuaia.
The whale sculpture, created by Argentinian sculptor, Adrián Villar Rojas, is made from a combination of wood, rocks, and clay. It seems so natural that it is hard to fathom that it has not always been there. (Sorry, couldn’t resist an ocean-themed pun.)
Whales are not the only thing that Rojas creates. His works have a mysterious, surreal quality to them. Sometimes they are like monsters, or aliens from another planet. Other works are very much of this world, featuring tennis shoes, televisions and electronics.
To say that Rojas’ work is hard to categorize is an understatement. He has even created a clay sculpture of the dead artist Kurt Corbain
What we can say about this sculptor is that he definitely works large. Most of his pieces are “larger than life”…okay, the whale sculpture may be “life sized” but let’s face it, a Blue Whale is larger than life compared to most of us!
Adrián Villar Rojas excels at site-specific works that oscillate among historical, symbolic and spatial effects. One brought him wide attention when he represented Argentina at the 2011 Venice Biennale. Since then, he has become a staple at these large international exhibitions. Working mostly in situ in cast concrete with a team of assistants, he may have single-handedly made a complement of “festivalist art,” originally a pejorative coined for the grandiose installations of such shows.
Pulling from history, and art history, this is a sculptor who knows how to pull at emotions. He startles, surprises, and engages his viewers.
Read the original article on “My Family Dead”, on Colossal by Christopher Jobson
Quote on his work from a recent review of Rojas’ work in the NY Times.
Images from Adrián Villar Rojas
