Coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Month, Raleighites will have the chance to see Mexican artist Jorge Marín’s traveling sculpture exhibition, ‘Wings of the City,’ at Dorothea Dix Park beginning next week.
The nine whimsical, winged bronze sculptures will be installed from October 2021 to March 2022. This will be the first international art exhibition at Dorothea Dix Park.
The exhibit is intended to promote art as a universal language and a bridge between nations.
‘Wings of the City’ has been touring cities internationally since 2013, most recently in Greenville, but according to the press release, Raleigh will be its first stop to include accompanying dialogue in the Mexican indigenous language, Purépecha.
“This exhibition will have a sense of identity for the new generations because it pays homage to themes, thoughts and ways of life of native peoples, which are not neither static nor isolated and whose work continues to generate knowledge, cultural expressions and means of exchange,” said Elena Catalán, director of the Jorge Marín Foundation in the release.
Known throughout Mexico as a sculptor, Jorge Marín has more than 30 years of experience as an artist. He has exhibited bronzes in Mexico and abroad, ranging from miniature to monumental sculptures.
An opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, October 7 at 5 p.m. in the park, with a reception following at the Chapel Event Center.
Claudia Velasco, Consul General of Mexico in Raleigh, said that the exhibition is attached to the promotion of traditional Mexican culture in the world, “due to the universal character of Jorge Marín’s work, its aesthetic proposal and that provocation that the artist has reiterated so many times when inviting us to assume our own wings.”
“‘Wings of the City’ embodies the aspiration of Dix Park as a place for introspection, interpretation and community,” said Janet Cowell, President of the Dix Park Conservancy.
A community event to celebrate the opening of the exhibition is scheduled for Saturday, October 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gathering will showcase Mexican culture with live music and food trucks. The public is welcome to bring chairs and blankets to sit and listen to music and enjoy the art.
A map on the Dorothea Dix Park website guides park-goers to the nine locations of the sculptures.
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