El Vigilante (sculpture)

El Vigilante
The monument on the inaugural day
Map
Location
ArtistJorge Marín
Year2016 (2016)
MediumBronze
Dimensions31 m × 15 m × 15 m (102 ft × 49 ft × 49 ft)
Weight25 t (25 long tons; 28 short tons)
LocationEcatepec de Morelos
Coordinates19°31′22″N 99°05′24″W / 19.52287°N 99.08987°W / 19.52287; -99.08987
Websitejorgemarin.com.mx

El Vigilante (lit. transl. The Vigilant) is an outdoor cire perdue bronze sculpture installed along Mexican Federal Highway 85D ("México–Pachuca" Highway), in the limits of Ecatepec de Morelos and Tlalnepantla de Baz, in the State of Mexico.[1]

Description and history

The sculpture was designed by Jorge Marín and it was inaugurated on 18 March 2016 by Enrique Peña Nieto, the president of Mexico from 2012 to 2018 during the inauguration of the adjacent vehicular bridge.[2] It is a 25 meters (82 ft) high artwork that features a crouched angel placed on a 6 meters (20 ft) high concrete plinth. Even though its basement also functions as an observation deck,[3] as of January 2020 there were no bridges or access roads that directly connect to it.[4] The sculpture weighs 25 metric tons (25 long tons; 28 short tons).[5]

Marín said he designed the sculpture in a contemporary manner, featuring a young man with tattoos and piercings that wears a bird mask to represent Ehecatl, a deity associated with the wind.[3][5] Marín recommended looking at it in a quick and distant way.[6] The sculpture cost over seven million Mexican pesos.[2]

Enrique Peña Nieto (center), Jorge Marín (right) and Eruviel Ávila (left) during the inauguration

See also

References

  1. ^ "Jorge Marín" (in Spanish). Jorge Marín's official website. Retrieved 23 March 2022. The website is interactive. In order to obtain information about the sculpture, the user must follow OBRA > OBRA PÚBLICA > El Vigilante – Carretera México-Pachuca > Detalle de la obra.
  2. ^ a b "Inauguran puente vehicular y escultura El Vigilante en Ecatepec" [Vehicular bridge and sculpture are inaugurated in Ecatepec]. Expansión (in Spanish). 22 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b "El escultor Jorge Marín lleva la mayor de sus obras a Ecatepec" [Sculptor Jorge Marín takes the biggest of his works to Ecatepec]. Excélsior (in Spanish). Mexico City. Notimex. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  4. ^ Espejel, Nadia (6 January 2020). "Se encuentra en el abandono obra en el Edomex que costó 20 millones de pesos" [20 million pesos construction project in the State of Mexico is abandoned]. La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b "El Vigilante, monumental creación de Jorge Marín" [El Vigilante, monumental creation of Jorge Marín] (in Spanish). Notimex. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2022 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "Vigilantes globales: la escultura viajera de Jorge Marín" [Global vigilants: the traveling sculptures of Jorge Marín]. Centro Nacional de las Artes (in Spanish). 11 January 2017. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017 – via Paola Rojas official website.


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