By Ana María de Mena
Due to the variety, quality and originality, the number of Argentine artists who transcend with their works is numerous. And among the consecrated ones, there are some who are over eighty years old and continue producing and providing their creations.
Carlos Alonso (95), Luis Felipe Noé (90), Marta Minujin (81) and Jorge Gamarra (85), are some of the names that stand out for their career and continuity. In San Martín de los Andes there is a work by one of them that, being in sight, it goes almost unnoticed despite being in the heart of the city
To the right in front of the Municipal Hall you can see the sculpture of Jorge Gamarra He came to town twenty-five years ago, when the First International Symposium on Wood Sculptures in 1999
and Gamarra won first prize in the contest, awarded by the “Andreani Foundation”.
Who is Jorge Gamarra?
The notable artist was born in Buenos Aires on February 20, 1939. He considers himself a self-taught sculptor. He attended a secondary technical establishment in which he specialized in industrial modeling, which allowed him to acquire knowledge of design and different trades that led to his handling of the most diverse materials.
In 1964 he married Norma Nardini with whom he started his family. Already a year before and over the course of the following decade he worked in companies linked to the insurance area. At the same time he began his first sculptures experimenting with wood and acrylic. He worked with African mahogany, guayacán, red quebracho and paradise, among others.
He exhibited works from the series “Of the petals and flowers”, made in acrylic in an individual exhibition at the Gradiva gallery in 1969 and participated in group exhibitions at the Lirolay gallery.
The quality of the wood and the smoothness of the finish of the work can be seen in the photo
Works in various media After a permanent work schedule, he received theKonex Foundation Award in Sculpture
corresponding to the Five Year Period 1987 – 1991.Years later he participated in the 18th International Snow Sculpture Competition together with Fabriciano and Gómez Lollo in Quebec Canada, where they won the 3rd prize of the Jury and theFirst Prize by the artists’ vote
. An award from peers is an important recognition.
In 1990 he was guest of honor at the 3rd International Chaco Wood Sculpture Competition and participated in the 5th International Snow Sculpture Competition in Milwaukee, United States. Three years later he received an award at the LXXXII National Hall of Painting and Sculpture of San Salvador de Jujuy and with the work“Asymmetric tension”, carved in soap
he was awarded First Place in the Llauró Prize for Soap Sculptures, exhibited at the Palais de Glace, Buenos Aires. In 1994 he participated in the First International Symposium on Steel Sculpture
organized on Paseo de Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. His work titled “Inflexion” was located in that city. The following year it was guest of honor at the First Pan-American Triennial of Stone Sculpture,
held at the “Juan Carlos Castagnino” Municipal Museum of Art in Mar del Plata. Some time later (2006) he participated in the exhibition “Coexistence and Disarmament” that took place at the Palais de Glace. There she presenteda work made with firearms that were delivered within the framework of a national disarmament program
. Later (2007), the Danubio firm, within the “Sculptors and Painters 2007” program,He made sheets designed from his work “Atolón”
. Their exhibition, along with those designed based on works by Hernán Dompé and Bastón Díaz, were presented at the Recoleta Cultural Center.
Route and presence in the area This article reviews a few awards and samples. He continued to exhibit his works; He did it in more than 200 individual and group exhibitions, in galleries and museums of theArgentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Mexico, United States, Canada, Italy, France, Japan and China
.
In 1996 he obtained the Grand Prize of Honor from the National Hall. He also received the Golden Harlequin for Best Artist of the year 1999/2000, among other distinctions. He also won the main award of the
First Sculpture Competition of San Martín de los Andes 1999. In 2002 he was part of the collective exhibition Images and Culture of the 20th Century held at theNational Museum of Fine Arts of Neuquén
whose inauguration he attended. In 2012 he received the Konex Foundation Award in the Visual Arts category
and continued to exhibit in various galleries, he also continued to receive distinctions.
Last year he presented an exhibition of his works in Pinamar and he is one of the internationally established Argentine artists who is not stopped by age. In San Martín de los Andes, the piece in question is that of the Argentine sculptor with the longest career located in a public space,
made invisible by the anonymity to which the lack of identification subjects it.
Slender and waiting to emerge from anonymity, the sculpture looks
