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The sculptor César Orrico and the sculpture of Antonio Gala.CORDOVA
-How did you receive the commission for the Antonio Gala sculpture and what instructions did they give you?
-The foundation contacted me through José María Gala and they told me that the Córdoba City Council wanted to pay tribute to Antonio Gala in the form of a sculpture and have it made by one of the scholarship recipients. They had thought of me and of course I said yes after getting over the shock. It was something that gave me a lot of emotion and also a great responsibility to be given this opportunity. From there, we started talking about the sculpture itself. In principle, it was considered to make a bust, from the shoulders up, but of course, some allusion had to be made to the attributes that Antonio always carried, such as his handkerchief and, above all, his cane. Then, I commented that we had to make something bigger and show the hands and that very peculiar way that Antonio had of holding the cane, which more than holding it seemed like he was caressing it. During the execution of the project, I had several long conversations with Francisco Moreno, the president of the foundation, and with his nephew and director, José María Gala, to say what clothing was the most appropriate, how he felt most comfortable, until we reached the final score. One of the main keys that we decided from the beginning was for him to look towards the Grand Theater, that place that gave him so much joy.
-What material is it made of?
-The sculpture itself is made of lost wax bronze and the pedestal is made of stone.
César Orrico, next to the sculpture of Antonio Gala, on Gran Capitán Boulevard.
-At the inauguration they commented that he had used his memories to reproduce the writer. What was his source of inspiration?
-Antonio was a very well-known person and there are many things on the Internet, but for a job like this you need very specific material and given the obvious impossibility of taking photos of him or having him pose for me, I had to use my memories. He had some photos of the approximate age at which I wanted to represent him. I also used his interviews with Jesús Quintero, for example, but there is a very important part of his memory. I have tried to make it like another portrait, trying to make it look alike, but above all, the most important thing for me was to capture that brilliant and overwhelming personality that he had.
-What has been the most complicated thing to execute, his face, his hands…?
-Not so much the hands or the face or the body, the most complicated thing in the end is to capture that personality and above all that it is alive, that you see it and it seems that it is going to move, that it is suddenly going to start telling you something . The difficult thing is to represent that moment when you see him with that half-mischievous smile that he always had when you didn’t know if he was going to give you a reprimand or recite a poem. You had to look for just that moment because his genius was such that you didn’t know where he was going to lead you.
-You lived with Antonio Gala in the foundation, in the class of 2008-2009. Fifteen years after that, he is an established sculptor and has won, among others, the 2023 Reina Sofía Prize for Sculpture. What did his time at the Gala Foundation mean?
-That was one of the best years of my life. If I am a sculptor today, I can say that to a large extent, almost one hundred percent, it is thanks to the foundation and Antonio Gala. The work that the foundation does is very important for an artist because it helps you at the right moment, which is when you finish your degree, in my case I finished at the Faculty of Fine Arts, then I did a master’s degree and when you finish that comes your exit to the outside world, you have to present your work and you need time to focus on your personal motivations, on seeing what really interests you as an artist. When you finish college, the only thing you have is academic work and that is not high quality material nor is it up to par, you need to do deeper and more personal work and the foundation gives you that because it lets you do it without the worries of Having to get a workshop allows you to find your way because it offers you a place to build your pillars and that is essential.
César Orrico, in the process of executing the sculpture by Antonio Gala.
-Also, I think he also found the woman who is his wife today there.
-Yes Yes. My wife is Ana Moya, she is a painter, visual artist and I met her at the foundation. People from different disciplines gather there, painters, photographers, musicians, writers, and by spending so much time together, it is inevitable that some influence others. I think that was what Antonio really wanted, for each of us to stand on the other’s shoulders so that we could see further. I can’t say anything but wonderful things about the foundation and Córdoba, which is a wonderful city, the people and the love they have always given us.
-What memories of Antonio do you keep in your memory?
-At the time when I was at the foundation, Antonio was very active, but he always made time to come see us and help us, he was very involved in the work of the scholarship recipients and constantly stopped by the workshops to be interested in what you were doing, He started talking to you. From the point of view of experience, there was a brilliant atmosphere, he gave you his opinion, his advice… I was lucky to have long conversations with him and those things stay with you. He always said that you had to put a seal on your heart and the truth is that it is in mine.
Antonio Gala becomes eternal next to the Gran Teatro
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-Does this sculpture follow the same canons as your other works or is it different?
Even if it is an assignment, you always try to keep it in your line. I work on the figuration of the human being and my work involves recovering archetypes from the past, bringing them to the present and reinterpreting them. In formal aspects, for me the important thing is that my sculptures have movement, that they are not static. The sculpture has a phrase under the bust that forces people to surround it and that provides more movement. Sculpture for me is energy, strength and I think I have managed to bring it to my field.
-Did you always know that you wanted to be a sculptor?
-When I started college, I was more into the drawing part, but when the doors open for you and you start to know the possibilities that exist, which are infinite, in the end, where I felt most comfortable was in sculpture and I decided to specialize in it. When I was little, plasticine was my favorite toy and it’s funny that now, having just turned 40, I still play with plasticine, the one from schools, it’s the best to work with and to take a little time and try to make sculpture, so I encourage anyone I want to try making it with plasticine.
César Orrico, in the process of creating the sculpture of Antonio Gala.
-Is the relationship between the foundation’s scholarship holders as familiar as it seems from the outside?
-It seems cliché to talk about family, but although, obviously, there are some with whom you maintain more contact than with others, we all know that if there is an important moment or some need, you can count on the others. My wife and I keep in touch with the one who lives further away, with the painter Fernando Motilla who is in Mexico, but we also talk to the rest, there is a love and when we can we make it a point to see each other. With the new generations, there is also that bond of unity of the foundation, there is a feeling of brotherhood and the people who pass by become part of that group of close people.
-You have returned to Córdoba after a long time. How have you felt?
-Antonio always said: come back, this is your home. I have had a lot of work and I had not been able to come until today and these days have been an explosion of emotions.
