Felix Maruenda

There were seven days left before Félix Maruenda turned 30 when the Unctad III building was inaugurated. It was 1972 and the space that today houses GAM was then opened with an art collection created to functionally integrate the building. Handles, lamps and ceiling, everything could be work. Félix Maruenda contributed with Chimenea, a sculpture that was the exterior view of the ventilation ducts of the emblematic casino of the place. “This is a collective work that is the beginning of a future in which we believe, art will be with the general public and not exclusively in the living room of a mansion,” the artist said then.

After the coup, the military occupied the building and a good part of the works disappeared, while others that remained in place were intervened. Thus the red sculpture of Maruenda was painted green. After the fire in 2006, the work was removed from its original location and today the MOP keeps it in a warehouse awaiting the second stage of the GAM, where it will be installed.

The creation, realization and installation of this sculpture is the center of Félix Maruenda – Public Space, the exhibition that seeks to pay tribute to its author 11 years after his death. Nearly 90 photographs, most of them never exhibited or published, together with documents, objects and an audiovisual record reconstruct the history of Chimenea.

Almost 70 photographs were taken by Maruenda himself. There are also images by Domingo Ulloa and a dozen photos by Jack Ceitelis of the construction of the building. Among the objects in the exhibition are tools, notebooks and letters from Maruenda that seek to recreate the space in which he created the sculpture. A photographic record of other creations by Maruenda also allows us to broaden the perspective of his outstanding work, characterized by developing themes of social and political interest.

The exhibition is organized by the Félix Maruenda Foundation, curated by Carlos Navarrete and designed by Joaquín Maruenda.