jorge jimenez deredia | Bio
At the age of 13 he discovered sculpture in Liceo de Heredia´s workshop and began carving wood and stone. A short time later he focused his attention on the development of organic forms and pre-columbian art.
In 1976 he moved to Italy with a scholarship for foreign students which allowed him to learn the techniques of marble making in the city of Carrara. Deredia decided to stay in Italy, continuing his studies at the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts. Upon obtaining a degree in sculpture, he decided to study architecture in Florence, where he delved into the Renaissance period.
It is where he has developed a large part of his work receiving international acclaim and unique privileges, perhaps the most important one being the first Latin American sculptor to place a work in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, and to be the first contemporary artist in exhibiting his works in the Roman Forum, among other places of the Italian capital.
In 1985 he adopted his artistic name, Jorge Jiménez Deredia, as a contraction "de-Heredia", his hometown, like was the custom during the renaissance period.
Deredia recovers the Costa Rican culture and the pre-columbian spheres made by the ancient pre-hispanic Boruca culture. The spheres make the sculptor focus his attention on the forms and the material used in them, in addition to the function and symbology linked to the figure of the sphere and the circle itself. Thus, the sphere becomes a model.
According to Deredia, thanks to the pre-columbian spheres he can understand the dimension of his spirituality and the spirituality of his native town. For him, these represent a message of harmony and the encounter of the individual with himself.
The theme of motherhood is recurring within his work, it represents the development of the theme of fertility and birth. Deredia represents this theme through organic-symbolic forms, such as the sphere, the uterus and the breast.
Through these symbols present in his works, Deredia intends to recover the spiritual values of indigenous peoples. By recovering such values, he renews them in order to "activate" them.
Deredia combines aspects of figuration with elements of abstraction creating forms that reveal their relationship with the environment and the process of transmutation and growth. His sculptures are impressively alive, with a sense of continuity, sensuality and connection with nature.
His work is part of various public and private collections in Europe, Latin America and the United States and he has participated in multiple solo and group exhibitions around the world.
In 2019, his work “Couple” was auctioned at Christie's, which was estimated between 350,000 and 450,000 USD and sold for 675,000 USD. So far 6 books have been published about the artist.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Vatican City
• Basílica de San Pedro - Ciudad del Vaticano.
United States of Ameria
• Boca Raton - Boca Raton Museum of Art.
• Washington - Museo de las Américas.
• Houston. Texas - Latin American Medical Surgical Clinic.
• Elkart. Indianapolis - GDS Diagnostic Division of GDS Tecnology.
• Nueva York - Goldman Group.
Italy
• Pietrasanta - Rotonda entre Via Aurelia y Via Unità d’Italia.
• Foggia - Edificio de la Provincia.
• Roma - Ministero de Relaciones Exteriores.
• Verona - Grand Hotel. Italia.
• Isernia - Familia D’Aloisio.
Costa Rica
• Heredia - Centro Comercial Paseo de las Flores.
• San José - Avenida Escazú.
• San José - Catedral Metropolitana.
• San José - Jardines de la Casa Presidencial.
• San José - Jardines del Teatro Nacional.
• San José - Museos del Banco Central de Costa Rica.
• San José - Museo de Arte Costarricense.
• Alajuela - Jardines del Recuerdo.
• Limón - Catedral de Limón.
• San José - Jardín de esculturas del Museo de Arte Costarricense.
• Guanacaste. Papagayo - ingreso proyecto Eco desarrollo.
Russia
• Yugra, Tyumen Region.
France
• La Baule - Gare de La Baule - Escoublac.
• París - Jardines de América Latina. Porte de Champerret.
• París - Cristian Dior. Colección de Armand de Ponthaud.
England
• Londres - A. Saran Group.