From Mirtha Legrand to Nestor Kirchnergoing through the “Doll” Gallardo and the Manuelita Turtle, are some of the personalities that were immortalized in sculptures and statues. However, the same works, which are installed in different places throughout the country, were considered unattractive by a large part of the public and with good reason.
In recent weeks, these static works have gained some media prominence due to their extravagant and controversial design. In some specific cases, they were justified by the same artist responsible for the creation and, in other more relevant cases, they were repudiated by the same honoree. A situation that refers to the film “The distinguished citizen” of the duo Mariano Cohn – Gaston Dupratin which the character, played by Oscar Martinez, mocks his own statue in the middle of the unveiling ceremony.
The amount of “failed tributes”, made with sculptures of different celebrities in the country, became a meme by itself within the world of social networks. Several tourists and visitors even come to those cities, where the statue is in a column, to get some selfies funny with the work in question. It was probably never the intention of the sculptor that this be the objective, but it is not known.
Some of the most recognized works are within popular knowledge and have already obtained the sympathy and affection of the people. Although for the honorees, in the best of cases, they chose to show a certain indifference, disbelief or reluctance towards the image. These are the most outstanding effigies that are located in the various cities of the country.
Lionel Messi
Qualified by various means as the most surreal statue celebrated to the prestigious captain of the Argentine soccer team, the sculpture that represents Lionel Messi, located in the Tucuman town of Famaillá, was the subject of constant jokes on social networks. The slight resemblance of the figure to the player from Rosario reminded us of the frustrated restoration of the ecce homo in Spain. From the northwestern town, at the time, they argued that the work was designed by teachers and students of a primary school with the best intentions, but that they were going to evaluate making a new sculpture with better aesthetic results.
Mirtha Legrand
“It’s not me”sentenced the “lunch diva” when she saw the statue that the community of Villa Canas decided to offer to honor the television host who was born there. On that occasion, within the framework of the 121st anniversary of the town of Santa Fe, it was inaugurated in Plaza “Mirtha Legrand” a sculpture, made by the artist Daniel Melero. However, the work caused repercussions, since for many it is not reliable to the appearance of the legendary actress of “The Orchid Tuesdays”.
“I did not like. I don’t want to speak anything against my city Villa Cañás and the people of Cañas because I know that they made an effort, but obviously it’s not the oval of my face, it’s not me, I look very strange. They showed me the photo the day before yesterday and I said ‘thank you very much’”, the long-standing presenter said in a telephone dialogue, in the cycle of “Controversy at the Bar” driven by his daughter Marcela Tinayre.
Marcelo Gallardo
“It is a statue intended for another public, football, more cultural and without so much primitivism. There was no malice or disrespect in the making of the statue,” declared the artist mercedes savall, responsible for the work. The figure of Marcelo Gallardo was immortalized in the facilities of River Plate through a huge statue eight meters high.
However, the detail of the size of the crotch bulge did not go unnoticed. This caused criticism, memes and even some anger from millionaire fans on social networks. “The highlighting of the crotch part was already agreed from the beginning, but I preferred not to say anything so that people can see it. It must be that now, when it is seen complete, it has more impact”, the sculptor admitted to the media. According to some rumors, the club’s leadership is evaluating a reduction in the dimension of the intimate part of the statue.
Nestor Kirchner
For many, it is the journalist Marcelo Longobardi. To others, he is the recently deceased comedian, Tristan. But the reality of the national political situation provides the answer to the doubt. In the elections of Anisacate, a small town in Cordoba with 3,000 inhabitants located in the department of Santa Mariaprevailed Natalia Contini. The leader of the PRO local, among his campaign promises, had proposed removing the statue of Nestor Kirchner and replace it with one of René Favaloro. The work, in homage to the former president, was placed there on October 27, 2011 by the community chief at that time, Ramon Zalazar. The destiny of the sculpture will have an uncertain future, perhaps a reflection, in the key of a metaphor, of the similarity of the work with the Santa Cruz politician.
Manuelita the turtle
The famous song with which Maria Elena Walsh made the Buenos Aires city known Pehuajó in the world and that was included in the album “Doña Disparate and Bambuco” Launched in 1962, it had its corresponding effigy a few decades ago. Although for many visitors the sculpture lacks the grace that the song’s lyrics convey, it is almost a must for any tourist who visits the town to take a picture with the well-known turtle.
The Milanese Sandwich
Certain regional gastronomic dishes deserve to be honored. That was what happened in San Miguel de Tucuman, by exhibiting the sculpture dedicated to the Milanese sandwich. The natives of the capital of the “Garden of the Republic” they recognize the sandwich as the favorite of the local community. For this reason, the work carried out by Sandro Pereira It depicts a contented, seven-foot-tall man holding a huge Milanese sandwich.
the matte
Recognized as the national infusion, mate was recognized by the inhabitants of various towns with numerous sculptures of various types and styles. The Buenos Aires party Energeticthe pampean capital of Santa Rosa and the missionary city of apostles have works that celebrate the drink created by the Guarani tribes and that its consumption predominates throughout the region.
daddy
The emblematic national rock musician has his monument in the Buenos Aires city of Tandil. Norberto Napolitano, known as Pappo, died on the road when he fell from his motorcycle and was hit by a vehicle that was coming from the front. The guitarist and vocalist who imposed hard rock on the national circuit, integrating the group riff, it has its homage of iron and metal. Although the resemblance to the singer is questionable, the use of these hard materials qualify as an allegory of his imprint.
Monument to the Gaucho
Undoubtedly, one of the most controversial sculptures is the “Monument to the Gaucho” on Avenida San Martín and Hipólito Yrigoyen, in the Buenos Aires district of General Rodriguez. “It is a monument that exalts the pain of a suffering animal tied up, and it seems to me that this issue should be reviewed personally. It seems to me that it is not the image that we Rodriguenses want to give”, affirmed a municipal official about the work in homage to the tamer and horseman who lived in the district, Don Julio Secundino Cabezas. Although the image represented by the sculpture shows a horse tied with explicit discomfort, an aspect that various sectors of society in the region consider animal abuse. Also, for the interpretation of others, it is a work of art that can be contextualized to the practice of dressage and the times to which it refers.
The monument that nobody knows what it is about
Some residents of the area dare to call it the “gnocchi statue”, There are those who see in this sculpture a curled up virgin girl and others assign erotic connotations of all kinds to the work. The truth is that behind this urban sculpture is the manifestation of a “mystical search” with which the author was able to captivate to an important jury during the First Biennial National Sculpture Contest, organized in 1980 by the Municipality of Guaymallén. “Mysterious North of Being” is the name of the work executed by the renowned artist Elio Ortiz.
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