Works made in only denim by British artist Ian Berry of Anita Tijoux and Roberto Márquez surprise passengers at the Plaza Egaña station in Santiago, Chile.
Two works by the British artist Ian Berry were donated to honor both Chilean musicians, within the framework of Chilean Music and Musicians Day.
On Wednesday 5th October 2022, two portraits of the artistic Ian Berry were revealed, highlighting the Chilean national musicians Anita Tijoux and Roberto Márquez of the Illapu group. At the inauguration that took place at the Metro station, Plaza Egaña, the President of Metro, Guillermo Muñoz and the mayor of Ñuñoa, Emilia Ríos joined the prominent Chilean musician Roberto Márquez de Illapu.
The works measure 2.74 meters high by 2 meters wide, are made from recycled denim scraps over many weeks and were donated to the Metro Arte Cultural Corporation. They had been originally made to be shown at the Lollapalooza festival in 2022. The works will be able to be seen by the 119,000 passengers who on average spend a week at this point, a combination of Line 3 and Line 4.
Guillermo Muñoz, President of Metro, was present at the activity to give way to one of the most significant artistic interventions around a legacy that will transcend time. “With this beautiful work, the MetroArte catalog reaches 73 works in more than 11,000 square meters of permanent art on the network. These numbers show how important it is for the company to bring art closer to our male and female passengers, as a way to also generate more friendly and attractive urban spaces,” he commented.
The mayor of Ñuñoa, Emilia Ríos, highlighted the importance of giving added value to public spaces. “Art is a tool to enrich public spaces, it creates identity and an attachment to our neighborhoods and all the places we visit daily, and in this sense the Metro plays a fundamental role because it not only unites the city, it is essential to make a city , therefore it is important that everyone's spaces have art samples and I think they will gradually become visual icons of our city, so I am very happy to be here today, "he said.
"I think it is important to the extent that popular singing is being honored, hopefully this is the beginning of a great gallery that shows our popular artists, I am happy about that," said Roberto Márquez, Illapu's vocalist.
Both portraits will be permanently exhibited to the public at Plaza Egaña station in the area of stairs that lead to the platforms of Line 3 and are part of the campaign that seeks to be a real contribution to the culture of national music in the most used means of transport in the Metropolitan Region.