Rhea Nayyar (Hyperallergic) reviews the bronze sculpture of Shakira, created by Yino Márquez and recently unveiled in Barranquilla, Colombia. [Also see previous post Statue of Shakira Unveiled.]
Last week, a 21-foot-tall cast bronze sculpture of award-winning singer and performer Shakira was unveiled at the riverfront of her portside hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia. Sculptor Yino Márquez immortalized the artist’s signature belly-dancer pose with her hands above her head and her hips engaged, delighting the singer, her parents who attended the unveiling ceremony, and the mayor of Barranquilla who led the event. The Mega-Shakira, perpetually gleaming in the sunlight as she towers over citizens and tourists alike, might have been constructed with her lyricism in mind.
Shakira’s extensive discography is known for using her body as a channel for romance, confidence, and sensuality. The most famous example is perhaps “Hips Don’t Lie” (2006), in which the artist sings about “all the attraction, the tension” conveyed through her dancing. There’s also her 2001 hit “Whenever, Wherever,” where she notes that she’s “lucky that [her] breasts are small and humble / so you don’t confuse ’em with mountains,” and that she has “strong legs like [her] mother.”
Now, it looks like Márquez took those lines to heart when constructing the clay sculpture of the singer-songwriter to mold and then cast — Mega-Shakira’s hips are tilted backward with her “strong legs” taking center stage, and her breasts, while not necessarily small or humble, are perfectly proportional not easily confused with mountains at all. Credit shall be given where credit is due!
Márquez also paid special attention to Shakira’s fixation on going shoe-less. The singer’s third studio album, Pies Descalzos (1995), directly translates to “bare feet” or “barefoot” from Spanish and features the track “Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos.” In “La Bicicleta” (2017), Shakira sang about moving her body “like a ship in the ocean” and going barefoot “like a child she adores,” and drew an analogy between her long, flowing hair and the sun. As presented in the sculpture’s undulating pose, shining golden-bronze waves cascading mid-torso, and enormous (but appropriately sized) feet, Márquez checked off all three of those boxes! [. . .]
For full article, see https://hyperallergic.com/865094/understanding-shakira-sculpture-through-song-lyrics/
Rhea Nayyar (Hyperallergic) reviews the bronze sculpture of Shakira, created by Yino Márquez and recently unveiled in Barranquilla, Colombia. [Also see previous post Statue of Shakira Unveiled.] Last week, a 21-foot-tall cast bronze sculpture of award-winning singer and performer Shakira was unveiled at the riverfront of her portside hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia. Sculptor Yino Márquez immortalized the
