The renowned international artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada performs an impressive work of land art in Villablino, only fully appreciated from the sky.

an article written by Audrey García

The renowned international artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada performs an impressive work of land art in Villablino for Caminos Naturales, with the collaboration of the Villablino City Council.

The piece, which represents an athlete in a wheelchair, stands out not only for its monumental size, but also for its powerful message: the urgent need to ensure the accessibility of all forest areas for people with disabilities.
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"Opening Horizons" whose size can only be fully appreciated from the sky, was unveiled in a spectacular way coinciding with the 14th stage of La Vuelta  2024, between Villafranca del Bierzo and Villablino.

“Opening Horizons” is a land-art mural that measures more than 3000 square meters in Villablino (León Spain) to bring awareness to the issue of accessibility in forested areas. 

The goal of ensuring accessibility is one that is close to my heart and this artwork gives thanks to all the municipalities, organizations and people that work towards the goal of making the 10,800 kilometers of nature trails that comprise the Caminos Naturales of Spain as accessible as possible to all. 

“Opening Horizons” was unveiled using a helicopter during the 14th La Vuelta bicycle race which is the most important professional bicycle race in Spain and one of the most important in the world along with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia.

The creative process of this ephemeral artwork took 5 days of intense work and the collaboration of 7 assistants (4 of which were local artists) who helped me spray 300 kilos of mineral paint. The preparation of the paints was done with the assistance of the artist Javier G. Vidal. The creation of the piece was done with the assistance of the GPS technician Juan Luis Tristán Cóbreces and the artist Isabel Cantizano. The four local artists were Silvia Gándara, María Del Roxo, Sol Alvarez Zapico y Elisa Marquez Alvarez. The production was by The agency Siberia and the drone footage was taken by Drones Son Amores. 

The materials were selected carefully. The mineral paint was chosen specifically to minimize any environmental impact as sustainability is as important as accessibility to me. This was my first collaboration with Caminos Naturales. The piece fits in well within my direction of creating large-scale works that invite reflection, and hopefully, action for social change.

CREDITS
Video by @godiview210 
@javier_g.vidal @icantizano @silviasgandara @mariadelroxo @soolalvzz @eliiiisa_11 @somos_siberia @dronessonamores @caminosnaturales gobmapa @gobiernomunicipalvillablino

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This presentation of Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, takes part of the ARTICULATE PROMOTE Programme.

​A full article upon the artist is available in ARTICULATE 21 or following this link