Malaga Port finally starts installation of Neptune and Venus sculptures
For six months, the debated work of artist Ginés Serrán will guard the entrance to the port from the Plaza de la Marina
The controversial giant Venus and Neptune sculptures will finally start their six-month stay at the entrance to Malaga Port this week. According to the workers, they might be able to finish the installation on Thursday.
The ensemble is a gift to Malaga from artist Ginés Serrán. Despite his generosity, experts from the academic world of art and some political groups strongly opposed the initially planned long-term installation of the statues.
In the end, the Port Authority decided to leave them for six months to guard the entrance to the site from the Plaza de la Marina.
The installation is a complex process, given the size and dimensions of the statues - the smaller sculpture, that of Venus, weighs almost 1.3 tonnes. Neptune is almost eleven metres tall and weighs two tonnes. The Roman god of the seas carries a gold-plated fishing net in his hand, which falls to his feet. In the other hand, he holds the trident. The eight-metre Venus raises a golden sphere as a symbol of the sun.
The workers, under the supervision of the artist, are now freeing the sculptures from the ironwork that protects them. With the help of two cranes, they will carefully place them, between the lions that will guard them.
SUR spoke to Diego and Pedro, two pensioners who were there specifically to see the controversial sculptures. "Until we see them in place, we won't give our opinion. Too much has been said about them before their arrival. But we like the lions," they said.
