List of artworks in University City of Caracas facts for kids

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List of artworks in University City of Caracas
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Location	University City of Caracas, Venezuela
Criteria	Cultural: (i), (iv)
Inscription	2000 (24th Session)

The University City of Caracas in Venezuela is a special place. It's not just a university campus for the Central University of Venezuela; it's also a World Heritage Site. This means it's recognized globally for its amazing art and architecture. The campus has 108 important artworks and cool buildings. Many of the artworks are in a style called modernist and use mosaic tiles.

A famous architect named Carlos Raúl Villanueva designed most of the campus. He also oversaw the building work. Another artist, Mateo Manaure, was in charge of all the artwork. Villanueva was inspired by designs he saw in Paris. He chose artists who were from Europe or had been influenced by European art. Some artists didn't want to work on the project at first. This was because they didn't like the military government in Venezuela at the time. But a French artist, Fernand Léger, told them that "dictatorships pass but art remains." Villanueva wanted the art and buildings to work together. This idea was called the "Synthesis of the Arts." It aimed to help rebuild and heal society after World War II.

A city planner from Spain, Josep Lluís Sert, also inspired Villanueva. Sert visited the University City in the 1950s. He even introduced Villanueva to the artist Alexander Calder.

The campus and its art were designed to be experienced as you walk through them. This idea came from famous architects like Le Corbusier. For example, in the Plaza Cubierta, which was once the center of Caracas, paths wind around. These paths are different from the straight lines of the buildings. The art also shows this mix: curved walls hold murals, and breeze blocks frame designs. Experts say that most artworks here are "space definers." This means they are both artistic and part of the building's design.

Venezuelan Artists and Their Works
International Artists and Their Contributions
Images for kids
See also

Venezuelan Artists and Their Works

Many talented Venezuelan artists contributed to the University City. Their works are a big part of what makes the campus so unique.

Ancient Art: "El primer libro"

Just inside the main library, there's a stone with an ancient petroglyph carved by indigenous people. It's called "The First Book." The idea is that it's the library's first book, but its language is now lost. Even though it's old, some people don't see it as part of the university's art collection.

Francisco Narváez's Sculptures and Mosaics

Francisco Narváez was a good friend of Villanueva. He created many of the first artworks on campus, starting in 1950. He used different materials for his art.

Stone Sculptures: Narváez made three statues from a special stone called Cumarebo stone. These include El Atleta (The Athlete) in the sports area, and La educación (Education) and La ciencia (Science) in the medical area.
Mosaics: He also made mosaic murals, like the one at the entrance of the Institute of Experimental Medicine. Another mosaic mural shows sea life.

Alejandro Colina and the María Lionza Statue

Alejandro Colina created the famous María Lionza statue in 1951. A copy of it is outside the university on the highway. The original statue is kept safe in a workshop. It was made for the 1951 Bolivarian Games and later moved to its current spot.

Armando Barrios' Glass Mosaics

Armando Barrios made several glass mosaic murals for the campus starting in 1952. His art from this time used abstract geometric shapes. He loved music, and his designs often have a musical flow.

Museum Mural: One of his murals on the Museum building is very long. It uses colors and shapes that look like waves or mountain peaks.
Olympic Stadium Murals: He also created murals for the Olympic Stadium. These use mosaic tiles from Venice, Italy.

Carlos Gonzaléz Bogen's Geometric Designs

Carlos Gonzaléz Bogen returned to Venezuela from Paris to create murals for the campus. He was interested in mixing art with buildings. He made several murals and glass artworks for the university. His murals often feature geometric shapes like triangles and rectangles in different colors.

Mateo Manaure: Art Supervisor and Artist

Mateo Manaure was not only the art supervisor for the project, but he also created about 26 artworks on campus. He made ceramic murals, wooden acoustic frames, and stained-glass windows. He even designed parts of the hospital lobby.

Olympic Stadium Murals: He designed murals for the Olympic Stadium with straight and curved lines.
Library Murals: Manaure created a three-part mural at the main entrance of the Central Library. He also made an abstract geometric mural in the covered walkway nearby.
Hospital Facade: He designed the colorful outside of the University Hospital.
Acoustic Frames: Inside the Sala de Conciertos, he made special wooden frames that help with the sound.

Héctor Poleo's Fresco

Héctor Poleo painted a large fresco mural in the Rector's office. It shows different university subjects like architecture, medicine, and art. This mural celebrates the academic spirit of the university.

Carlos Raúl Villanueva & Juan Otaola Paván: The Clock Tower

Architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva designed the entire campus. He also worked with Juan Otaola Paván on the UCV Clock Tower. This clock tower is seen as a very important and unique design.

Harry Abend's Sculptures

Harry Abend studied architecture at the university. His sculptures often use three-dimensional shapes. One of his works, Homenaje al Maestro Villanueva, is a concrete structure on campus.

Pedro León Castro's Social Realism

Pedro León Castro's mural, Fechas Magnas de la Universidad, finished in 1954, shows different university professions, especially surgeons and astronomers. It's considered a work of Social realism, which means it shows real-life situations.

Pascual Navarro's Abstract Designs

Pascual Navarro's murals are easy to spot in the Plaza Cubierta. He also has a "hidden treasure" mural in the library. His works often use abstract geometric designs with straight and curved lines in various colors.

Alírio Oramas' Rhythmic Progressions

Alírio Oramas contributed several murals to the campus after returning from Europe in 1956. His works include Progresión rítmica en tres movimientos and Variación en 36 colores in the central library. These murals use patterns of dots, lines, and squares.

Alejandro Otero's Colorful Panels

Alejandro Otero also came back from Paris to work on the project. He created several murals and a stained-glass window. His art often features colorful rectangles and stripes on tiled walls.

Oswaldo Vigas' Dynamic Murals

Oswaldo Vigas' murals are a key part of the views in the south of Rectory Plaza. His works, like Composición Estática-Composición Dinámica, use Cubist-style figures that look like humans or animals. They are designed to make the buildings feel lighter and more dynamic.

Victor Valera's Zigzag Patterns

Victor Valera created many murals with zigzag patterns and geometric shapes. His works often use white, black, yellow, and red. Some of his murals, like Negativo and Positivo, are mirror images of each other with inverted colors.

Miguel Arroyo's Textured Walls

Miguel Arroyo created several unique murals, often using textures and patterns. One notable piece is Muro Blanco/Indefinido y Modificable, a white wall with circular holes. Some of these holes have removable stoppers.

Braulio Salazar's Stained Glass

In 1953, Braulio Salazar was asked to create a stained-glass window for the university. His work features colorful square and rectangular glass panes forming an abstract pattern.

Jesús Rafael Soto's Kinetic Sculpture

Jesús Rafael Soto created Escultura Cinética. Hierro Policromado (Kinetic Sculpture. Polychrome Iron). This iron sculpture has an unusual shape with many right angles and colorful bars. It's designed to show movement.

Omar Carreño's Building-wide Art

Omar Carreño is special because he designed all the art for an entire building: the Faculty of Dentistry. His Policromías (Polychromies) are colorful panels on the building's exterior walls and even on the roof.

Félix George's Sculptures

Félix George was a sculptor and doctor who taught at the university. Many of his sculptures are in the medical faculty area. His works include Interángulos, which are burgundy wing-like panels, and Diametro Espacial, a gold metal circle.

Gego's "Chorro" Sculpture

One of Gego's sculptures, called Chorro, is in the library of the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. It's made of aluminum rods and iron supports.

Ernest Maragall i Noble's Monument

Ernest Maragall i Noble created Monumento a los caídos de la generación del 28 (Monument to the Fallen of the Generation of '28). This sculpture shows a weeping woman.

Guillermo Pinto's Bust

Guillermo Pinto created a bust of Tobías Lasser in 2007. A bust is a sculpture of a person's head and shoulders.

Ibelise Lagos' "Equilibrio"

Ibelise Lagos made Equilibrio (Equilibrium) in 1991. It's a sculpture of a headless woman rocking on a tall stool.

Oswaldo Lares' Bust

Oswaldo Lares created a bust of Dr. Francisco Benazi in 1995. He also designed the plaza where the bust is located.

Pedro León Zapata's Giant Mural

Pedro León Zapata created a huge mural called Conductores de Venezuela (Drivers of Venezuela). It was finished in 1999 and shows important Venezuelan historical figures and everyday people driving vehicles. The mural is very colorful with a bright red background.

Oscar Olivares' Botanical Garden Mural

Oscar Olivares designed and led the painting of a mural in the Botanical Garden in 2017. It uses colors like the Venezuelan flag. The stars are shaped like birds and butterflies, and the red stripe looks like orchids.

International Artists and Their Contributions

Artists from other countries also added their amazing talents to the University City.

Alexander Calder's Famous Clouds

Calder is most famous for his Floating Clouds in the Aula Magna. These large, colorful panels on the ceiling are not just art; they also help make the hall's sound amazing. He made four pieces for the campus, including a mobile sculpture called Ráfaga de nieve (Snow Flurry).

Henri Laurens' "L'Amphion"

Henri Laurens created L'Amphion, a large sculpture of a creature with raised arms. It's described as looking like it's dancing.

Baltasar Lobo's "Maternidad"

Lobo created Maternidad (Motherhood). It shows two abstract, human-like figures connected together.

Antoine Pevsner's Dynamic Sculpture

Antoine Pevsner made a Constructivist sculpture called Projection dynamique dans l'espace au 30° degré. It's a brass sculpture that looks like a solid rod wedged into a curved sheet. It's meant to show movement in space.

Jean (Hans) Arp's Cloud Shepherd

Arp's sculpture, Berger des nuages (Cloud Shepherd), is a large abstract bronze sculpture behind the Aula Magna. He also made a relief mural called Siluetas en relieve (Silhouettes in Relief).

André Bloc's Colorful Tiles

André Bloc created a mural of bright, colorful tiles with three-dimensional shapes. This mural is now in a bank.

Fernand Léger's Bi-Mural and Stained Glass

Fernand Léger created a curved Bi-Mural with different images on each side. One side has yellow, blue, and red shapes, while the other has green, orange, and red images that look like a bird and a snake. He also made a large, colorful stained-glass window.

Victor Vasarely's Optical Illusions

Victor Vasarely created several works that play with how you see them. His Sophia mural uses black lines on a white background to create a vibrating effect. + - (Positif-Negatif) uses metal panels that change shape as you move. His Hommage à Malevitch is a curved mural with geometric patterns that look different from various angles.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp's Tiled Mural

Sophie Taeuber-Arp created Sonoridad, a tiled mural that is mostly white. It has patterns of red, black, grey, and blue tiles that seem to reach towards the center.

Wifredo Lam's Tropical Mural

Wifredo Lam created a mural with a pale green background and a bright, flowery tropical pattern. It also has a three-dimensional relief of similar flowery shapes.