Jorge Jimenéz Deredia

Born in Heredia, Costa Rica in 1954, Jorge Jiménez Martínez began his career as a sculptor in the 1970s and adopted the surname Deredia (short for "de Heredia") as his artistic moniker, one which firmly embraces his birthplace and suggests a sense of rootedness and permanence--all of which are hallmarks of his work. Since the late 1980s, Deredia's career has unfolded in an international context with appearances at the Venice Biennial in 1988, 1993 and 1999, as well as countless exhibitions in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

Trained in Carrara and Florence, Deredia merges aspects of figuration with elements of biomorphic abstraction to create sensuous forms that reveal their relationship with the environment, the forces of gravity, and the process of transmutation and growth. Deredia's stylized, rotund forms suggest an aesthetic lineage with both ancient and modern art, from the Venus of Willendorf and Cycladic art to Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi, and the Costa Rican master Francisco Zúñiga. The influence of pre-Columbian forms is equally apparent in Deredia's sinuous, organic forms which express a sense of continuity, sensuality and connectedness with nature--all characteristics of the indigenous arts of the Americas. Indeed, Deredia's fascination with the latter stems from his investigation of the ancient arts of Costa Rica's Boruca tribe. Deredia's study of the shapes and material used by the Boruca for their objects and artefacts led to his adoption of their symbology, most notably as it pertains to his recurring use of the sphere and circle. 

Deredia’s work ranges from very intimate sculptures to monumental pieces that have been installed in numerous international public spaces where they poetically represent his exceedingly poignant and remarkable cosmological vision. Other casts of this sculpture have been installed in Mexico City, Lucca, Italy and San José, Costa Rica.