Latin American Art Star Makes a Rare U.S. Appearance in Texas

World renowned Latin American sculptor Jorge Jiménez Deredia had contemporary art aficionados swooning as he strode through Art of the World Gallery amid a stunning collection of his iconic bronze and marble sculptures presented in his exhibition, Cosmic Energy in the Sculpture of Jiménez Deredia.

Art of the World is one of the few galleries in the country to represent the Costa Rican artist, and he seldom visits the United States from his home base in Carrara, Italy. Thus, the evening had significant import for both collectors and devotees of his fluid human forms that are caressed in robust spheres and his abstract figures included the artist’s acclaimed Genesis series. As PaperCity ‘s executive editor of visual arts and features Catherine Anspon notes, Jiménez Deredia’s work embraces “synthesized traditions of Pre-Columbian civilizations of his native country, with the lessons of the Italian Renaissance.”

The sculptor spends the majority of his time in Italy, where he is the only non-European with work in the Vatican. (His sculpture is placed in a wall niche in St. Peter’s Basilica.)

Gallery directors Mauricio Vallejo and Liliana Molina are noted for the personal relationships they enjoy with an impressive stable of artists, who are recognized for their contemporary and modern works.

On this exceptional evening, the gallery treated all senses from the sensual lines of the sculptures to the Japanese-inspired hors d’oeuvres from Roka Akor and the Macallan whiskies from Edrington Group to the serene classical notes of Houston Symphony violinist Kurt Johnson.

Guests perusing the exhibition included Dr. Kevin Smith, art consultant Mary Lou Swift, interior designer Tommy Thompson, Romina Sumpter, attorney Kate McConnico, and artist/photographer Frazier King.

For 30 of the gallerists’ top collectors, the evening continued at Roka Akor with a lavish seated dinner and spirited conversation. Among those were the gallery owners, the sculptor and his wife, Giselle Zamora; BeDesign’s Adrian Dueñes and Marco Saenz; interiors architect Lauren Rottet with her son and daughter-in-law, Kyle and Katie Rottet; collector Ken Christie; gallerist Anna Lucía Goméz, in from Guatemala; and from Fort Worth artist Marshall Kurt Harris and his wife, Texas food and travel writer June Naylor.