“A sculpture for the ‘god’ Messi” is the title of the article that talks about the trophy that the sports magazine Marca gave him in October. Lionel Messi. So, The Argentine footballer received his 103rd trophy at a specially organized event at Miami’s Chase Stadium. The Marca America Award recognized the world champion for his exceptional career, marked by individual (56) and collective (46) records.
“Marca Magazine calls me for this distinction to Messi because They didn’t want to make a traditional trophy but rather make a sculpture. It is an honor for me to represent a champion of champions. And as an artist I have the responsibility of telling the story, the story of humanity and the characters who have gone through it and Messi is one who is part of the present and the history of football.” explained the sculptor Carlos Benavidez.
Express the spirit through work
It is a figurative and expressionist sculpture where a Leo is represented celebrating a goal with the typical and charismatic gesture of gratitude to his grandmother. “The position chosen by Marca, with his fingers up, is much more than a gesture. It’s a connection he makes with his grandmother, in those moments of maximum success, when he scores a goal. It symbolizes the beginning of everything that he is, let’s not forget that he has his mother engraved on his skin, he has a very special bond with his wife and his children, in addition to the communication he has with people,” describes Benavídez.
For the artist it was important to represent him from head to toe: “I proposed doing it in full body because he is a perfect machine and that perfect machine works from head to toe. And those fingers are an antenna that communicates with the beyond, which represents that spiritual and emotional part of contact with his grandmother, a woman who had a very particular bond with him and his brother”.
Marca Magazine proposed to Benavidez to include the infinity symbol in the sculpture: “I began to search for this symbol to be a strength, to have a meaning that unites it with him” he explained. To do this, the artist investigated the Vedas, the four oldest texts of Indian literature: “The third chakra is that of the solar plexus, its color is gold or golden yellow, which is what the sculpture has. In that place lies the power, the decision-making capacity of human beings. That’s why We place infinity on Messi’s chest, because it marks his personality. The infinity symbol is also movement or wheel, it is the eternal movement that characterizes the athlete,” he added.
The clay work created by Benavídez was made in his workshop in San Telmo. Based on this work, the 58.5 cm sculpture was made. bronze at RUN Art Foundry in Miami, one of the best foundries in the world, which belongs to his friend Uldis López.
“Thank you for this recognition and for this impressive work that was done with great affection according to the words you dedicated to me.” expressed Lionel Messi at the end of the award ceremony.
From Córdoba to the world
Carlos Benavidez He trained as an artist at the National Faculty of Architecture and in the “Figueroa Alcorta” National School of Art of the City of Córdobto. When he left his business linked to advertising, he began his sculptural career in 2002, creating his popular Tribute Series (20 cm Busts) in which he personified influential celebrities in different cultural fields of all time.
“Since then I haven’t stopped. Today I have my workshop in Buenos Aires, where I moved in 2011, because the art scene in this city is very important.” remember.
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Other sports sculptures
A lover of sports, Carlos Benavidez is fascinated by making sculptures of athletes: “It is a challenge to make an athlete in their actions, their muscles, what they are thinking, I need to get into their heads.”
In 2006 he was summoned to make the first monument to Diego Maradona in Argentinaat the Bahía Blanca Railway Club. It is a 2.6 m sculpture. and from which the FC World Complex was built. He then made the first monument to Diego after his death, in Santiago del Estero. Inaugurated in 2021, it is a 5 m piece. located in the Unique Mother of Cities Stadium. With the particularity that this sculpture was inaugurated by the Argentine team, and it was Messi who unveiled the work. “This is an important precedent that led me to be called by Marca to do something different from what they had been doing to honor an athlete,” Benavídez highlighted.
Marca’s is not the first sculpture that the artist has made about Messi, since he already dedicated one to him, which represents him younger, in the Puerto Madero Walk of Glory. Inaugurated in 2017, this series honors the 10 most important athletes in Argentine history with 2 m high sculptures. The sculptures of Manu Ginóbili, Gabriela Sabattini, Guillermo Vilas, Juan Manuel Fangio, Lionel Messi, Hugo Porta, Roberto De Vicenzo, Pascual Pérez, Luciana Aymar and José Meolans.
In his career, the artist has other sculptures that pay tribute to Argentine athletes:
Ricardo Bochini (2005)
- Club Atlético Independientes de Avellaneda
- Tribute Sculpture – 2 m. high
Diego Armando Maradona (2006)
- World Football Club, Bahía Blanca.
- Tribute Sculpture – 2.7 m. high
Juan Manuel Fangio (2016)
- Virrey del Pino University Center, Buenos Aires
- Made for Mercedes Benz Argentina
- Monument that represents it on a human scale.
Diego Armando Maradona – Child (2017)
- Bahía Blanca, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires
- Tribute inaugurated at the Mundial Fútbol Club of which he is Honorary President.
Diego Armando Maradona (2021)
- “Mother of Cities” Stadium, Santiago del Estero
- 5 meters. bronze
Diego Armando Maradona – The 10 of 10 (2022)
- 10 images with the story in poses and dribbles
Roberto De Vicenzo (2023)
- Ranelagh Golf Club, Berazategui, Province of Buenos Aires
- Tribute on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
“My sculptures have to say something and thus bring feelings or thoughts that the viewer does not expect from a source that is as everyday as the sculpture or the monument”concluded Benavídez, who is now working on several projects for both the United States and Europe.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
