On Saturday, June 29, the Cultural Corporation of Lo Barnechea held the official launch of the book “Egenau,” as part of its commitment to promote the impact of arts and culture through a wide range of offerings aimed at residents of the commune and the general public.
The publication brings together valuable and unpublished information on the most outstanding works of the Chilean artist Juan Egenau (1927-1987), which were part of the exhibition “Artistic Autarchy”, exhibited at the El Tranque Cultural Center during the second half of 2023, highlighting the sculptural career and the creative process behind each piece.
Furthermore, the book – the first to exist about this great artist – highlights the artistic heritage that Egenau represents and the invaluable contribution he has made to the world of artists and crafts in Chile. His educational legacy today goes beyond the university where he was trained and taught – the University of Chile – and extends throughout the entire country.
The objective of the Cultural Corporation in publishing this book is precisely to contribute to the educational area, since the book will become part of all the school libraries in the commune and will also be delivered to the libraries of the main educational institutions (universities) in the country.
The launch of the book “Egenau” included a discussion in the auditorium of the El Tranque Cultural Center, which was mediated by the cultural manager and curator Pedro Maino, and in which Paulo Egenau and Luis Montes, the artist’s son and assistant, respectively, participated.
Alejandra Valdés, Executive Director of the Cultural Corporation of Lo Barnechea, explained that the activity is part of the 30th anniversary of the Corporation and pays tribute to the creativity and enormous influence of the artist.
“Juan Egenau is famous for his armored aluminum sculptures, but he also developed various techniques that made him one of the most outstanding representatives for his artistic and educational work and for the use of trades. We want the general public to be able to know this legacy and hopefully spread it among the new generations as a contribution to education and the promotion of culture and the arts,” he said.
About the artist
Juan Egenau Moore was a sculptor and painter. He was born in Santiago, Chile, on February 24, 1927, and died in the same city on April 22, 1987.
Between 1947 and 1948 he studied Architecture at the Catholic University of Chile, studies that he abandoned after making the decision to dedicate himself entirely to painting. From 1949 to 1952 he studied painting, drawing, engraving, sculpture and casting at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Chile, where he was a student of Pablo Burchard; between 1953 and 1955, he studied enamel on metal, lithography and ceramics at the School of Applied Arts of the University of Chile, where he obtained the degree of Crafts, Mention Enamel on Metals; between 1956 and 1959 he studied sculpture and casting at the School of Fine Arts of the University of Chile; in 1959, he received a scholarship from the University of Chile, to study goldsmithing at the Porta Romana School, in Florence, Italy.
Between 1962 and 1966, he studied sculpture and enamel on metal at the School of Applied Arts of the University of Chile. In 1966, he obtained a Fulbright Scholarship to study artistic casting at the Rhode Island School of Design, New York, United States. During this period, he learned the technique of casting aluminum “on the ground”, a method that he adopted definitively for his creations and later perfected in Chile.
In 1978 he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Sculpture, from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Chile, in Santiago. From that same year until 1987 he was Professor of Sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Chile.
Egenau never returned to live outside the country, but devoted himself entirely to his vocation as a sculptor and teacher. His work continued to evolve, entering new creative stages, and he participated and received awards in important events and sculptural projects until shortly before his early death. Most of his work is found abroad, but important pieces can be seen in public and private collections in the country.
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