Jiménez Deredia

Jiménez Deredia was born in the city of Heredia, Costa Rica, on October 4th, 1954. In 1976, he opened his art studio in Carrara. Deredia grauated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara and he attended the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Florence. The stone spheres created by the pre-Columbian Boruca culture of Costa Rica are the main source of inspiration throughout his artistic production. In 1985, he developed the first Génesis and laid the foundations for his artistic ideology, known as Transmutative Symbolism. In 2000, Pope John Paul II commissioned him to create the statue of Saint Marcellin Champagnat, which was placed in San Peter Basilica in one huge scale Michelangelo niches created between 1544 and 1564. In 2006, Deredia received the nomination of “Correspondent Academician of the Sculpture Class” by the Florentine Academy of Art and Design. The history of this important Academy includes nominations of academics such as Michelangelo, Palladio and Galileo Galilei amongothers. He has received numerous international awards, including the Keys to the City of Miami (USA) and the Keys to his hometown, Heredia.The Republic of Costa Rica declared him an Honorary Citizen for his contribution to culture, and in 2018 he was awarded the "Vita d’Artista" prize by the city of Montecatini Terme, Italy. In 2009 the Roman Forum for the first time in history opens his doors to contemporary creations hosting in the Via Sacra (SacredWay) monumental sculptures of Jiménez Deredia. Since 2003, Jiménez Deredia has held open-air exhibitions in many capitals and cities around the world: from Florence to Rome, from Valencia to Trapani, from Boca Raton to La Baule in France, from Genoa to San José, Costa Rica, from Mexico City to Miami, and from Courchevel in France to Benidorm in Spain. During his 55 years of career this singular Latin American artist and thinker has carved marble and cast in bronze monumental works for museums and public places in Europe, Asia, the United States of America and Latin America bringing his message of peace and of hope with the most physical of the arts: sculpture.