By Ben Olivo | @rbolivo | Heron editor
About a week ago, the wrappings that had covered “Stargazer (Citlali)” were finally removed revealing the large-scale sculpture by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, and the latest edition to the city’s River Walk Public Art Garden.
The 16-foot-tall sculpture made of Mexican volcanic stone is a “stylized, figurative seated woman that holds and gazes upon a star-like object held between her fingers,” according to a press release from the City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture. It’s an assemblage of more than 80 pieces of stone, and a single piece of marble: the “citlali,” which means “star” in Nauhatl, “the indigenous language of Reyes’ hometown Mexico City.”
“Stargazer (Citlali)” is located below the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk hotel, where the River Walk extension breaks off toward the Shops at Rivercenter in one direction, and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in the other.
“I wanted to offer a work that transcends the relatively recent borders and boundaries we know today to offer an ageless perspective in celebration of San Antonio’s more than three hundred years of distinctive history and culture,” Reyes said in a press release. “The star could be a star like the ones that shine over San Antonio each night—the same ones that have been contemplated by all peoples throughout the region’s human history, the same ones that inspire awe and wonder as they help us glimpse our place in relation to the universe and to time.”
“Stargazer (Citlali)” is the largest piece in the art garden composed of smaller sculptures and wall-mounted installations.
More pieces are on the way, including the creation of Labor Plaza, which will honor “the history and legacy of the labor movement in San Antonio along with its ties to social justice and civil rights.” The plaza will include sculptures by artist Ries Niemi, and a poem by San Antonio Poet Laureate Octavio Quintanilla.
Local artist Gary Sweeney is working on a sign that will identify the garden.
The garden’s completion is slated for the end of this year.
Heron Editor Ben Olivo has been writing about downtown San Antonio since 2008, first for mySA.com, then for the San Antonio Express-News. He co-founded the Heron in 2018, and can be reached at 210-421-3932 | ben@saheron.com | @rbolivo on Twitter
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