Strolling in search of the Meninas

The last few days have been really hectic for me. This beginning of the year has been unusually busy. I left for a trip a couple of days ago and I had to leave a lot of things ready.

However, that didn't stop me from getting caught up in the trend of the last few days of visiting the Meninas Caracas Gallery. Inspired by the project that for some years has been done in Madrid, which is the idea of the Venezuelan artist Antonio Azzato. It is an urban art project inspired by the famous painting Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez.

The project consists of a series of sculptures in the form of Menina that are painted with local themes, some with the artist's idea, others by invited artists.

So last Saturday, I met up with my friends to take a walking tour and visit some of the sculptures that will be for a couple of months adorning some points of the city in the municipality of Chacao.

We started our walk in search of the Meninas along Francisco de Miranda Avenue, where the Parque Cristal building is located. It was getting dark, and the sunset was beautiful.

Not a Menina, but this small sculpture of a couple of children playing with a kite in front of the Parque Cristal building looked beautiful at sunset.

The first Menina we visited was by Venezuelan big league baseball player Gleyber Torres, who plays for the New York Yankees.

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At all the Meninas we visited that night people were lining up to be photographed with them. We didn't want to spend hours in line so we photographed them as people were changing shifts, hehe.

The next ones we visited were the Menina Queen which was located in the Plaza de Los Palos Grandes and is by the Venezuelan football player Deyna Castellanos who plays for Manchester City. And the next in our tour was the Menina Oro Negro, which represents Venezuelan oil and is located in front of another well-known building of the municipality called Centro Plaza.

From there, we headed to Plaza Francia in Altamira. There were a lot of people, and the square still had Christmas lights.

In the Plaza, there are two Meninas. The Menina 40/70, with a baseball theme, whose idea is of the baseball player Ronald Acuña Jr.

The other one in the square is Menina Sabroso by the king of salsa Oscar D'Leon, and represents the music.

We continue our way along Francisco de Miranda Avenue until we reach Plaza El Indio in Chacao. There was a Menina representing the archipelago of Los Roques.

From there, we walked to Plaza Bolívar of Chacao and saw the Menina Bolívar.

We continued our way to the San Ignacio Shopping Center to see the Menina Miss Rayas, whose motif was designed by Venezuelan fashion designer Angel Sanchez.

A few blocks away, in a place called Licoteca, we found the Menina Ron Venezolano.

We continue our tour to the Plaza La Castellana, which is also still with Christmas lights, there it is the Menina Colibri.

Finally, we went to the CAF headquarters in Altamira, where we found the Menina Salto Angel.

We ended our walk in search of Meninas. We walked about 10 thousand steps that night. We still left some Meninas unseen because there are 19 in total.

But the next day, Sunday, after lunch, my husband suggested that we go by car to see the missing ones and so we did.

We saw the Menina Araguaney in Campo Alegre and the Menina Lazos de Mi Tierra which is in the Plaza Brion in Chacaito. An area that is very busy and where paradoxically there was almost no one wanting to be photographed with the Menina. I guess because in that area the security is not the best.

Then we visited the Menina Guacamayas, which is in the square Las Morochas in Altamira.

Then we visited the Menina Orquidea and from there we went to see the Menina Avila. Both are on the sidewalks of important and very busy Avenues (Fco de Miranda y Av. Libertador).

That day we passed again by the Menina Colibrí located in the Plaza La Castellana, and with the light of day, you can appreciate its colors much more.

Then was another Menina in front of the headquarters of a local bank, which is one of the sponsors of the exhibition. The Menina BNC has the colors of the image of the bank.

From there, we went to see the Toucan Menina.

At this point, we only had one more to see. That day we finished the tour at the Menina Mineral Resources, which is in front of another emblematic building of the city, El Cubo Negro.

This is the only Menina we saw that had texture on its surface. It was the one I liked the most because it also fits perfectly with the environment.

It was fun to walk through the Meninas, and I think we should be grateful and applaud any initiative that gets people out on the street to enjoy the city.

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, and it is my post for this week's #wednesdaywalk challenge hosted by @tattoodjay.

Thank you for reading.

_{All images and writing are my own unless otherwise stated.}

© CoquiCoin

January 18, 2024

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