Alejandro Otero: A Sculpture

A focused exhibition at Coral Gables Museum introduces the sculptural imagination of Alejandro Otero, one of Latin America’s defining modern artists. Centered on the model of Abra Solar (1981), the presentation offers an intimate look at the geometry, color and modular forms that shaped his vision for how art might intervene in civic space.

Originally conceived for Caracas, Abra Solar rises nearly 18 meters and spans close to 300 square meters, a work designed to shift with wind and light and to reflect the pulse of the city around it. First exhibited at the 1982 Venice Biennale before being permanently installed at Plaza Venezuela, the sculpture has long served as a visual landmark—an example of how Otero’s ideas extended beyond aesthetics toward an engagement with urban identity and public experience.

The exhibition explores these foundations through contextual materials that trace Otero’s belief in structural rhythm, spatial transformation and the capacity of large-scale sculpture to animate its surroundings. Together, they set the stage for Alejandro Otero: Monumental, a forthcoming thematic retrospective that expands on the artist’s enduring influence.