Jorge Jiménez Deredia Costa Rican, b. 1954

Jiménez Deredia was born in Costa Rica on October 4th, 1954. In 1976 he opens his art studio in Carrara where he remains permanently. Deredia graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara and he attended the Faculty of Architecture at Florence University. The stone spheres produced by the pre-Columbian civilization of the Borucas from Costa Rica are constant inspiration of his art Works. In 1985, Deredia realized the first Geneses- his personal theoretical-artistic ‘system,’ which are works that outline distinct phases of the transformation of matter in space over time, thus laying the foundations of his artistic ideology: Transmutative Symbolism. In 2000, Pope John Paul II commissioned the sculptor to produce a statue of San Marcellino 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 among others. He received numerous international awards, including the "Vita D'Artista" prize awarded by the city of Montecatini Terme in Italy. The Republic of Costa Rica granted to Jiménez Deredia “Honorary citizenship” for his artwork and for representing the country's culture in the world. In 2009 the Roman Forum for the first time in history opens his doors to contemporary creations hosting in the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) monumental sculptures of Jiménez Deredia. The one man show in the city of Miami is the continuation of an exhibition trajectory started in 2003.  Deredia’s international exhibitions has crossed many cities of the world, from Florence to Rome, from Valencia to Trapani, from Boca Raton to La Baule in France, from Genoa to San José, from Mexico City to Lucca in Italy. 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.