Reloj Solar; Grzegorz Kowalski

Photos courtesy of Pola Magnetyczne ©2019

Reloj Solar (Solar Clock) is one of the most distinctive of the 22 total works created for the Ruta de la Amistad. The Friendship Route arranged giant public sculptures along the roads leading to the main Olympic Village of the 1968 Olympic Games. Grzegorz Kowalski’s work is one of the most distinctive, but its relatively low profile means it’s one of the most frequently missed.

The giant work consists of seven cones cast in reinforced concrete, the tallest reaching some five meters in height. Today, the cones are painted in yellow, orange, red, and ochre, and each is arranged in within a broadly circular plot of land.

• Grzegorz Kowalski (b. 1942) is a sculptor, performer, installation artist, critic, essayist, and curator. He graduated from the sculpture department of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in 1965 and later became among Poland’s most prominent artists. He played a key role straight through the 1990s and was the youngest artist to participate in the Ruta de la Amistad.

The Reloj Solar was restored in 2001 by The History Channel Latin America. Kowalski himself attended that re-dedication and selected the new more modern colors, to replace the terra-cotta color scheme the sculpture had worn since 1968.  Since then it’s been maintained by the Centro Comercial Perisur. The surrounding garden has been maintained by the American Express company since 2010.