Martine, Olivier Seguin

Martine is a 1968 work by French sculptor Olivier Seguin. It was moved in 2019 from it’s original location further down the Periférico highway. The work is more frequently referred to simply as “Station 16” for its position within the Ruta de la Amistad. Seguin rather notoriously did not title many of his works. But the story of how his wife’s name came to be attached to this one is not well documented.

• Olivier Seguin (b. 1927) was born in France and spent many years in Mexico. He taught visual  arts at multiple schools in Mexico and later worked in architectural integration and doing relief. He’s still best known for his work in monumental sculpture.
• In Mexico City, he worked as a professor of monumental sculpture at the National Academy of San Carlos. In Mexico, he may be most famous for a giant central sculpture within the Plaza Satelite shopping center. The shopping center later adapted a profile image of the work to serve as a logo for the mall. The original work was moved outside of the shopping center in 2014.

The work, Marine, created for the Friendship Route, is made of two great masses nearly seven meters tall. Straight lines bisect both masses and the two are painted black and white. At times suggesting a  figuration, the work is visually heavy and powerful and benefits from being seen from multiple perspectives. It may even be imagined as one of the more successful public sculptures on the Route.