The Edward James Sculpture Garden
The Edward James Sculpture Garden is more than an expression of Surrealism, it reflects the life, curiosity, desires, and passions of its author.
Fleur de lis bridge (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
An unusual location
The Edward James Sculpture Garden appears in the middle of the rainforest of the Huasteca mountains, in Xilitla, San Luis Potosi. Its unusual location bursts into a dense landscape of natural beauty, resembling a vestige of archaeological cities in the middle of the jungle.
Stairway to heaven surrounded by mist (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
A magical place
Filled with mysticism and keeping the secrets of its creators, the constructions of the Sculpture Garden appear as magical and strange entities, fused and welcomed by nature.
Old stairs (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
Apparently not finished
The precise place where the garden is located is not fortuitous, nor are its forms and its capricious and unfinished characters.
Counterforts (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
A trace of its creator
The Sculpture Garden can be seen as a trace of the Romanticism legacy, where the inner life and the emotions of its creator also dwell.
The water makes its way (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
More than an expression of Surrealism
For a long time, Edward James´s Garden has been understood as a vanguardist expression and a manifestation of the Surrealist movement.
Organic shape detail (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
A language of his own
These associations embody a multiplicity of thoughts, experiences, knowledge, and aesthetic experiments of its author, which open the possibility of deploying a language of his own.
Cornucopias (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
A creation from the subconscious
Its unique sculptures, unfinished constructions, organic forms, stairs, and doors without destination, seem to be the result dreams and the subconscious, and as such, of surrealism, its automatism and unreason.
The library with no books (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
Juxtaposed elements
The Sculpture Garden is a collage of juxtaposed elements of dissimilar and unconnected characters that, at a distance, are identified as a creation of surrealism, but under a deeper and more meticulous look, can be read as life of its author.
Colums at Bamboo palace (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
An expanded world
The platforms, arches, columns, pillars, windows, doors, stairs, and structures; together with the nature that invades them, configure, and respond to the personal and at the same time expanded world of Edward James.
Some details of the Molds warehouse (1947/1984) by Edward JamesJardín Escultórico Edward James, Las Pozas
A living place
The Edward James´s Sculpture Garden is alive, it is inhabited, it changes, it merges with nature, it is walked, breathed, touched, and through its corridors, it is possible to see reflected the imagination of more than one artist, poet, musician, architect, etc.
Text from: Pedro and Elena Hernández Foundation CSO, 2019, unpublished work.
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