At the opening of the Gold Coast Residence new clubhouse last week – it was a good party orchestrated by Toine and a crew sound, light and music people – a piece of public art was unveiled, Gold Origin, by local artist Gilbert Senchi.
Gilbert is as expected a colorful personality, but we forgive all his quirks, the bad curtain hair in particular, because the man is talented and driven. And these days he is more organized, within a public art foundation, ARTopia, with Mirla Passchier and Eduard Ellis in charge of structure and on-time delivery. Proof? Developer Fito Croes who commissioned the artwork reports a smooth creative process.
Gilbert originally decided to follow International Finance & Economics, in the USA, I believe, and later completed a law degree, perhaps in Aruba. There is very little on line about him, except the materials I produced over the years. His most famous success/failure was a roof top restaurant in his native San Nicholas which I loved, with recycled furniture and a Latin grill. He also opened another roof top night club in Chocolate City where the furniture was fit for a king. Dutch monarch Willem Alexander once placed his royal arse on that furniture cleverly made from deconstructed wheel hubs, joints, shafts and bearings! Gilbert opened galleries left, right and center, San Nicholas, Oranjestad, in collaboration with other local artists but then his original calling, tugged at his heart strings, and he became a full time sculptor. His work may be found today in several private and public spaces. He lists Aruba, Germany, the UK and Colombia on his improvised resume.
Just to refresh your memory about Aruba: His steel sculpture Victory was presented to His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco during the opening of The Links at Divi Aruba; then a red hot Spear, forged strong from battling the elements, also a steel sculpture, was installed in the lobby of the Divi Divi. It was part of Gilbert’s Aruba Heritage Series. I never saw the other pieces. Most recently, in 2013, Gilbert was the artist behind the Monument for the Fisherman Lost at Sea, on the waterfront adjacent to Wilhelmina Park. His work is also on display in public areas in Colombia where he produced impressive, large scale monuments.
I heard through the grapevine that within a few weeks/months there will be another reveal in San Nicholas where the government commissioned Lolita, a bronze piece paying homage to the hardworking female street vendors, pushing carts with boiled peanuts and lottery tickets, struggling to raise kids and make a living at the same time, tough as nails, and determined. So Gilbert will be revealing Lolita soon, based on a real San Nicholas resident, which according to Mirla is a secret, but you know there are no secrets in Aruba.
Side remark: At home, we used to call these Caribbean merchant ladies burdened with threatening-to-explode bags, Madame Sarah. I think that term came from Haiti.
ABOUT GOLDEN ORIGIN: Golden Origin, the sculpture unveiled at the Gold Coast clubhouse was commissioned by the residence and was produced by ARTopia Foundation for Public Arts, designed and executed by sculptor Gilbert Senchi.
He was inspired, he says, to create a Queen Conch shell for the entrance of the clubhouse because the shell was abundant in the Malmok area, as a favorite food item on the menu of the neighborhood’s indigenous population. It sustained the Malmok Indians, and was found as a fossil, in many of Malmok’s archeological excavations. Thus, Gilbert’s artistic interpretation of Golden Origin relies on the island’s historical past. The work is two meters tall and cast in bronze, the top of the shell demonstrates four “arms” pointing to the four coordinates of the compass, embracing all people from four corners of the world. Water flows from the top of the shell, and the light bursting from the inside; represent the volcanic lava, which originally created the island, during a pre-historic eruption. The sculpture is 1.8m high x 1.5m wide x 1.5m in diameter and it weights 450 kg, with an old gold patina applied on bronze, hinting at Aruba’s gold rush days.
For those interested in the artistic process the work was first made in clay, as a real life-size model, then it was cast as a negative mold with plaster and filled in with wax, before heading to the foundry for the final bronze casting process. Origin di Oro or Golden Origin references much of Aruba’s past in its design, yet its esthetics lends a contemporary and friendly welcome to the new clubhouse.
Gilbert originally fought to have his giant queen conch installed as a center piece of the Ritz Carlton/Marriott Aruba Resort & Stellaris Casino roundabout, it was designed as an interactive sculpture which visitors could touch and sit on, but fear that it could become a traffic hazard aborted the plan.
Gilbert defines his mission as: “Identifying, rescuing & dignifying the ancient signs of the land through the art, resulting in a good flow of energy, in people and places.”
Golden Origin, was commissioned by Gold Coast Aruba and produced by ARTopia a Foundation for Public Arts.
