One day, while drinking coffee, and watching waiters at work, he thought of how service staff had contributed to the development of the Costa del Sol. And yet, their contribution has gone largely unnoticed.
He was inspired to create a set of sculptures “In tribute to the waiters, men and women, who through their work have contributed to the development of the Costa del Sol."
He talked about the idea with the Mayor of Benalmadena at the time, who agreed to his suggestion. He set to work, completed and installed the sculptures. Unfortunately, shortly after they were installed, the sculptures were vandalised and one of the chairs was stolen. Since then only one chair remained – until this year, when the council commissioned Antonio Quesada, an artist responsible for many of the works of art displayed on the streets of the municipality, to create an exact replica of the chair that still remains.
And now, there are two chairs again. I didn’t know the story behind the sculptures and the missing chair until recently. When I first saw them, I thought they were intended as such. I found the set of sculptures at the beginning of the main street of Arroyo fitting and iconic. It was a good representation of the cafes and restaurants on the street.Now that I know the full story behind them, I find them even more meaningful. I think the same applies to any art piece or sculpture. When you know the story behind it, you can relate better and the artwork takes on a new meaning – even though you might not like it a lot, or agree with the artist’s concept.
Anyone who has been to Arroyo would have seen the set of sculptures, remembered it, and most likely, had a photo of it. The sculptures could easily be the most photographed thing in Arroyo. In fact, when I visited Arroyo for the first time and came upon them, that was the first thing I did – took out my camera and took a few shorts of the sculptures. Now, I see curious tourists posing and taking photos when I pass by the area.
Here’s the link to the full story of the Waiter on Arroyo de la Miel. Have a look if you are interested.
👉 Source
You can click on the picture for a better view.
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