España | Florida - Foundation 500 Años

Favila, like his subject a native of the Spanish region of Asturias, presented the piece to the España-Florida 500 Years Foundation in December, in a ceremony at the University of Alcalá that was attended by the cultural attaché of the U.S. Embassy in Spain, Thomas Genton.

In a few weeks, the España -Florida 500 Years Foundation will take Favila’s sculpture to the cultural center, which opened in December.

Displaying the statuette at Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, the capital of Florida, is a particularly fitting tribute, as Menéndez de Avilés was Spanish Florida’s first governor.

Efforts are also under way to place a large statue of Menéndez de Avilés in downtown Tallahassee, as was done in Miami last year.

Favila’s bronze, some 16 inches tall, depicts Menéndez de Avilés as he arrives in the area where he would found the city of St. Augustine. He has one foot on the ground and the other still in the air, as if about to set it firmly on a settlement that would endure and become the United States’ oldest continuously occupied city.

The son of sculptor Amado González Fernández, Favila began to draw and paint from an early age. “Fiestas,” fishing landscapes, the carnival in Avilés and many scenes from everyday life fill Favila’s work over four decades. Soon after he graduated from the San Carlos School of Fine Arts at Valencia’s Polytechnic University in 1980, Favila’s work began to be included in group exhibits.

In 1991, he was commissioned by the Municipality of Oviedo, capital of Asturias, to paint murals in the city’s bullfighting ring, and by the Archdiocese of Oviedo to similarly decorate the dome above the main altar at Cristo de las Cadenas chapel. Other commissions followed, including the sculpture ensembles titled “Vendedoras del Fontán” and “El conde de Campomanes,” also for Oviedo.

In 1997, the Municipality of Avilés, where he lives, commissioned the statue “La monstrua,” based on a painting by Juan Carreño Miranda, and in 1999 the sculpture groups “Tratante de ganado” at Carbayedo Park and “Marta y María” in downtown Avilés.

Favila has also worked in other Spanish regions, such as the Canary Islands, which in 1998 commissioned sculpture ensembles for Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the archipelago’s twin capitals.

Favila has been featured at numerous group exhibits, such as at the galleries Van Dick, in Gijón, and Murillo, in Oviedo. Luarca’s National Competition, at which he won several awards, was followed by the shows Panorama 81 del Arte Asturiano, in Madrid, Salón de Navidad, in Avilés, and 7 Pintores Avilesinos de Hoy, sponsored by Aviles’ Casa de la Cultura.

Favila has done numerous other artworks commissioned by municipalities and other public and private organizations.

In 2002, Avilés’ School of Arts and Crafts, where he teaches, awarded Favila its gold medal.

Sculptor donates statuette of 1st Florida governor to Tallahassee’s Mission San Luis

Sculptor Amado González Hevia, known as Favila, has donated a bronze statuette of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés to Tallahassee’s Mission San Luis for placement in its new cultural center.

Author: Fundacion España Florida 500 años

Date: 01-18-2010