The imbabureño was one of the most recognized in the branch of woodcarving, mainly with religious art that crossed borders with his heritage from the Quito School.
Teacher Alcides Montesdeoca He passed away on February 27, 2022, in his native San Antonio de Ibarra. However, his art, represented in more than 5,000 works throughout his career, which reached the Vatican, will undoubtedly keep his memory alive forever.
Don Alcides, as his friends, neighbors and acquaintances called him, was born on May 19, 1930, being the last of a family whose legacy shone with its own light in the firmament of religious sculpture in Saint Anthonyaccording to a review by the San Antonio Parish Government.
They state that his first images were made for the city of Puyofor after some years of constant work to consolidate with a well-deserved prestige at the national level, hired by most of the ecclesiastical communities of Ecuador, to sculpt religious images of various themes.
“And due to the evident quality visible in his sculptures, his prestige reached international dimensions, required by commission from Spain, Chile, Colombia and other countries”, they add.
More than 80 years of career
Alcides Montesdeoca’s artistic life began at an early age, remembering, in one of his interviews, that from the six years his grandfather, Antonio Montesdeoca, disciple of Daniel Reyes, He involved him in the trade by assigning him tasks such as calcining the plaster and then grinding it, in the workshop he had on Bolívar Street.
“My grandfather was rigid with a strong character and he kept me motionless in the workshop, he works and works from eight in the morning until night. My childhood was tough and disciplined without many vacations and games. This will come in handy one day, they told me”, recalled Alcides, in a review collected by the Municipality of Ibarra, for a tribute in 2015.
About his works, they highlight the fame acquired abroad, as in Colombia, in Popayán, with the litter; or in Chile, where the passionaries; in Spain, the 18 martyrs; in the Vatican, Switzerland, among other countries, where they have the art of Alcides in their churches.
“In our neighboring country Colombia, in Popayán, the image maker of San Antonio is so well known that when he attended the religious ceremony of Holy Week to present his litter, I was totally protected.” exposed.
Alcides Montesdeoca is one of the most important sculptors of San Antonio de Ibarra and the country, after almost 80 years of career as a sculptor.
