A pink stone sculpture by Lluís Lleó crowns Paseo de Gràcia for its bicentennial

With three meters high and about eight tons of solid stone, the sculpture Pink Barcino has emerged on Paseo de Gràcia to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the emblematic avenue of the Catalan capital. The Barcelona artist based in New York, Lluís Lleó, signs the work, which aspires to become a new cultural symbol of the city while it remains on the promenade, presumably until January 2025.

The color pink is the protagonist of the sculpture, for the "glamour and style" that the author believes it evokes, although it is not the only reason: "It's a color that everyone likes but no one dares to wear," according to Lleó. In addition, it is a nod to the Salón Rosa that brought together Barcelona's high society from the 1930s to the 1970s, when it gave way in the same location to the old Bulevard Rosa.

This pink color draws the Eixample grid at the exact location of the sculpture: the point where Paseo de Gràcia and Avenida Diagonal meet. The work is slightly inclined, following the angle of the Diagonal, and at the same time symbolizing the instability and constant transformation of reality and of the city that hosts it. To connect the past with the present, the urban fabric is depicted on the same stone with which many of the buildings on the promenade were built, as explained by Lleó, who has resided in New York for three decades.

The project began to be sketched two years ago, when Lleó received the commission from the organizing committee of the promenade's bicentennial. The sculpture is expected to leave its location in January, when the events of the avenue's 200th anniversary conclude. However, the artist has advocated for its continuity: "We will do everything possible to make it stay." And, as a Barcelona artist, Lleó has expressed his "pride" in beautifying one of the city's main arteries with one of his works.

The sculpture, which has been financed by the Fundació Salvat, was inaugurated with an event that attracted curious onlookers to see the moment when the canvas covering it was removed to declare it inaugurated. Mayor Jaume Collboni; the executive director of the Fundació Salvat, Llucià Homs; the president of the Associació del Passeig de Gràcia, Luis Sans; the president of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Josep Santacreu, and the manager of the Fundació Barcelona Promoció, Xavier Carbonell, attended the event, where Lleó defended that "culture is the way."