Torso Desperacion

Victor Ochoa’s preferred medium is bronze, which he calls “petrified lava”, as it retains the imprint of the sculptor’s hand like no other material. This torso sculpture captures the power of the human body. And yet, the man’s posture expresses his despair. It is the inner tension contained in the figure that exalts the artist. The piece, alternatively titled Desperacion, inspired these words from the Spanish author and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Camilo José Cela: “El hombre es un anima tan fràgil como el pajarito que se mece en el viento” (“Man is an animal as fragile as the little bird that sways in the wind”). The two Iberian artists were great friends. In 1993, Ochoa created the monument to Cela installed at the Faculty of Law of Madrid University and the monument erected in A Coruna on the author’s death in 2002.
This sculpture, Torso Desperacion, was exhibited at the Biennale de Sculpture de Monte-Carlo in 1997. It was acquired by the Principality the following year.

J. Victor Ochoa was born on 11 January 1954 in Madrid, where he studied architecture, drawing, painting, metalworking, and zoology. In 1979, he graduated with a degree in architecture. A year later, he was awarded a study grant and went to live in the Galapagos Islands and in the Amazonian rainforests of Venezuela. He also spent time in Paris, London, and New York, before enrolling at the Sant Jordi Academy in Barcelona. His first work was with clay, but in 1982 he received his first commission for a bronze bust. His style is figurative and realist.
A respected portrait artist, Ochoa is known for his sculptures of the Spanish Royal Family. He has a predilection for monumental expression, reflecting a sense of grandeur. He exhibits in the United States, Portugal, and throughout Spain. His sculptures can be found in numerous collections around the world.