The sculpture "Cosmos 62" by Andreu Alfaro returned to Calpe a little more than a month ago to be set up again at the "Norte" exit. This act concludes the long negotiation between the city council and the IVAM. The museum leaves the sculpture to the city of Calpe and the Alfaro family leaves two sculptures to the IVAM to replace "Cosmos 62".
In return, the City Council has undertaken to bear the costs of transport and repairs. Current maintenance is inadequate as the sculpture contains rusted material and has destroyed the original polychromy. Finally, the City Council, under the supervision of the IVAM Restoration Department, awarded the works to Contrafforte Restauro, a specialist company, for €16,494.
The works consist of the removal and staining of non-original polychrome, the application of an antioxidant layer, the application of matt black paint and the final varnish and the consolidation by welding the non-anchored elements.
The sculpture, created by Alfaro in 1960, was owned by José Huget, who developed the area known as Calpesa and installed it near today's petrol station at the northern entrance to the municipality. Years later, "Cosmos 62" was sold to the Valencià d'Art Modern Institute and moved to Valencia. However, the works of Andreu Alfaro, who died in 2012, were always created taking into account the environment in which they were located and which are part of the landscape. For this reason, the return of the sculpture, which is very present in the emotional memory of the generations of Calpe's inhabitants, is very practical.