Our downtown Medellin walk took us through Botero Square. Now I'm not particularly artistic nor am I a "museum guy" but I have to say that Fernando Botero caught my interest. We first saw his work in the Cascade complex in Yerevan, Armenia. It is obviously different and there is just something to it.

Fernando Botero was born in Medellin and was a Colombian painter and sculptor with a signature style, called "Boterismo." His art works depict people, animals, and other objects in voluminous forms. Botero's works are displayed worldwide, and he donated extensively to Colombian museums.

We visited the Antioquia Museum in Botero Square, and it houses an international art collection on three floors. It has a large collection of works by Botero and Pedro Nel Gomez. It also has works by Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and many others.

In the case of Botero Square or Plaza Botero, he donated 23 bronze sculptures. All are displayed outdoors in the plaza for all to see.

The next art work by Botero was in a different part of town, and I suspect less safe. Botero put a statue of a bird here, but it got mostly destroyed during some sort of violent uprising. Botero responded by duplicating his effort but insisted that both sculptures should be there, for all to see the destruction of the one, but the continuation by Botero.

Again, I'm not a big museum guy, but I did love the Botero floor of the Antioquia Museum. I spent some time reading the display below. In case it's not large enough to read, I'll write the last sentence because I found it fascinating. It said, "Botero never painted fat people; he presented us with an exalted and intense view of reality."