Ricardo Iorio ya tiene su monumento en las sierras de Coronel Suárez

Ricardo Iorio ya quedó plasmado en una loma del paraje El Campamento, en Coronel Suárez, donde vivir sus últimos años. La escultura, iniciada por el artista Rodolfo "Roppo" Marsch y su hijo Ian, mide casi seis metros y será el centro de un homenaje que también incorpora la figura del cacique Pichihuinca, un proyecto que el propio músico había planteado en vida.

El conjunto se completa con una lanza que funcionará como mástil para una bandera argentina y que llevará la altura total del monumento a aproximadamente once metros. El lugar está a unos diez kilómetros de la casa de campo de Iorio y a fifty kilómetros de la ciudad de Coronel Suárez; el acceso irregular al terreno obliged a losculptores a resolver dificultades con ayuda de amigos y seguidores del músico.

Una idea que venía de Iorio

“Cada vez que vamos es como ir a un encuentro con Ricardo.”Rodolfo "Roppo" Marsch

Marsch recounted that Iorio had expressed his wish to erect a monument to Pichihuinca, a historical figure of the region. After the musician's death, the sculptor took up that idea and added Iorio to the design. On October 24, the third anniversary of his passing, a group of fans visited the work in an informal pre-inauguration.

The formal inauguration is scheduled for November 20, Día de la Soberanía Nacional, a date linked to the most criollo stage of Iorio's career. Born in Caseros on June 25, 1962, he founded V8, Hermética and Almafuerte before settling in the rural area of Coronel Suárez, where his music turned toward folklore and national identity. His last concert took place on October 14, 2023 in Rosario; he died ten days later of a heart attack at his country house, aged 61.

• Sculpture of almost six meters, which will reach approximately eleven meters with the lance and flagpole.
• Location: El Campamento, a rural area of Coronel Suárez, about ten kilometers from Iorio's home.
• Tentative formal inauguration: November 20.
• A rock night in his memory will take place this Saturday at the Polideportivo Municipal of Coronel Suárez; part of the proceeds will finance the completion of the sculpture.

I find it moving that this tribute begins with an idea Iorio himself had defended, and that Marsch decided to carry forward when the musician was no longer there. Between the loma, the serrano landscape and the work of friends and followers, the monument becomes a place to remember not only the artist, but also the rural identity he chose to inhabit. If I were to choose, I would accompany the inauguration with a visit to the site, because this is a homage that grows from the relationship between a musician and the land that became his home.