Lights and Shadows in San Victorino: Gabo Facing the Masonic Mirror

Groundbreaking Argument

There is a crowd down there, isn’t there, Gabo?

The question hangs suspended before the wall at “Carrera Décima” and “Calle Doce” while Bogota pulses never stops his heavily pulses. The mural of García Márquez has changed over time. In 2015, it was an institutional tribute. By 2024, it reflects the technical vision of the “Fugo 23” collective.

Yet, beneath the pigment lies an invisible architecture.

“Carrera decima east corner”

I am speaking of Gabo as an initiate into mysteries beyond the visible. He is like a Mason, discreet and quietly influential, whose presence colors our collective imagination. Through hollow praise, we lose sight of his real message: Colombia represents not an enchanted world, but the attempt—and failure—of Enlightenment ideals to take hold in society.

Using geometry and light—symbols of knowledge—Gabo tells the story of the orphan: a society missing guidance or transformation. Just as Masons call themselves “sons of the widow” to express a sense of loss, Gabo’s narrative mourns a mother figure—representing Colombia or its institutions—failing to turn conflict into shared wisdom.

​Ultimately, the mural shows a man who has found universal enlightenment, keeping watch over a society still lost in uncertainty and struggling to find its way.