The Infamous Colorado Sculpture Known as ‘Blucifer’ Turns 17

If you have been to the Denver International Airport in the past decade, you've more than likely seen this giant sculpture greeting you or saying goodbye. The giant horse has been a fixture along Pena Boulevard for years.

Made of fiberglass, standing at 32 feet tall, and weighing approximately 9,000 pounds, the big blue horse is known to many in Colorado by the name of Blucifer. The blue horse with glowing red eyes has been a tale of many Colorado stories. Some fictional and others true.

The Denver International Airport commissioned the artwork from sculptor, Luis Jiminez, in 1992 for $300,000. Jiminez did not realize it at the time, but this would be his last creation. In 2006, Luis Jiminez was killed by the sculpture when one of the sections of Blucifer came loose and pinned him against a steel support beam, severing an artery in his leg. Jiminez bled to death in his studio before being declared dead on arrival at a local hospital in New Mexico.

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Two years after the death of the sculptor, Blucifer was completed and transported to the Denver International Airport and installed on February 11, 2008. This week the infamous sculpture turned 17 and Denver Public Art celebrated its anniversary by posting some photos that many might have never seen.

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Like what it looks like looking straight into the mouth of Blucifer. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were looking at a statue of an alien. This perspective kind of gives you an uneasy feeling, to say the least. Take a look at the photos Denver Public Art posted on Facebook below.