Think Italian sculpture and you are almost certain to visualize
magnificent forms carved in white marble - works like
Michelangelo's David.
Italy has a long history of sculpture which dates back to
ancient Roman times before reaching its zenith during the
Renaissance period.
But by the late 19th century artists not just from Italy but
from all over Europe had started to test new mediums and aesthetic
meanings. And the trend continues today.
Sculpture art is getting rid of the conventional monumental and
awesome look, replacing it with a more delicate feel utilizing much
lighter and more portable materials. New technologies such as
electronic and digital devices are also being used.
An Italian contemporary sculpture exhibition which recently
opened at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall features
works by 31 Italian artists, both established masters and emerging
young talents.
Its title - "Subtle Energies of Matter" - underlines how these
new materials and technologies have replaced traditional marble or
bronze.
The exhibition is the second event conducted in China by
exhibition organizer - the Garuzzo Institute for the Visual Arts
(IGAV) - signaling a long-term commitment here.
Just over a year ago, IGAV presented the "Nature and
Metamorphosis" exhibition in Shanghai and Beijing which received a
rapturous reception from the public and critics.
It was offered as part of the Year of Italy in China 2006, a
one-year program of events organized by the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.
IGAV is a non-profit organization which promotes international
exhibitions, cultural exchanges between different countries,
debates, produces publications and works to promote the expression
of visual arts by Italian artists.
Based in both Turin and London, it was incorporated as an
association in 2005 and is financed by contributions from its
members, the public and private sponsors. These people place their
vast international experience at the service of contemporary
Italian art.
Exhibition Curator Marisa Vescovo says in the present day the
term "sculpture" no longer encompasses all of the modes of
production adopted by today's artists.
"They are creating channels for other materials, constructing
forms that can react to the movement of real and artificial light,
enlarging environmental and imaginary spaces by including icons and
sounds emitted by the mass media," says Vescovo.
As the exhibit illustrates, the heterogeneous nature of
three-dimensional works of art produced in the 20th and 21st
centuries touch on areas of great poignancy.
Viewers can find not only mixed media, but also hybrid genres
that use different languages, like rocket-fueled escapes from all
pre-defined patterns.
They are subject to social and existential influences that put
together art, daily life and culture into an ongoing melange that
knows no end.
The objective of all these artists is to highlight the extent to
which the techniques and poetics of sculpture have been transformed
since the dawn of the avant-garde.
These sculptors have developed a tendency to play with the
lightness of a multiplicity of materials, which, while classically
"heavy," also have the capacity to lose their substantiality and to
be suspended in space.
The show will move on to the China National Academy of Fine Arts
in Beijing from March 7 to April 1.
(Shanghai Daily January 30, 2008)