Two years on, Piazza Signoria is once again hosting In Florence, a great contemporary art event devised by Fabrizio Moretti and Sergio Risaliti, promoted by the Comune di Firenze and organised to tie in with the 30th edition of the Biennale Internazionale d’Antiquariato di Firenze. Following in the footsteps of celebrated artist Jeff Koons, Florence’s guest in 2015, the absolute star of this second edition of In Florence 2017 will be Swiss artist Urs Fischer, one of the leading artists on the world scene today. The project Big Clay #4 and 2 Tuscan Men – curated by Francesco Bonami – consists, in what has become something of a tradition, in the presentation of a monumental work of art in that dazzling open-air sculpture museum that is Piazza Signoria, staging what is at the very least a thought-provoking contrast between the classic and the contemporary.
Fabrizio Moretti and Moretti Fine Art are thrilled with the whole operation: “Bringing Fischer to Florence is a source of immense satisfaction for me. He is an artist whose work I have always loved for its exquisite genius. We should bear in mind that the Swiss artist is one of the few stars in the firmament of art today! I am fortunate in being able to work closely with such an enlightened mayor, who takes delight in interacting with the contemporary world and thus in taking risks”.
Piazza della Signoria will provide the setting for Big Clay, a large metal sculpture (about 12 metres tall) whose shape has something about it that is at once primordial and childlike, totemic and architectural: “The large sculpture entitled Big Clay #4 (2013-2014) which is to be hosted in the focal point of Piazza Signoria to interact with the Tower of Arnolfo on Palazzo Vecchio” – explains Bonami – “is only seemingly monumental. In actual fact it is a monument to the simplicity and the primordial nature of the human gesture as its moulds a shape. Closer inspection of the work’s alluminium surface reveals the artist’s fingerprints. The sculpture is an enlargement of small pieces of clay modelled by the artist in his workshop. It is a monument to manuality and to the simplest, most humdrum creative action”.
To complete the project, Fischer will be placing two artworks on the Arengario of Palazzo Vecchio, between the reproductions of Michelangelo’s David and Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes, in the furrow of the exhibitions staged by Jeff Koons (2015) and Jan Fabre (2016). The Swiss artist will be placing two human figures on the Arengario, trasforming them into candles that will slowly be consumed throughout the duration of the exhibition, symbolising human transience and the lasting quality of art.
Promoted by
Comune di Firenze
Biennale Internazionale di Antiquariato di Firenze
artistic direction by
Fabrizio Moretti
SerGio Risaliti
Exhibition curated by
Francesco Bonami
Organised
by Mus.e
MAIN SPONSOR
MORETTI FINE ART LTD
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September 14, 2017