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Pablo Atchugarry exhibition “The Awakening of Nature” FINAL WEEKEND
Pablo Atchugarry, “The awakening of Nature”
The first major public exhibition in Lucca
From 4 June to 4 September 45 monumental sculptures between the sixteenth-century walls, the streets,
the churchyards and two indoor exhibition venues. The external exhibition will continue until 30 September
For the first time on display also the wooden works of the Uruguayan artist
known throughout the world for marbles that seem to soar towards the sky
Pablo Atchugarry, one of the most important exponents of the international contemporary art scene, is in Lucca for the first major public exhibition: from June 4 to September 4 the city hosts “The Awakening of Nature”, a widespread exhibition along a route which winds inside the sixteenth-century walls, the streets of the center, the parvises of the most important churches in the city and two indoor exhibition venues.
Marbles that seem to hover towards the sky, bronzes and wooden works, exhibited for the first time in a public exhibition, interact with the cultural, historical and artistic tradition of the city of pre-Roman origins: the exhibition, curated by GianGuido Grassi, organized by the Foundation Banca del Monte di Lucca, from the Lucca Sviluppo Foundation and the Start – Open your eyes Association, with the contribution of the Municipality of Lucca, collects a total of 45 sculptures. The exhibition has the patronage of the Regional Council of Tuscany, of Confindustria Toscana Nord and CNA of Lucca.
Ten wooden works will find space in the Church of the Servants, built in the late 1300s, while the spectacular works in white Carrara marble, black from Belgium and pink from Portugal will be housed in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, along with some bronzes.
Five works placed outdoors, in the main places of interest in the historic center: Piazza San Martino, the Agora, Piazza San Michele (the ancient forum), Porta San Pietro, on the walls at the bastion of San Frediano. The outdoor setting will continue until September 30th.
“With this exhibition – are the words of Andrea Palestini, president of the Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation – the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Lucca returns to welcome a name of international importance and an event with a great emotional impact that, inside as well as in the outside the building, it will dialogue with our city, its inhabitants and the many visitors who have returned to animate it ”.
“In this historical moment – declares the curator of the exhibition GianGuido Grassi – we need to rediscover values and hope and beauty seems to offer humanity a lifeline: the artist with his creativity is close to the primordial principle from which it springs. the universe; the sculptor frees the material to make it a new work: hence the title of the exhibition, ‘The Awakening of Nature’. In front of Pablo’s sculptures, be they olive tree roots, in Carrara statuary marble, bronze castings, we feel a particular emotion, we intuit a mystery, a sort of prayer. To say it with Plato: the power of the Good has taken refuge in the nature of the Beautiful ”.
“I love Italy – declares the artist Pablo Atchugarry – where I arrived as a young man when I left my homeland, Uruguay, to come to Europe and draw on the sources of culture. It was the Journey; the first city was Rome, in 1977, then Paris, Copenhagen. In those days, in order not to pay for the hotel, I traveled by train at night. The 2015 exhibition in Rome was the realization of a dream, my sculptures interacted with over two thousand years of history. In Italy, in Lecco in front of that branch of Lake Como, I stayed all my life, my children grew up here. Today I can say that Italy is our country where I live and of which I am a citizen ”.
“I am tied to Tuscany – continues Atchugarry – I went to the Apuan Alps for the first time in 1979. It was a decisive moment in my career, I met the origin and beauty of marble which has become the privileged material of my work. The marbles are the children of the mountain and belong to the world; so are my sculptures that have legs and, like a father, I see them leave and acquire a life of their own. Sometimes I think that all of my vertical works, these points, are nothing more than invocations, a questioning, a going to see the stars: perceive the energy of the Universe, find the primordial elements to make the journey between matter and light ” .
“Lucca is an international city on a human scale. For the historical significance that I would like to give to this exhibition for the first time in my life, I decided to present a selection of only wooden sculptures, a Garden of Olives, a symbol of Resurrection, sculptures sprung from the roots of centuries-old trees that were not supposed to die. We all need roots, they take their nourishment from the earth, it is they who allow us to ascend to heaven. Like plants in the Amazon I try to raise my sculptures towards the light: freeing themselves from the weight of matter and from the fatal downward attraction of life, they turn their gaze towards the sky, opening the way to freedom and hope. I think this is the mission of art and beauty or, at least,
The two indoor exhibition venues will be open with free admission every day from 4 to 8 pm, except Mondays.
INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS:
Banca del Monte di Lucca Foundation
Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Piazza San Martino 7, 55100 Lucca
T. +39 0583 464062
mostre@fondazionebmluccaeventi.it
