Fortress Figure ,2010
Provenance :
Exhibited : Nirox Sculpture Park, Magaliesberg, Arnaldo Pomodoro and Edoardo Villa: A Sculptural Dialogue, 5 June to 31 July 2010.
Literature :
Notes : The 1990s saw Edoardo Villa pushing the boundaries of his own artistic production by experimenting with new and alternative media to construct sculptures. This new creative vigour was inspired by his visit to the 44th Venice Biennale in 1990, where he would have seen the conceptual works of Anish Kapoor, Nikos Kouroussis, Toshikatsu Endo and Eduardo Chillida. That year, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in Venice also presented the landmark show Mondrian and De Stijl: The Modern Ideal during the Biennale, which would have further encouraged him to explore alternative directions and take up the challenge to work in unconventional materials – like discarded polystyrene packaging.
These polystyrene units provided Villa with an abundance of unique geometrical forms to stack in an assortment of inventive rectangular and interlocking compositions. “The deep recesses, buttresses and futuristic ‘architectural’ elements in the works produce a science-fiction like edifice. Many of the compositions are relief-like and could be read as control panels of sorts or as mechanistic, high-relief ciphers.”[1]
A collection of these new Polystyrene sculptures were exhibited at the Standard Bank Gallery in 1991. While Villa was celebrated for his playful experimentalism, many of these sculptures (especially those in smaller scale) were later cast in bronze.
In 2010, Villa gave permission to produce moulds of a pair of his 1990 Polystyrene sculptures to cast in an edition of 3, and an artist’s proof, in solid bronze. The imposing large-scale Fortress Figure is one of these sculptures. It is a magnificent abstract construction – visually forceful. The bronze patination on the work is splendid and the casting work is immaculate with the textures, patterns and contours of each of the original polystyrene units beautifully reproduced.
Another edition of Fortress Figure and its pair were exhibited on the exhibition Arnaldo Pomodoro and Edoardo Villa: A Sculptural Dialogue at the Nirox Sculpture Park in 2010, in association with the Embassy of Italy. Villa celebrated his 95th birthday on the opening date of exhibition. He passed away the following year. No bronzes by Villa are permitted to be cast posthumously.
Marelize van Zyl
[1] Von Maltitz, A & Nel, K. ‘Edoardo Villa: A Life Considered’ in Nel, K; Burroughs, E & Von Maltitz, A (eds.)(2005) Villa at 90. Jeppestown: Jonathan Ball Publishers. p 102
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