Igor Mitoraj in the open air in Sicily with the first major exhibition ever held ‘en plein air’, ‘Lo Sguardo- Humanitas- Physis’, curated by Luca Pizzi, artistic director of the Atelier Mitoraj, scheduled until 31 October 2025, at Archaeological and landscape park of Syracuse-Ortigia – Etna Park. There are 27 monumental works that make up the unprecedented and poignant exhibition itinerary, of which 25 can be admired by citizens and tourists inside the archaeological park of Neapolis in Syracuse, a UNESCO site, while the bronze work of the ‘Teseo Screpolato’ it rises to 1,700 meters on the lava stones of Etna, a World Heritage Site, while the winged sculpture ‘Ikaria’ looks towards the Mediterranean from the space in front of the Maniace Castle in Ortigia, symbol of the meeting between peoples and cultures. (PHOTO)
In this exhibition Mitoraj’s expressive style and his poetics, rich in surrealism and symbolism, manifest themselves in absolute harmony and continuity with the models of the classical and Roman tradition and in a fruitful dialogue with nature. The works present, in fact, created between 1993 and 2014 in bronze, cast iron, travertine and resin, integrate with the places that host them, generating profound suggestions and stimulating knowledge and participation. The inaugural event is scheduled for April 16th at the Neapolis archaeological area with a theatrical and musical performance with over 40 artists, written and directed by Gisella Calì with unpublished music by Lello Analfino which will highlight the spiritual journey, between myths and heroes, towards change and beauty.
“I strongly wanted to create this exhibition with the Atelier Mitoraj, ten years after the death of Igor – declared Jean Paul Sabatiè during the press conference to present the exhibition which took place in Rome at the Ara Pacis Auditorium. president Atelier Mitoraj – An exhibition in a unique place that expressed, at the highest level, his poetics, his artistic message and the search for eternal beauty through the wounds of time. Igor’s works interpreted the drama of the human condition – he added – and the inescapable yearning towards the light and harmony of the anatomical purity of bodies. A look that from history and the past still questions all of us today”.
“With this exhibition we have constructed a journey where gazes unite with each other – the curator Luca Pizzi intervened – starting from the sculpture installed on Etna which looks towards Ikaria ready to take flight, up to Neapolis. An itinerary of glances that want to mark the transition from looking to seeing, a path of awareness that relies on Nature, Beauty and Mystery”.
“The amazement that the exhibition generates is the explosive contemporaneity of works of art, such as the wonderful ones by Mitoraj, in perfect harmony with the timeless places of the exhibition, which become subjects, protagonists, speak to each of us – explained Roberto Grossi , cultural and creative director – They tell us about the contradictions we experience, the fears and the incompleteness of existence which, with a renewed look into the depths of ourselves, can lead us back to the ability to live with nature and the community and, above all, to imagine.”