Jan Fabre in Florence
From April 15 to October 2, the great exhibition Jan Fabre. Spiritual Guards between Forte Belvedere, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria
It renews the annual appointment with the great art at Forte Belvedere in Florence. After international exhibitions of Giuseppe Penone and Antony Gormley, the ramparts of the ancient Medici Fortress will host the works of Jan Fabre, one of the most innovative and important artists of the contemporary scene.
The major exhibition Jan Fabre. Spiritual Guards, develops between Forte Belvedere, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria.
One of the most complex and complicated exhibitions in public spaces created by the Italian and Flemish theater director.
For the first time ever a living artist will compete simultaneously in three places of great historical and artistic value.
The exhibition will include hundreds of works done by Fabre between 1978 and 2016: bronze sculptures, installations of beetles shells, works in wax and films documenting his performances.
Fabre also present two new works, especially designed for this occasion.
On the morning of April 15, two in Fabre's bronze sculptures will join - temporarily - of the open-air museum that is Piazza Signoria. One of these, Searching for Utopia, exceptionally large, will dialogue with the equestrian statue of Cosimo I by Giambologna; while the second, The man who measures the clouds (American version, 18 years older), will rise between the copies of the David of Michelangelo and Donatello's Judith.
For a history of art that has also put at the disposal of political and economic power - like that of Piazza Signoria with its marble giant (David, Hercules, Neptune) - Jan Fabre opposes an art that is meant to represent and embody the the power of imagination, the artist's mission as "spiritual guard".
Also from April 15 will be visible in the Palazzo Vecchio a series of sculptures that will communicate with the frescoes and artifacts preserved in several rooms of the museum of the palace path, in particular those of Quartiere di Eleonora, along with the Sala dell’Udienza and the Sala dei Gigli.
The following month, on May 14, will open the exhibition at Forte Belvedere, where, between the ramparts and the building will be presented about sixty works in bronze and wax, as well as a number of films that focus on some historical performance artist.
Two sides sculptural formats by seven bronze beetles and a series of self-portraits by the artist full length will populate the corners of the ramparts outside the building, surrounding the Villa Medici.
Beetles are guardians-caretakers, symbolize the passage between the earthly dimension and eternae life at the same time have a beautiful shell that dramatically highlights the vulnerability of that body "royal."
Within the first floor of the building, on this occasion reopened to the public after many years, the route will continue with wax sculptures and film screenings of performance, continuity and dialogue with external works and the magnificent Florentine landscape.
Both exhibitions will be visible until 2 October 2016.
