Catalogue

C ARA
GA L L E R Y
CONTENTS
Page. 8
Foreward
Page. 11
Sculpture
Page. 37
Etching
Page. 43
Biography
IGOR
MITORAJ
Strength In Fragility
Foreward
“In Art the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Igor Mitoraj was born to a Polish mother and
French father in the German town of Oederan.
Surviving the bombing of Dresden, his family
escaped to Poland where at age nineteen, he
enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow
and met his mentor, Tadeusz Kantor, avantgarde artist and theater director. In 1968 Mitoraj
took Kantor’s advice to go abroad and enrolled
in L’École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts
in Paris. He encountered Latin American art on
a fateful trip to Mexico and thereafter devoted
himself to the plastic arts, using terracotta and
bronze. Years later, following a trip to Carrara,
he integrated the precious marble into his
practice.
the last decade including in 2004 at Trajan’s
Market, Rome, Italy and 2011, Mitoraj at the
Valley of the Temples, Archeological Museum
of Sicily, Agrigento, Italy, with disembodied
heads and limbless torsos (often punctured or
splintered) that reiterate the artist’s overriding
conviction, “The idea of beauty is ambiguous,
a double edged sword that can easily hurt
you, causing pain… My art is an example
of this dichotomy: mesmerizing perfection
attached to corrupted imperfection.” In 2014,
he became the first contemporary artist to ever
exhibit in Pisa, Italy at the Piazza del Miracoli,
Sinopia Museum and Opera Primatial Pisana,
concurrently.
While still maintaining ties to Paris, Mitoraj set
up a studio in 1983 in the town of Pietrasanta
near Carrara, an area he treasured as much for
its landscape as the quality of the stone - Italy
was to become a fruitful source of inspiration.
An invitation to be included in the prestigious,
42nd Venice Biennale proved important in
furthering his already burgeoning reputation.
Towards his latter years, Mitoraj divided his
time between Poland, Italy and Paris - he was
honored with several distinctions, such as the
Vittorio de Sica prize in 2001.
What fuels the fire of Mitoraj’s imagination: is it
his ruined childhood or the trauma of the past?
The artist has no need to exaggerate; etched in
his memory lies the brutality of history, the pain
of his veiled faces and flayed bodies, and therein
lies his response - in the magnificent dignity
of his bronzes, therein lies their strength. The
artist transforms all that he touches… his figures
seem lit by a divine light that illuminates their
spirit, allowing them to transcend their bodies,
entering the sublime. The statues never die they remain eternally faithful to the material in
which they inhabit.
Extremely varied in his projects, the artist
completed the set and costume design for a
production of Aida in Doha, Qatar in 2012.
Each work in this exhibition has a unique soul of
its own, a formidable and tangible, yet ethereal
nature, meticulously wrought from the poetry
inherent in the mark of the artist’s hand.
His has had very important exhibitions over
9
SCULPTURE
Eros Romano
1986
Bronze
36.5 x 21 x 13.5 in. (93 x 54 x 35 cm.)
Ed. 4/8
14
15
“The most important thing is to find yourself, and also your own reflection,
because the artist is a narcissist by nature. My mirror was the image of my
father, the opaque reflection of my soul.”
Le Mani
1982
Bronze
71 x 35.5 x 22.5 in. (180 x 83 x 57 cm.)
Ed. 5/6
16
17
“When I was five or six, I was always out in the street, and subconciously, I was
waiting... waiting to see my dad appear sooner or later... I had the impression
that every man that I saw was he, that at any moment he would greet me and
run towards me to hug me.”
Sonno Pietrificato II
2009
Bronze
42.5 x 40.5 x 36.5 in. (108 x 103 x 93 cm.)
Ed. 2/8
18
19
Centauro C.W.
Dea Ferita
2000
Bronze
15 x 8 x 3.5 in. (38 x 20 x 8.5 cm.)
Ed. 18/45
2005
Bronze
21.5 x 12.5 x 11 in. (55 x 32 x 28 cm.)
Ed. III/IV
20
21
“When I feel the need to create, sculptures are given birth organically within
me, and I become the instrument - in other words, the medium within which
they obtain this shape, becomes reality.”
Isis
2008
Bronze
35.5 x 18.5 x 12 in. (90 x 46.5 x 30 cm.)
Ed. 1/8
22
23
Decurione
Ercolano
2010
Bronze
13 x 6 x 5 in. (34 x 15 x 12.5 cm.)
Ed. 33/45
2008
Bronze
19 x 10.5 x 6 in. (48 x 26.5 x 15.5 cm.)
Ed. 2/8
24
25
“The bandaging symbolizes for me a sort of protection from a reality that [since
my childhood] seemed hostile. It is a symbol of survival. At the same time it is a
component of the Polish consciousness, a suffered consciousness, wounded and
closed. It is the tangible expression of this consciousness.”
Disco con Torso
1993
Bronze
54.5 in. (138 cm.) diameter
Unique
Ercolani IV
2008
Bronze
16 x 17.5 x 12 in. (41 x 44 x 30 cm.)
Ed. 4/8
26
27
“...One night, a freezing night, I came back to Grojec with the last bus: the entire
family, beside mum was intoxicated by carbon monoxide, they had almost
completely lost their consciousness. If I had been late, it would have been a
tragedy. That night, I was their guardian angel.”
Ithaka
1991
Bronze
48.5 x 31.5 x 21.5 in. (123 x 80 x 55 cm.)
Ed. I/III
28
“My sculptures are not born from studies and sketches. Rather they are born
from emotions, from feelings, from the stream of memories, from dreamlike
rhythms, the state of mind that occassionally possesses me. They rise from
moments of melancholy, from the excess of anguish. They spring from the
most evocative memories of the saddest passed events that are buried in the
subconcious.”
Luna Nera
2011
Bronze
34 x 22 x 22.5 in. (86.5 x 56 x 57 cm.)
Ed. 5/8
30
31
“...during the bombardment of Dresda we were sleeping under bridges. Those
were very dramatic moments... I remember that one day I touched a cast iron
oven where some Russian soilders were cooking something and I burned my
hands.”
Quirinus
1987
Bronze
63 x 63 x 23.5 in. (160 x 160 x 60 cm.)
E.A. II/II
32
33
Testa Di Ikaro Bendato
Stella Pietrificata
1999
Bronze
25.5 x 18 x 16.5 in. (65 x 46 x 42 cm.)
Ed. 6/8
2007
Bronze
27.5 x 20.5 x 11.5 in. (70 x 52 x 29 cm.)
Ed. 1/8
34
35
ETCHING
Alba Rossa
2014
Etching
27.5 x 39 in. (70 x 100 cm.)
Cacciatore Blu
Ikaro Blu
2001
Etching
39 x 27.5 in. (100 x 70 cm.)
2003
Etching
14 x 20 in. (35 x 50 cm.)
38
39
La Notte Blu
Ikaro Nero
1998
Etching
27.5 x 39 in. (70 x 100 cm.)
1998
Etching
23.5 x 16 in. (60 x 40 cm.)
40
41
BIOGRAPHY
Igor Mitoraj
2004
Sculptures: Cité Perdue, JGM Galerie - Paris, FR
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures Monumentales, Jardin des Tuileries - Paris, FR
Mitoraj ai Mercati di Traiano, Mercati di Traiano - Rome, IT
Zamek Królewski - Warsaw, PL
1944 - 2014
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2015
Strength In Fragility, Cara Gallery - NY
Omaggio a / An homage to Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini - Venice, IT
2014
Angeli, Piazza Del Duomo - Pisa, IT
2003
Igor Mitoraj, International Center of Culture - Kracow, PL
Museum Narodowe - Poznań, PL
Igor Mitoraj, Galería Joan Gaspar - Madrid, SP
2002
Die Schönheit. Eine Zerbochene Utopie, Istitut Mathildenhöhe - Darmstadt, DE
Igor Mitoraj, Museo d’Arte Moderna - Lugano, CH
Igor Mitoraj, Galleria Tega - Milan, Italy JGM Galerie, Paris, FR
Festival Puccini : Manon Lescaut - Torre del Lago, IT
Galería Joan Gaspar - Barcelona, SP
2012
Memoriae, Villa Rufolo - Ravello (Sa), IT
2011
Igor Mitoraj, Valle dei templi di Agrigento - IT
2010
Mitoraj Monumental - Aix-en-Provence, FR
Mitoraj Monumental - Abbaye de Silvacane, FR
Porte en Bronze, Èglise de Confoux - Confoux, FR
2001
Igor Mitoraj, Nouvelle Mythologie, Musée Olympique - Lausanne, CH
Die Galerie, Kaiserplatz - Frankfort am Main, DE
2009
Opera Festival: Aida, Giardino di Boboli - Florence, IT
Porte des Anges, Matki Bozej Laskawej - Warsaw, PL
Lux in Tenebris, Fabryka Trzciny - Warsaw, PL
Bronzes Noirs, Galleria Flora Bigai - Pietrasanta, IT
2008
BiancoNero, Galleria d’Arte Contini - Venice, IT
Fer, Palazzo dell’Abbondanza - Massa Marittima, IT
Igor Mitoraj, Miriam Shiell Fine Art - Toronto, CA
Arte en la Calle: Igor Mitoraj. El Mito Perdido, Paseo del Prado - Madrid, SP
2007
Arte en la Calle: Igor Mitoraj. El Mito Perdido, Rambla de Catalunya - Barcelona, SP
Arte en la Calle: Igor Mitoraj. El Mito Perdido - Seville, SP
Igor Mitoraj. Angeli ed Eroi, Loggiato San Bartolomeo - Palermo, IT
Arte en la Calle: Igor Mitoraj. El Mito Perdido - San Sebastian, SP
2006
Arte en la Calle: Igor Mitoraj. El Mito Perdido - Granada, SP
Arte en la Calle: Igor Mitoraj. El Mito Perdido - Palma de Mallorca, SP
Festival Puccini: Tosca - Torre del Lago, IT
Porte en Bronze, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri - Rome, IT
2005
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Musei Civici Veneziani, Ca’ Pesaro - Venice, IT
44
2000
JGM Galerie - Paris, FR
Mitoraj Miti Incrociati, Galleria d’Arte Contini - Venice, IT
Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen, Mumm Akademie, Villa Hajo Rüter - Eltville, DE
Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen, Kunstverein Bamberg, Villa Concordia - Bamberg, DE
Recent Bronzes, Miriam Shiell Fine Art - Toronto, CA
Mitoraj: Nostalgia del Mito - San Marino
1999
Igor Mitoraj. Dei ed Eroi, Palazzo Pitti, Museo Archeologico, Giardino di Boboli - Florence, IT
Galería Joan Gaspar - Barcelona, SP
Museo degli Uffizi - Florence, IT
Zoumboulakis Galleries - Athens, GR
1998
Die Galerie, Opernplatz - Frankfort am Main, DE
Mitoraj. Sculture, Galleria d’Arte Contini - Cortina d’Ampezzo, IT
1997
La Défense, KPMG - Paris, FR
Igor Mitoraj. Raadselachtige Schoonheid, Museum Beelden aan Zee - Scheveningen, NL
Mitoraj, Il giardino delle muse, Biblioteca di via Senato - Milan, IT
Istituto Polacco - Rome, IT
Mitoraj. Sculture, Galleria d’Arte Contini - Forte dei Marmi, IT
Chiesa di Sant’Agostino, Piazza Duomo - Pietrasanta, IT
45
1996
Academy Gallery - Bath, UK
Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini - Prato, IT
Marisa Del Rey Gallery - Palm Beach, FL
1988
Galería Lévy - Madrid, SP
Galleria Valente, Artforum - Hamburg, DE
1995
Igor Mitoraj, Casa del Cordón - Burgos, SP
Larmes Amères d’Aphrodite, Marisa Del Re Gallery - NY
Park Ryu Sook Gallery - Seoul, KR
Chiostro San Francesco, Galleria Medusa - Cesena, IT
1994
Time Machine, The British Museum - London, UK
Galería Joan Gaspar - Barcelona, SP
Muzeum Narodowe - Wrocław, PL
Galerie Nationale - Łódź, PL
Galería Lévy - Madrid, SP
Sala Imagen - Sevilla, SP
Museo de Navaja - Pamplona, SP
Fundación Caja Vital Kutxa - Vitoria Gasteiz, SP
1987
Igor Mitoraj. Elegie per Roma, Galleria Due Ci - Rome, IT
Palazzo Strozzi - Florence, IT
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture 1987, Compagnia del Disegno - Milan, IT
Stembock-Fermor Gallery - Ghent, BE
1986
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures 1976-1986, Galerie La Hune - Paris, FR
Galerie Pierre Huber - Geneva, CH
Igor Mitoraj, Sculture, Castello dell’Iperatore - Prato, IT
Galerie Stemmle-Adler - Heidelberg, DE
1985
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Museo di Castel Sant’Angelo - Rome, IT
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Compagnia del Disegno - Milan, IT
Galleria Tavolozza - Palermo, IT
Maison de la Culture - Metz, FR
1993
JGM Galerie - Paris, FR
Galeria Krdegarda - Warsaw, PL
Galleria Forni - Bologna, IT
Università de Cracovie - Kracow, PL
Galerie Nazionale - Poznań, PL
1984
Galerie l’Orangerie - Cologne, DE
Igor Mitoraj. Sculpturen, Zeichnungen, Galerie Lévy - Hamburg, DE
Galleria Toninelli - Rome, IT
1992
The Economist Plaza - London, UK
BSG Fine Art Gallery - London, UK
Accademia Italiana - London, UK
Igor Mitoraj, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Leeds - Wakefield, UK
ARCO/JGM Galerie - Madrid, SP
1991
Têtes, JGM Galerie - Paris, FR
Igor Mitoraj, Castello Sforzesco - Milano, IT
Thomas Tivelli Gallery - Aspen, CO
The M&I Rayburn Foundation - NY
1983
Galerie Lévy - Paris, FR
Galerie Artcurial - Fribourg, CH
Galerie Cuppillard - Saint-Tropez, FR
1982
La Rocabella - Monte-Carlo, MC
Kunst in Köln, Galerie Lévy - Cologne, DE
1981
Galerie Artcurial - Paris, France
Kunst in Köln, Galerie Lévy - Cologne, DE
1990
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures and Drawings, Santa Fe - NM
Stembock-Fermor Gallery, Stockholm Art Fair - Stockholm, SW
1989
Igor Mitoraj, Galería Joan Gaspar - Barcelona, SP
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures 1989, New York Academy of Art - NY
Mitoraj. Sculture e Disegni, Rocca Malatestiana - Cesena, IT
46
1980
Fondation Veranneman - Kruishoutem, BE
Igor Mitoraj. Sculpturen, Galerie Lévy - Hambourg, DE
Galerie G. Bach - Geneva, CH
1979
Galerie Cupillard - Grenoble, FR
Galerie Bornand - Marseilles, FR Studio 40 - The Hague, NE
47
Published in conjunction with the exhibition
Igor Mitoraj: Strength In Fragility
All images courtesy of Argos Studio
Citation:
Costantini, Costanzo. L’Enigma Della Pietra: Conversazioni Con Igor Mitoraj. Roma: Il Cigno, 2004. Print.
Copyright © 2015 by Cara Gallery.
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