In the Richini's monumental 17th-century Courtyard of Honour, artfully illuminated by Viabizzuno, visitors to the new edition will be welcomed by the imposing site-specific artwork TIME, executed by Milanese master artisan Gianluca Pacchioni, who specialises in sculpting stone and metal, in collaboration with Girasole Pietre Naturali. The company is at the cutting-edge of experimentation and craftsmanship when it comes to stone, with expertise which harnesses the traditional heritage of the local area. This exceptional artisan-artist, a veritable demiurge and heir of the Renaissance tradition, had the opportunity to express, with the sculptural energy that characterises his works, the strength and intensity of his creative process, arising from the convergence of art and inspiration, talent and originality, in the name of his great artistic and technical expertise.
In the service of a meaningful reflection on the fascinating subject of Time. It all started with the search for the special stone: “Odyssey”, the astonishing block of green, pink and light-blue onyx weighing no less than five tonnes reached Milan from the Middle East following a long and intense journey. Federica Sala, curator and passionate connoisseur of Pacchioni's work, says: «Those nigh-on five tonnes of Middle-Eastern onyx not only encompass the seven thousand kilometres the block covered to reach the courtyard of Palazzo Litta; it also encapsulates the millions of years of crystallization of minerals and silica from times unknown to us. But if it were only material, we would be looking at the work of a geologist instead of an artist. What we have is an artist leaving his own mark on a submerged terrestrial mirror which reveals the celestial heavens. With a hole. A vortex. A gateway to another world. An invitation to launch ourselves into infinity, or rather to trace its limits within the bounds of present-day knowledge. A hole which is a funnel through time, giving us a way in, but also a way out. In the midst of it all is the mystery along the thin horizon on which the artist tiptoes».
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