Stefano Cescon's Metamorphosis: Dialogue between Wax and Stone at Gaggenau in Rome

The Gaggenau DesignElementi Hub in Rome is hosting, until Dec. 2024, the exhibition Metamorphosis by Stefano Cescon, curated by Sabino Maria Frassà. Thanks to a collaboration with CRAMUM, Cescon presents a cycle of never-before-seen works that blend classic materials such as travertine and lapis lazuli with his iconic beeswax, creating a unique dialogue between tradition and innovation. Cescon’s work chosen by Gaggenau represents a fusion of tradition, craftsmanship and the pursuit of excellence, values that have characterized the German brand since its founding in 1683. Frassà’s curatorship aimed to create a dialogue between the artist’s works and the design elements, narrating an austere and minimal beauty. The works explore the fragile and changing nature of human existence through the combination of contrasting materials such as wax and stone.

The Metamorphosis project marks an important evolution in Cescon’s journey, introducing for the first time stone, specifically travertine, alongside wax, his traditional medium. Travertine, with its roots in Roman architecture, symbolizes endurance and eternity, while wax represents ephemerality and transformation. This contrast between solidity and fragility becomes the heart of the artist’s work, resulting in a “reverse metamorphosis,” in which stone seems to become wax, overturning the usual perceptions of the material and suggesting a philosophical exploration of the human condition.

The concept of metamorphosis, the key to the entire exhibition, is a reflection of the continuous change that characterizes our existence. “The sense of ambiguity and doubt between the two states of matter - solid and liquid - is at the heart of my research,” Cescon explains. “It pervades a classical, almost mythological dimension to arrive at an enigmatic alchemical approach that has always fascinated me.” His works are not just technical virtuosity, but represent a profound philosophical meditation on time, human frailty and the continuous cycle of change. The choice of travertine, from the historic Barco Quarry used for the construction of the Colosseum, becomes a way to revisit history and transform stone into a material that, like wax, becomes malleable and temporary.

Cescon’s Metamorphosis exhibition aims to challenge the traditional boundaries of art. Wax, a symbol of mutability, is contrasted with travertine and lapis lazuli, materials chosen for their historicity and strength. The artist’s artistic journey, which focuses on color and material, evolves through new techniques and the introduction of these materials, producing works that tell of the complexity and fragility of the human condition.

Thus, art becomes the medium for narrating the tension between change and permanence. “The wax that becomes stone becomes the very metaphor of human existence, which art can only tell,” curator Frassà explains. Cescon’s works, then, are not simply aesthetic representations, but explorations of our inner fragility and strength, and of the relationship between time, matter and transformation.

The exhibition can be visited Monday through Friday with hours 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Stefano Cescon's Metamorphosis: Dialogue between Wax and Stone at Gaggenau in Rome

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