Urs Fischer in Florence: here's what the Swiss artist brings to Piazza della Signoria

The art of Urs Fischer (Zurich, 1973) is coming to Florence for an exhibition, titled In Florence, which will see him exhibit three of his works in the city from September 22, 2017 to January 21, 2018. The event, which opens in conjunction with the inauguration of the Florence Biennale Internazionale d’Antiquariato, which reaches its thirtieth edition this year, will present a work in Piazza della Signoria, entitled Big Clay #4: a metal sculpture about twelve meters high that, the organizers assure, “will not fail to provoke strong reactions and discussions on the language of contemporary art, the redefinition of taste, the evolution of techniques and the concept of beauty.” It thus continues a “tradition” inaugurated with works by Jeff Koons and Jan Fabre, exhibited in 2015 and 2016, respectively, at the same venue. Fischer’s work will be linked to a well-known performance he put on in 2011 at the Venice Biennale: at that time, the Swiss artist had melted down a wax, life-size reproduction of Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Woman, the famous work by the Flemish sculptor that has decorated the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence since 1583.

To complete the exhibition, conceived by Fabrizio Moretti and Sergio Risaliti and curated by Francesco Bonami, in theArengario of Palazzo Vecchio there will be two more works, two human figures (those of Bonami and Moretti themselves) that, “seen by the artist as citizens of the world who have their roots in the territory and its culture, two portraits that through the consumption of wax will become abstract bodies,” will be consumed for the duration of the exhibition like two candles, until they are completely melted. Some details are revealed by Bonami: “the large sculpture Big Clay #4 that will appear in the focal point of Piazza della Signoria in dialogue with the Arnolfo Tower of Palazzo Vecchio is only apparently monumental. In reality it is a monument to the simplicity and primordiality of the human gesture that shapes form. A closer look at the aluminum surface of the work will uncover the fingerprints of the artist’s fingers . In fact, the sculpture is an enlargement of small pieces of clay shaped by the artist in his studio. A monument to manual dexterity and to the simplest and most everyday creative action.”

Fischer, one of the artists “of the moment,” is a versatile artist, at ease in a variety of fields, from painting to sculpture to design, and he proposes research that is highly topical but also strongly rooted in tradition, as Risaliti explains, “Let’s take a good look at Urs Fischer’s works, let’s go beyond their first resounding impact.There are subtle links and connections with the most glorious past, with the familiar and the everyday, with the first artistic or infantile gestures, with the sense of art and that of our ephemeral existence that makes them absolutely poignant and overwhelming at the same time. Fischer is a Swiss visionary, romantic, ironic, cultured and popular. He combines the monumental with the playful, the totemic with the burlesque. Perfect for that theater of art and politics that is Piazza Signoria.”

The exhibition is sponsored by the City of Florence and the Florence Biennale Internazionale di Antiquariato. Mus.e organization with the special collaboration of V.A.C. Foundation Collection, which has lent the work Big Clay #4. More information on the Florentine Civic Museums website.

Urs Fischer in Florence: here's what the Swiss artist brings to Piazza della Signoria

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