Arnaldo Pomodoro
Sfera con sfera, 1996-2000
fiberglass, ø 550 cm
The Sfera di San Leo, here in the white fiberglass version, is very different from the previous Pomodoro spheres. The entire surface of the sphere is marked with arrows, teeth and cracks: it seems that the erosion that devoured the interior has also menacingly reached the exterior, leaving another sphere to emerge, small and shiny, which refers to the idea of birth and renewal.
The artist says: I created this work on the occasion of the exhibition in the Rocca di San Leo where a first model in fiberglass and iron powder was exhibited, while the bronze example was exhibited for the first time in the Paris exhibition of 2002. After many interventions on this shape, that of the sphere, all I had to do was go back to the beginning: thinking of the Middle Ages – the fortress of San Leo dates back to that era – I marked the surface of the sphere with arrows, teeth, tie rods , as a memory of an ancient war device. There is no longer a contrast between the shiny, smooth surface and its interior devoured by fingerprints and marks. It seems that the erosion has also reached the outside, with a threatening but dynamic presence, because inside there is another smaller, polished and intact sphere, which tries to emerge "communicating to the whole – as Jacqueline says Risset – an idea of birth and renewal that seems to contradict the catastrophe”.
Do you want to know more about this work?
Go to the Catalogue Raisonné online!
