Vessels
2023
Black terracotta
Reliefs with the following images: Portrait of Pope Julius II, Giulia the Colubrine, 17th-century church bell, two 18th-century Austrian cannons, equestrian monument of Benito Mussolini, partisan monument
2 pieces each 30 x 90 x 50 cm
These two vases-shaped objecs depict a serie of reliefs suggesting a story in which a material (bronze) acquired multiple shapes by being melted over time, focusing on its possibilities to carry political and emotional meaning. The story suggested and never made explicit (like in most derivative objects carrying debris of supposed features of a specific cultural narrative) combines true and false links between the depicted subjects (a bronze statue of Pope Julius II, a cannon, a statue of Mussolini riding a horse realized for Bologna’s football stadium during the fascist period and more). The sculptures, with their shape and reliefs, recall mass-produced terracotta vases with stereotypical “Mediterranean” ornaments on them, sold cheap all across Europe, raising questions on cultural representation and its consume.
