A huge bronze sculpture, 7.5 meters high and weighing close to a ton, made by the Cuban Julio Larraz occupies a strategic place at the entrance to the Italian town of Pietrasanta (Tuscany, Italy), center for the creation of renowned international artists and where he began working 25 years ago.
“Estación Espacial”, a work inspired by his work as a dishwasher when he arrived in the US from Cuba at the age of 16, according to the journalist Marta Rullán, from efewas inaugurated this Saturday, with the presence of the artist at the roundabout that gives access to the city, where the Versiliese Artistic Foundry is located, which cast the piece.
Larraz (Havana, March 12, 1944) donated the sculpture, which represents an immense tower of cups and plates one on top of the other in a difficult balance to stay upright, to the City Hall of Pietrasanta as a “sign of thanks” and to leave “a contribution to the new generations”.
“It was a pending project since 2007”, when the author’s work was exhibited in the “Power Games” exhibition, and “donating it is a sign of gratitude to the craftsmanship, to the Tuscany region and to the city of Pietrasanta for opening their doors in 1998, when I started working with the foundry”, he explained.
The foundry and the proximity of the Carrara marble quarries have turned Pietrasanta into an artistic center where world-class artists such as the Colombian Fernando Botero, the Japanese Kan Yasuda and the Belgian Jean-Michel Folon reside or have regularly worked; in addition to the Pole Igor Mitoraj and the Uruguayan Gonzalo Fonseca, both already deceased, among many others.
Origins of a sculpture
The “Space Station” sculpture represents many things, but its intention is above all to arouse “a smile in the viewer, while making them think”, explains the artist based in Miami (USA), but who spends seasons in Italy .
“When I arrived from Cuba I found a job washing dishes, I was 16 years old. My partner, who was from the Caribbean, amused himself by making towers of cups and plates, which were half glued together by the remains of sugar. Then he would put something on top of them and everything would fall to the ground, we had a good time, but in the end they threw us out, ”he recalls in this interview.
More than fifty years later “I began to think about it, that it was a challenge to gravity, with implicit allegories” and “a very delicate balance that has a lot to do with life and power, let each one draw their own conclusions”, explains the artist, whose works all have a double meaning.
Larraz, who is currently exhibiting his work in Venice (northern Italy), is especially moved by the location chosen by the Pietrasanta City Council to place his work: the roundabout at the entrance to the city.
In addition, he explains, that the work has “a perfect proportion for that place, which is a point of immense traffic” that “fills him with satisfaction.”
Pietrasanta, artistic center
The sculpture will now be part of the International Contemporary Sculpture Park, an authentic open-air museum made up of more than 60 bronze and marble sculptures and statues that can be seen in the streets and squares of this town and its surroundings.
In the Plaza del Estatuto there is “El guerrero” by Botero, who has many other works in the city as well as being the author of the frescoes in the Chiesa della Misericordia in the town; next to “San Juan” by Rosario Murabito; “Caballito”, by Ferruccio Vezzoni, and “The Dancer”, by Anna Chromy.
The City Council of this place, which has become a very peculiar center of artistic creation, was very honored by Larraz’s gesture and wanted to “thank the artist who, for several years, has chosen Pietrasanta and its artisans to give life to his creations, collected in prestigious international public and private collections”.
Larraz, who has “planned an exhibition in New York” next year, is currently exhibiting at the Contini Art Gallery in Venice (Italy) the exhibition “The Allegorie of Dreams”, an exhibition that will remain open until November 30, accurate efe.
