Milan, Castello Sforzesco, THE TERRACOTTA WOMAN | Marian Heyerdahl

25th 05 2010 | 02:00 pm

terracotta women

curated by Lorella Scacco
Milan, Castello Sforzesco
25 May – 27 June 2010
Press Conference: May 19, at 14 | Press, Palazzo Marino, Milan

After the first exhibition in China in 2007 at Gallery 798 in Beijing, and later in Korea, Norway and Sweden, the artist Marian Heyerdahl shows the terracotta sculptures in Italy at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan.
Under the patronage of Milan Municipality and sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy, and in collaboration with the Sforzesco Castle and the Royal Palace, the exhibition opens NORWEEK010, a week dedicated to Norway, sponsored and organized by the Consulate General of Norway, Innovation Norway, Visit Norway and supported by sponsors Statskraft, Rec and Sas.
“With these sculptures the image of women is modelled in clay, a substance apparently fragile, but has the strength of malleability. To express an old and new concept of beauty – said Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Milan Massimiliano Flory Finazzer -. In a play of forms and identity do not necessarily come from nature, but which arise in the inner soul. To tell by the faces and postures pains of war, the desire for rebirth. ”
In the Ducal Court of the prestigious Italian museum the Norwegian artist exhibits her works inspired by terracotta’s army of Xian. During a workshop in China in 2003 the artist has been fascinated by the artwork of this nation decided to tweak the icons of the warriors of Xian, one of the most significant finds are known worldwide. The author is imaginative and appropriate without feeling nostalgic for the ancient language to express her
creativity and its ethical values. An army of warriors becomes a group of women who show the misery caused by war. By installing The Terracotta Woman Marian Heyerdahl brings the work in a contemporary and stimulating reflection on the universal phenomenon of life cycle and the conditions of human beings.
As the curator writes in the catalogue of the exhibition, Lorella Scacco, “Every terracotta woman tells a story that is also a philosophical reflection on the meaning of life. The titles of the sculptures and their gestures help us to understand the plot while the different colours and their betray an underlying symbolism: red for pain, white for purity, black for mourning. Each face has its own particular expression that reinforces the conceptual meaning of the work. The sculptures, while using a formal language ancient stories are contemporary. ”
The exhibition is accompanied by a documentary video, produced by the television network of China Shaanxi, documenting both the implementation phases of exposure that works in China.
The catalogue, published by Press Editor (Norway), documents the numerous sculptures of the artist and includes a foreword by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store, and essays by the curator of the exhibition, Lorella Scacco; Director of the Today Art Museum Beijing, Wang Baoju; the Director of Punkt Ø Moss, Dag Sveinar.

The inauguration will be introduced by the artist and the Deputy Prime Minister of Norway, Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen.

Women Terracotta
Milan, Castello Sforzesco
25 May to 27 June 2010
Free admission
Hours: 9:00 to 19:00
Info: tel. 02 88463700
www.milanocastello.it
www.amb-norvegia.it
Press Office City of Milan
Francesca Cassani
Tel 39 02 88450177
Francesca.cassani@comune.milano.it
With the support of Innovation Norway, Visit Norway, REC, SAS, Statkraft.

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