]]>
This utopian project, donated to MoRE, is part of that line of research based on the combination between major art exhibitions and live animals, which the artist began to develop in 1981 with the installation Dust of Louvre Mist of Amazon at the Weddington Gallery, where he let two peacocks roam freely through the exhibition of modern art collections. The work that most closely resembles Lion walking freely in the Louvre was realised by Dimitrijević in 1995 for the exhibition at the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt. Against historic sense of gravity featured pythons from the Zoo of Cologne set free inside a specially built platform (with a heated pool and an island) containing female portraits dating back between the 16th and 19th century.
As Nena Dimitrijević, art historian and Braco's wife, recalls presenting the project, there’s a tension towards a utopian and unfeasible dimension that characterises his entire career: [Braco Dimitrijević] has managed to achieve many of his projects, that at first seemed impossible, because of his nature and ability to theoretically support his ideas. For example, his use of the façade for the portraits of unknown people encountered a lot of obstacles at the time and opened the chapter regarding the use of urban vocabulary in art. ]]>This project, the fourth donated by the author to MoRE, dates back to a period between 1968 and 1969, when Guerzoni, then in his early twenties and at the end of his education, abandoned the traditional painting technique and started doing researches in the avant-garde, especially around Duchamp.
He was spontaneously attracted by the most important international researches, such as the American Land Art and the Italian Arte Povera. These interests reflect in some of his works, not always realised, such as this project donated to MoRE. The concept behind the project was quite simple: Guerzoni wanted to bring inside the closed space of an art gallery a natural occurrence, the rainbow. The project included, as shown in the sketch, a field sprayer machine in the center of the room. It would have sprayed water, playing with the artificial light effects.
The author, thinking about that installation – also with the collaboration of Luigi Ghirri, friend and companion of many art adventures – took some photographs in the countryside. These study series of water splashes investigated the nature of the rainbow and its visual perception. These conceptual photographs are the only evidence of the project. It remained unrealized due technical difficulties but also because it was more theoretical than realizable. The theme to bring the nature inside the culture was particularly strong in that period; Guerzoni itself thought to produce a black rose, as symbolic synthesis of the two elements.
Read more.
]]>