By Simone Bandini
Photo by Giacomo Roggi
We know how prolific Andrea Roggi’s artistic production is, as well as his exhibition commitment that often sees him active on several fronts. Well, there are three art exhibitions that Maestro Andrea Roggi will give life to in spring: as in a symbolic and tripartite cycle, they will take their cue, or rather they will lay their foundations in the ancient Valle d’Itria, in Puglia, with “Roots of Humanity” (from March 19, 2025), and then fly to the metropolitan heart of Paris with six monumental works and the famous “Energy of Life” (from April 23 to mid-July 2025) and finally culminate, flourishing, in Florence, the Renaissance pneuma of new Italy, with “Humanitas” (from May 10 to August 8, 2025), at the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
In Valle d’Itria, in the sensational scene of the southern Murge, the cradle of ancient Indo-European and then Greco-Roman civilizations, the Maestro will begin the new season with four monumental works, already exhibited on the occasion of the G7 in Martina Franca. These will remain firmly on site and will be flanked by a new work, while two new sculptures will take up positions in Locorotondo and Cisternino.
There are already several rumours, moreover, about the exhibition that will interest la ville lumière: it seems that it will include six monumental works in the center of Paris and the sculpture “Energy of Life”, created in collaboration with Martin Katz, at the Hôtel de Crillon.
However, here we want to focus on the event that will be held in our town, Florence, with the exhibition of four monumental installations in the churchyard of the Basilica of San Lorenzo and five medium-format works in the internal cloisters of the basilica itself. The exhibition will be called “Humanitas – The Force of Love”, a sublimation of a personal path of the artist and hyperbole of his particular affection for the city, to which he had already dedicated the ‘Tree of Peace’, in memory and commemoration of the victims of the mafia massacre of Via dei Georgofili.
His monumental bronze works, already exhibited in numerous European and non-European cities, are unmistakable thanks to a very original and impactful stylistic signature. The human figures, represented in embraces, are like tree trunks and their arms turned towards the sky are transformed into lush olive fronds studded with golden fruits. Their articulated roots are inscribed in the terrestrial globe rendered with an innovative casting technique created and patented by the artist: dynamic fusion. The large bronzes show an incredible lightness and defy the laws of physics with amazing balances that add value to the environments in which they are placed and with which they dialogue.
The Florentine exhibition will be hosted in a very significant place, the San Lorenzo complex. Nine works by the master document his long career starting with the first bronze statue, made by the artist in his early twenties (Atman) made with the traditional technique of lost wax casting (exhibited in the small cloister). The other works combine this technique with micro-casting and dynamic fusion to obtain the most diverse material effects. Four large bronzes will have as a background the unfinished façade of the basilica, designed by Brunelleschi, and its side panel, both in warm sandstone. In the large cloister on the left of the Laurentian Basilica, four other works will be exhibited that will dialogue with the rational Renaissance spaces of architecture and with the green of the grass, hedges and the large orange tree, which has become the fulcrum of this open space.
Not only bronze trees but also figures launched into space (Family in Flight) and the terrestrial globe made by fretwork with roundabouts of people singing the praises of peace (Imagine all the people). The exhibition will be accompanied by a rich illustrated catalogue that will explain the genesis of the works starting from the drawing, to move on to the clay model and ending with the fusion of the metal alloy and its finishing. The exhibition will be presented to the press on May 7 and inaugurated on May 9 at 6.30 pm. Particularly noteworthy are the monumental works that will be exhibited in the open air in Florence and that will accompany citizens and visitors in the spring and summer period: Family in Flight, Imagine a New World, KI and Srngar.
Info: La Scultura di Andrea Roggi, Località Manciano 236b, Castiglion Fiorentino (Ar) / Tel. 0575 653401 / www.andrearoggi.com / info@andrearoggi.com
