We’re not only nearing the end of a tumultuous year, we’ve also come to the end of a truly wonderful exhibition I participated in. I’m talking about Hortus Conclusus, curated by Marco Constantini at the Villa Dei Cedri Museum in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
It’s amazing to think that I first was contacted by Marco at the beginning of 2019 about this exhibition, with the question if I would be interested in participating. Seeing the international list of participating artists and the previous exhibitions at Villa Dei Cedri, I quickly agreed.
In September 2019 we decided to show Construction IV, and I proposed to create a new piece that could be mounted in the luscious garden surrounding the Museum: I.XI.XIV. This new sculpture turned out to be the most challenging project of my professional career up until now. Both this interesting production process and the truly excellent exhibition led to several previous posts on my website:
My visit to the last red Marble quarry in Belgium
Read all about the production of I.XI.XIV
Read all about the installation of I.XI.XIV
Read all about the restoration of the vandalised sculpture
Last week I was finally able to travel to Bellinzona to dismantle both works and prepare them for transport. I didn’t have to travel by myself though. My father came along to assist and my grandmother also joined us for an unforgettable trip to a Switzerland covered in snow. On Wednesday it took us the whole day to disassemble Construction IV and get it ready for transport. The day after we prepared I.XI.XIV to be hoisted into its crates.
I added some detailed pictures on the hoisting mechanism in the largest of the three Marble elements: two nifty marble seals are taken out on the top surface to reveal their secrets.
We were very lucky with the weather, the snow partially melted away after we arrived. Everything went super smoothly. Thanks a million to the wonderful museum staff and Ongaro Graniti for their great support!