Piazza Signoria, Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Forte di Belvedere, Florence
The exhibition, entitled Jan Fabre. Spiritual Guards, promoted by the Comune di Firenze, will pan out between the Forte di Belvedere, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria. In fact, it will be one of the most complex and multifaceted exhibitions that this Flemish artist and author has ever produced in any public space in Italy. For the very first time, a living artist will be expounding his art in three venues of outstanding historical and artistic importance at once. Roughly one hundred of Fabre's works dating from 1978 to 2016 will be on display, including bronze and wax sculptures, performance films and works made of wing cases of the jewel scarab. Fabre will also be presenting two new works specifically devised and produced for this occasion.
The premiere is going to be an event of outstanding visual impact with strong symbolic connotations: on the morning of 15 April, two of Fabre's bronze sculptures will be – temporarily – joining the open-air museum that is Piazza Signoria.
Also starting 15 April, Palazzo Vecchio will be hosting a series of sculptures interacting with the frescoes and artefacts housed in some of the rooms open to the public, particularly the Quartiere di Eleonora, the Sala dell'Udienza and the Sala dei Gigli.
The following month will see the inauguration of the exhibition at the Forte di Belvedere, on 14 May, where the bastions and the villa will be showcasing about sixty works of art in bronze and in wax, along with a series of films focusing on some of the artist's historic performances. Curators Melania Rossi and Joanna De Vos, together with the project's art director Sergio Risaliti, have chosen the Forte di Belvedere as the thematic heart of the Jan Fabre. Spiritual Guards exhibition both for its spatial characteristic and for its historical connotations.
The spectacular bronze integration in Piazza della Signoria and the work produced with jewel scarab wing cases on display in Palazzo Vecchio will be interacting with the urban fabric and with one of the most visited historical palazzi in the city, forming a perfect visual and conceptual complement to the exhibition. The exhibition's motto and device, Spiritual Guards, should be interpreted as an encouragement to live a heroic life, be it in war or unarmed in defence of the imagination and of beauty.
Piazza Signoria
The square is freely accessible at all times
Palazzo Vecchio
From 15th April to 30th September
Daily except Thursday: 9.00 am –11.00 pm
Thursday: 9.00 am – 2.00 pm
October
Daily except Thursday: 9.00 am – 7.00 pm
Thursday: 9.00 am – 2.00 pm
Forte di Belvedere
Daily except Monday: 10.30 am – 7.30 pm (last entrance 7.00 pm)
Closed Monday
Opera Laboratori Fiorentini – Gruppo Civita
Salvatore La Spina
Tel +39 055 290383 - cell. +39 3315354957
s.laspina@operalaboratori.com
Barbara Izzo – Arianna Diana
Tel +39 06 692050220-258
izzo@civita.it, diana@civita.it
Comune di Firenze
Elisa Di Lupo
+39 055 2768531
elisa.dilupo@comune.fi.it
Mus.e
Daniele Pasquini
+39 338 5375675
daniele.pasquini@muse.comune.fi.it
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