Igor Mitoraj (Polish, 1944-2014)

Igor Mitoraj (1944-2014) was a Polish artist and sculptor.

Known for his fragmented sculptures of the human body often created for large-scale public installations, he is considered one of the most internationally recognized Polish sculptors.

Biography

Mitoraj was born on 26 March 1944 in Oederan, Germany.

His Polish mother was a forced labourer, while his father was a French officer of Polish extraction.

He returned with his mother to Poland after the end of World War II.

He spent his childhood years in Grojec.

He graduated from an art school in Bielsko-Biała and in 1963 he studied painting at the Kraków Academy of Art under Tadeusz Kantor.

After graduating, he had several joint exhibitions, and held his first solo exhibition in 1967 at the Krzysztofory Gallery in Poland.

In 1968, he moved to Paris to continue his studies at the National School of Art.

Shortly afterwards, he became fascinated by Latin American art and culture, spending a year painting and travelling around Mexico.

The experience led him to take up sculpture.

He returned to Paris in 1974 and two years later he held another major solo exhibition at the Gallery La Hune, including some sculptural work.

The success of the show persuaded him that he was first and foremost a sculptor.

Having previously worked with terracotta and bronze, a trip to Carrara, Italy, in 1979 turned him to using marble as his primary medium and in 1983 he set up a studio in Pietrasanta.

In 2006, he created the new bronze doors and a statue of John the Baptist for the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome.

In 2003, he returned to Poland.

In 2005, he received the Golden Medal of Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis.

In 2012, he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Style

Mitoraj's sculptural style is rooted in the classical tradition with its focus on the well modelled torso.

However, Mitoraj introduced a post-modern twist with ostentatiously truncated limbs, emphasising the damage sustained by most genuine classical sculptures.

Often his works aim to address the questions of human body, its beauty and fragility, its suffering as well as deeper aspects of human nature, which as a result of the passing of time undergo degeneration. | Source: © Wikipedia

Igor Mitoraj (1944-2014), è stato uno scultore e pittore Polacco.

Trascorre la giovinezza a Cracovia dove frequenta l'Accademia di Belle Arti sotto la guida di Tadeusz Kantor, che lo avvicina ad artisti contemporanei quali Warhol, Lichtenstein, Merz e Klein.

Nel 1968 giunge a Parigi dove prosegue gli studi all'Ecole Nazionale Superieure des Beaux-Arts.

In seguito ad un lungo viaggio in Messico e all'approfondimento delle culture sudamericane ed atzeche, Mitoraj decide di dedicarsi principalmente alla scultura.

Nel 1976 riscuote un grande successo alla sua prima mostra personale presso la Galleria La Hune di Parigi; vince il "Premio scultura" a Montrouge ed il Ministro della Cultura francese gli mette a disposizione uno studio a Montmartre.

Effettua numerosi viaggi a New York, Grecia e nella toscana Pietrasanta Mitoraj, scopre il marmo come materiale-dopo la terracotta ed il bronzo-ideale per la sua scultura, quindi nel 1983 vi si trasferisce definitivamente e qui apre uno studio, senza abbandonare quello di Parigi.

Nel 1986 partecipa alla XLII Biennale d'Arte di Venezia. Nell'arco di pochi anni le sue opere vengono esposte in molti paesi in numerose personali ed effettua grandi esposizioni nei musei; riceve importanti incarichi internazionali per sculture monumentali in spazi pubblici e privati: sue opere si possono trovare al British Museum, al Canary Wharf a Londra; a Bamberg; Cracovia; La Dèfence di Parigi; al Museo degli Uffizi ed al Giardino di Boboli a Firenze; Piazza del Carmine e Teatro alla Scala a Milano; Piazza Monte Grappa e Piazza Mignanelli a Roma.

Nel 2004 espone le sculture monumentali ai Jardins des Tuilleries di Parigi, ai Mercati di Traiano di Roma ed al Palazzo Reale di Varsavia.

Grande conoscitore del mondo classico arcaico, Mitoraj si ispira per le sue opere a personaggi mitologici facilmente riconoscibili: Eros, Venere, Icaro, il Centauro... che traduce in sculture che sono come reperti, nessuna delle sue opere presenta infatti una forma intatta.

Sono immagini frammentate, mutilate, attraversate da vuoti che stimolano l'immaginazione a completarne le parti mancanti.