“Disco in forma di rosa del deserto” by Arnaldo Pomodoro on San Servolo Island, Venice

Tuesday, May 2, at 4:00 PM, in the presence of Luigi Brugnaro, Mayor of Venice, and Amb. Umberto Vattani, President of the Venice International University, the installation of Disco in forma di rosa del deserto n.1 (1993) will be inaugurated, the only large-scale sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro in Venice, installed on the landing square of the Island of San Servolo in Venice. The work has been loaned to the Venice International University by the Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, which has undertaken and continues to promote a loan program with public and private institutions, aiming to make the works of the Master and of its own Collection more accessible to the public.

The primary requirement of Pomodoro’s work has always been the relationship of the piece with the space in which it is placed: by engaging with and transforming that space, the work becomes a testimony of its time and enriches the memory of that place with additional layers. Speaking about his works, Pomodoro has often stated that he does not believe in the mysterious or spiritual inspiration of the artist, but rather in the suggestions and flashes of insight that come at the most unexpected moments and in the most varied situations. We artists – the sculptor says – are endowed with a special sensitivity to absorb and express what surrounds us, sometimes without even understanding where it may lead. For me, the work is always in relation to environments, to concrete contexts I have seen, visited, and known. Thus, some of my sculptures that refer to nature are not linked to an essentialized and abstract idea of nature, but to the concreteness of the landscape and the environment.

Disco in forma di rosa del deserto n.1 thus becomes part of the Sculpture Park of the Venice International University, which includes – among others – works by Gianni Aricò, Fabrizio Plessi, Pietro Consagra, Sandro Chia, and Umberto Mastroianni.