Ref: Igor Mirotaj Eros Bendato Screpolato
For prints please contact chris.smith@twentytrees.co.uk
Eros Bendato Screpolato
Detail from Polish artist Igor Mitoraj's Eros Bendato Screpolato (Eros Blindfolded Cracked) seen at Chatsworth's 2009 Beyond Limits Exhibition.
Mitoraj's best known work is probably Testa Addormentata (Sleeping Head) located at Canary Wharf.
The Sotheby's Selling Catalogue states:
"Eros Bendato Screpolato is among the most iconic works created by the internationally renowned Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj. Beautiful and tragic, his classicising sculptures call into question the often perilous relationship between strength and virility on the one hand, and the fragility of the human condition on the other. Fragmented, truncated or bound, they make reference to the great wealth of Classical Greek and Roman marbles which are universally recognised as symbols of order, harmony, knowledge and beauty. In his post-modern interpretation, Mitoraj eschews a human scale creating sculptures which pertain, rather, to the colossal. Like the Colossus of Rhodes, it is as though the present work has fallen a vestige of a civilisation left shattered.
The majestic, omniscient profile of Eros is here shrouded in bandages and riven with cracks, his vacant eyes denying personification. As a mythological figure, Eros is both aspatial and atemporal. Indeed, in the Platonic sense, the image of Eros we perceive is but a mimetic representation of the archetypal 'Form' the objective blueprint of perfection. The sculptor's task is to recreate in Eros the image of ideal beauty. Moreover, the figure of Eros represents the instinct of life, vis-à-vis the death drive signified by Thanatos. The present work, therefore, could be interpreted as a powerful metaphor for the perpetual human struggle between creation and destruction.
Mitoraj's sculptures have been exhibited in some of the most prestigious, architecturally significant locations in the world, including the Jardin des Tuilleries in Paris and at the British Museum in London. The grounds at Chatsworth therefore offer an appropriately magnificent backdrop for this impressive work."
The majority of the photographs in the Scultpture Gallery are of sculptures exhibited at Sotheby's annual selling exhibition at Chatsworth: Beyond Limits. Now in its fifth year it always includes an eclectic mix of old and new.
Some of these photographs are personal favourites of mine. A number are framed and hang at home. Where possible I've included information about the sculpture. For further information please contact me: chris.smith@twentytrees.co.uk.
