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Lot Essay
In Arnaldo Pomodoro's Sfera con sfera, the gleaming perfection of a bronze globe is penetrated, showing the turmoil of the mechanical interior. Yet within that interior is another globe, another sphere, apparently being generated, hatched or birthed by the larger one. This is a potent symbol of regeneration and resurrection. Sfera con sfera was executed in 1995-97; it was during 1996 that Pomodoro had created a similar, related but monumental work to be placed outside the headquarters of the United Nations, celebrating their foundation half a century earlier. To present what appears to be a fractured planet with, inside it, a new one being created, was surely one of the most powerful secular images that could be used by an organisation intended to help heal a world torn apart by the Second World War. For it to have been created by Pomodoro, an artist of international stature and repute who had himself lived through the war that had necessitated the founding of the organisation, was all the more poignant.
This symbol of hope and regeneration had already been explored about half a decade earlier when Pomodoro had created another sculpture of the same name to be installed in the Vatican. Of that work, he had explained, 'The three-dimensional element of my sculpture, which emits vital energy and expresses the regenerating force of nature through the sphere within the sphere, is the utopian mirror of the surrounding environment' (Pomodoro, quoted in S. Hunter, 'Monuments and Anti-monuments', pp. 57-77, F. Gualdoni (ed.), Arnaldo Pomodoro: Catalogo ragionato della scultura, Vol. I, Milan, 2007, p. 67). The idea of resurrection that is incorporated within Sfera con sfera and its 1990 antecedent clearly taps into the Christian belief system. At the same time, it is a highly modern theme, a current or indeed universal subject matter. But to present the work in the Vatican or in the United Nations, or indeed anywhere where life passes by, adds even more to the potency of this avenue of meaning, as the world is reflected and therefore incorporated within the golden patina of the surface. This introduces a constant drama to Sfera con sfera and its larger cousins: every change of light, every movement, every feature is brought into play within the fabric of the surface of the work. And within that surface are the ruptures and fissures through which another reflective sphere is visible, itself interrupted and punctuated by the sharp corners and edges of the machinery-like guts of the piece.
In the context of the United Nations sculpture created during the same period as Sfera con sfera, the contrast between the perfection of the exterior and the active, dynamic interior is crucial. This is the language not only of the sculptures of Constantin Brancusi, which had so influenced Pomodoro several decades earlier, but also of technology. Technology occupies a morally ambiguous place in the history of the last seven decades and more: it helped to create carnage during the Second World War, it accelerated the Space Race, it has resulted in vast strides in the medical field. In a way, Pomodoro's Sfera con sfera is an examination of this mixed legacy. It is a vision of technology yet also of hope, of human potential.
Sfera con sfera functions on a purely formal level by creating rich, sensual textural differences in its surfaces. There is a tactile aspect to the sheen of the smooth ball of the exterior that is enriched by its contrast with the jutting regularity of the sharp interior. This brings space and light within the fabric of the piece, creating a complex range of visual effects. Even the manner in which Pomodoro creates these elements, through additions to his maquette rather than the more usual process of removal that is involved in sculpture, reveals the positivity behind the entire process, underpinning the sheer optimism of Sfera con sfera. The surface of Sfera con sfera appears eroded, yet the inner sphere appears to emphasise the extent to which life goes on, to which humanity will prevail.
This symbol of hope and regeneration had already been explored about half a decade earlier when Pomodoro had created another sculpture of the same name to be installed in the Vatican. Of that work, he had explained, 'The three-dimensional element of my sculpture, which emits vital energy and expresses the regenerating force of nature through the sphere within the sphere, is the utopian mirror of the surrounding environment' (Pomodoro, quoted in S. Hunter, 'Monuments and Anti-monuments', pp. 57-77, F. Gualdoni (ed.), Arnaldo Pomodoro: Catalogo ragionato della scultura, Vol. I, Milan, 2007, p. 67). The idea of resurrection that is incorporated within Sfera con sfera and its 1990 antecedent clearly taps into the Christian belief system. At the same time, it is a highly modern theme, a current or indeed universal subject matter. But to present the work in the Vatican or in the United Nations, or indeed anywhere where life passes by, adds even more to the potency of this avenue of meaning, as the world is reflected and therefore incorporated within the golden patina of the surface. This introduces a constant drama to Sfera con sfera and its larger cousins: every change of light, every movement, every feature is brought into play within the fabric of the surface of the work. And within that surface are the ruptures and fissures through which another reflective sphere is visible, itself interrupted and punctuated by the sharp corners and edges of the machinery-like guts of the piece.
In the context of the United Nations sculpture created during the same period as Sfera con sfera, the contrast between the perfection of the exterior and the active, dynamic interior is crucial. This is the language not only of the sculptures of Constantin Brancusi, which had so influenced Pomodoro several decades earlier, but also of technology. Technology occupies a morally ambiguous place in the history of the last seven decades and more: it helped to create carnage during the Second World War, it accelerated the Space Race, it has resulted in vast strides in the medical field. In a way, Pomodoro's Sfera con sfera is an examination of this mixed legacy. It is a vision of technology yet also of hope, of human potential.
Sfera con sfera functions on a purely formal level by creating rich, sensual textural differences in its surfaces. There is a tactile aspect to the sheen of the smooth ball of the exterior that is enriched by its contrast with the jutting regularity of the sharp interior. This brings space and light within the fabric of the piece, creating a complex range of visual effects. Even the manner in which Pomodoro creates these elements, through additions to his maquette rather than the more usual process of removal that is involved in sculpture, reveals the positivity behind the entire process, underpinning the sheer optimism of Sfera con sfera. The surface of Sfera con sfera appears eroded, yet the inner sphere appears to emphasise the extent to which life goes on, to which humanity will prevail.