A huge exhibition involving 14 monumental works set up in the centre of Pisa - one of which is located in Piazza Duomo facing the Leaning Tower as well as a personal exhibition of 11 sculptures in the Mediaeval Church of Santa Maria della Spina. Yet what exactly prompted me to stage this vast exhibition here in Pisa?
Pisa and the Leaning Tower are renowned all over the world and can be seen as a universal symbol of resilience. This Tower, with its apparent instability, seems to be an ideal metaphor of the human condition, with the burden of its fragility, in a physical and spiritual sense alike, the malaise of living, our inconsistencies, our doubts, our limits and our pains. A continuous tendency towards transience and failure, yet despite the albeit inevitable heaviness of living, a perseverance to resist, stay upright, not to collapse. We are beings with an inevitably transient body, yet we are reluctant to accept in the depths of our consciousness the concept that everything comes to an end. In this context, in this dual reality, the only time we can possibly live in is the present which, nevertheless, itself flows and will never come back. In such a particular historical moment as our own times, Mankind, albeit “dangling dangerously”, must find the strength to continue living. Indeed, the very difficulties we are going through may even prompt us to think more deeply and help us grow.
The exhibition outlines a path where questions are asked, without necessarily obtaining answers, questions that encourage us to reflect, to look inside ourselves.
But why was “Respiro della Forma - The Breath of Form” chosen as the title of the exhibition?
When creating my sculptures, I do not proceed in a rational and pre-ordained way using drawings or sketches. On the contrary, my approach is instinctive and impulsive, as if to detach the rational part.
I work directly with wax without preparatory drawings. Inasmuch, I define myself as an ultimate terminal of an Energy which, passing through my hands, gives life to a co-creation with the artist. In my works, the void is just as important as the solid and even more so, since the important things in life are precisely intangible, the essential is invisible to our eyes – just like feelings, faith and dreams - you cannot see ideals or touch them physically, you can only experience them. This is how form, enhanced by its movement in space, in also including the void, almost seems to breathe and bring the sculpture to life.
In the ultimate analysis, perhaps, the only thing that remains is beauty, the breath of a shape turning in space, daring to go beyond the finite, dancing in the dark, in spite of everything, as if always feeling to be only at the beginning compared to what is to be done, to continue making art and telling stories regardless... leaving everyone to find their own personal answers...
Gianfranco Meggiato | 
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