NU in patinated bronze by Didier Guillon

Inspired by the Greek bust in Carlo Scarpa's House on the Grand Canal in Venice, Didier Guillon's NU revisits the classical forms of ancient sculptures. Thought as a union between two opposing conceptions of the representation of the body, that of the classical and the contemporary, of purity and insolence. This patinated steel bust represents a dialogue between two eras: that of the purity of forms, cement and geometry, enriched by classicism by Carlo Scarpa, and that of Jeff Koons and his work Apollo Kithare, which features a hyper-realist classicism typical of the 21st century. In collaboration with the artist Carles Valverde, this work required several preparatory stages. The sketches, made in pencil on the pages of the New York Times - one of Didier Guillon's favorite media for his artistic creations - subtly trace the silhouette of the Mediterranean man at first, and then his evolution into a geometric vision. Finally, the model gives an idea of the final realization of the work. Conceived as a three-dimensional puzzle, each piece is separated except for the pectoral bones which are welded together. The final work, with its subtle composition, reflects all the power of this body. A will to translate the massive forms in a geometry which, even if solid and imposing, can be transformed, by giving it the power to live a metamorphosis: a metamorphosis of the rigor of the lines which become playful, as the contemporary artistic time taught us to do it.  Edition 8 + 2