Carrara ‘Marble Weeks’ 2016 Shows

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A Fabbricotti work

Every year, the inhabitants of Carrara celebrate the livelihood of their town, offered by the quarries, through an event called Marble Weeks featuring displays — some solely marble, some not — through September 11.

Located at two addresses, renowned artist Daniel Spoerri presents Una Dura Scelta — One Hard Choice — in which he continues his habitual theme: defying the laws of gravity. The showpiece of the first exhibition is a full Italian Tavola — a table set for a feast — that has been rotated 90 degrees and placed on a wall. The sculpture articulates the falling motions of the cutlery, as if it is a snapshot in time. This original reiteration of Christ’s Last Supper commemorates Carrara with its marble plates.

Spoerri claims to have been encouraged by Jean Tinguely to capture “the movement and the stop of a movement – like a photograph”.  Out of such influence were born his widely recognized “tableaux pièges” or “snare pictures,” in which the artist creates a form of diary by securing meaningful objects to a surface.

Spoerri’s second exhibit, L’ombelico del mondo – The Navel of the World — is an installation that revives the mythical Unicorn. It is a unique stone exhibit that is the centerpiece of a outdoor sculpture path that Spoerri has constructed, serving as a breadcrumb trail to link the first display to the other.

The first location, Centro Arti Plastiche on via Canal del Rio is open Tuesday through Sunsday from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm and also Thursday – Sunday 8 pm – midnight; the other, Albac (Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara) is at Via Roma, 1, welcomes visitors Monday to Friday from 10 am – 1 pm; free admission.

Maura Banfo presents Il Tempo dei luoghi  (The Time of Places). The space presents a single focal point: on a tiny pedestal lies a giant wooden nest, an exhibit that is maternal yet foreign, large enough to house a human and her young. From every angle, the chrome paint glistens and reflects back our quintessential images of home. Banfo’s work can be found in the Sala Ottagonale, A. Gentileschi at via Cavo Alberto Sarteschi 1, Thursday through Sunday from 7:30 – 11:30 pm.

Another exhibition, “The Essence of an Artist,” lyrical watercolors by Maria Teresa Fabbricotti (1893–1977), an exponent of realism, can be admired at via Giuseppe Verdi 1 through September 22 (10 am – 1 pm, 3 – 5 pm, also 7 – 11:30 pm Sat. & Sun.).