“THE AWAKENING OF NATURE” - PUBLIC EXHIBITION OF PABLO ATCHUGARRY IN ITALY

Ten wooden works will be housed in the Chiesa dei Servi, built in the late 1300s, while the spectacular Carrara white, Belgian black and Portuguese pink marble works will be housed in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, along with some bronze works. Five works will be placed in open air, in the main places of interest in the historic center of Lucca: Piazza San Martino, l'Agorà, Piazza San Michele (the old forum), Porta San Pietro, on the walls of the bastion of San Frediano.

"At this moment in history - says Gian Guido Grassi, curator of the exhibition - we need to rediscover the values ​​where hope and beauty seem to offer humanity an anchor of salvation: the artist and his creativity approach the Primordial Principle of which the universe arises, the sculptor liberates matter to make a new work: hence the title of the exhibition, "The Awakening of Nature." In front of Pablo's sculptures, whether they are olive roots, Carrara marble statues or bronze foundries, we feel a special emotion, we perceive a mystery, a kind of prayer. Quoting Plato: "the power of the Good has taken refuge in the nature of the Beautiful".

"I have a special attachment to Tuscany - says Atchugarry - I went to the Apuan Alps for the first time in 1979. It was a decisive moment for my career; I discovered the origin and beauty of marble, which has become the privileged material of my work. The marbles are children of the mountain and belong to the world; that is how my sculptures are, they have legs and, like a father, I see them come out and acquire a life of their own. Sometimes I think that all these vertical works of mine, these points, are invocations, a questioning, a going to see the stars: to perceive the energy of the Universe, to rediscover the primordial elements to make the journey between matter and light".

Pablo Atchugarry was born in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1954.

After experimenting with a range of different materials, in 1979 Atchugarry discovered the extraordinary elegance of marble and he carved his first sculpture in Carrara, entitled La Lumière. His first monumental sculpture carved from Carrara marble was completed in 1982. That same year, the artist settled permanently in Lecco, working on the sculpture La Pietà, carved from a single block of marble weighing 12 tonnes. In 1987, he held his first solo sculpture exhibition in Bramantino’s Crypt in Milan, curated by Raffaele de Grada.

Pablo Atchugarry’s works have also been exhibited at the following museums and public institutions: Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo; Museo del Parco, Portofino; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires; Museo Lercaro, Bologna; Collezione della Provincia di Milano a Palazzo Isimbardi; Collezione della Provincia di Lecco; Fundació Fran Daurel, Barcelona; Groeningemuseum, Bruges; Museu Coleção Berardo, Lisbon; Pérez Art Museum, Miami; The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk; Museo Brasilero da Escultura, São Paulo.

Atchugarry currently lives and works between Lecco (Italy) and Manantiales (Uruguay) where he oversees the development of the Fundación Pablo Atchugarry and the international monumental sculpture park, as well as teaching and promoting art. In 2022, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Atchugarry opened in Manantiales, the first and only museum in Uruguay promoting global contemporary art.

The exhibition is organized by the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca, the Fondazione Lucca Sviluppo and the Associazione Start - Open your eyes, with the contribution of the Comune di Lucca and the patronage of the Consiglio Regionale della Toscana, Confindustria Toscana Nord and CNA of Lucca.