Edoardo Tresoldi | Procuratie Vecchie
Well-known as an Italian artist, sculptor, and set designer, Edoardo Tresoldi explores swathes of wire mesh and breathes life into it. Creating life-sized art is amazing, but Edoardo breaks the norms with his architectural works. His ability to create an interaction between human beings and surrounding landscapes using architecture as a tool makes him a powerful artist.
Since 2013, he has created breathtaking installations that push the boundaries of creativity. His amalgamation of contemporary art with traditional spaces has the power to shape beautiful dialogues.
Monumento
“With Monumento, I use the rhetorical language of the monumental column as a reflection on our time and on the rhetoric of the values our society aspires to; a society that reaffirms the need to redefine the concept of strength, to re-read the role of fragility and which proposes listening and dialogue at the heart of intercultural relations”. – Edoardo Tresoldi
Monumento is a permanent installation in the Procuratie Vecchie Palace. It was unveiled on the historic occasion of the reopening of the palace. It is one of the best installations to speak of Edoardo’s creative powers. Installed in 2022, Monumento aims to rebuild the language of monumental columns. While recreating the monumental size of palace columns, this installation aims to neglect the function and focus on its impact. Symbolism is Edoardo’s forte, and this installation is a true reflection. It re-images historic columns from a modern and contemporary perspective.
This installation takes shape with wire mesh as its core material. One of the most important aspects of any installation is its location. Monumento is set in the monumental staircase of the palace. The play of treated plastic and wire mesh to create a column is set against the iron railings of the staircase. This strategic planning invites visitors to climb stairs and observe the installation closely. It also encourages the visitors to be directly involved in a personal conversation with the installation at different levels.
Monumento aims to showcase fragility – an important and sensitive aspect of society. Society is subjected to constant change and transformation, making it fragile. This adds a new meaning to the prestigious palace that reveals itself to visitors with a new life for the first time in 500 years.
Known for his previous installations in Abu Dhabi and New York, Edoardo was successful in recreating a column as a metaphor for tradition in the contemporary lifestyle of today. Monumento is a collaboration with architect Carlotta Franco for the development of architectural concepts and GICO Studio. Many art enthusiasts also agree that it references the global mission of an international refugee non-profit organisation named The Human Safety Net, a tenant of the palace building. This adds a new social purpose to the palace.
In an interview, the Italian artist says, “Monumento is a song that leaves out function to ritualise a thought through a plastic act. People’s history is an inherited flow of rhetorical figures that cyclically recur; they redefine their meanings and establish symbolism that we have not only learned to read but which, generation after generation, we have absorbed as a kind of latent language of the collective unconscious. Thus, by stripping a monument of its symbolism, what remains is a virtuous and melancholic lyrical song, detached and solemn, yet in search of contact because it was created to express itself, to be first an artefact and a gesture, and then a concept and presence.” With a project this close to the artist’s heart, it has the power to change the outlook of the restored Procuratie Vecchie Palace truly.
Procuratie Vecchie Palace
Paris In the 12th century, architects Mauro Codussi, Bartolomeo Bon, and Jacopo Sansovino were commissioned to build the Procuratie Vecchie Palace. The palace speaks of a monumental presence as it stretches the entire length of the North of the Piazza San Marco, known as St Mark’s Square. As one of Venice‘s most iconic and photographed buildings, it was unfortunately destroyed by a fire in 1512. The palace was rebuilt in a few years for political reasons. Owing to its strategic location in Venice on St Mark’s Square, it has served royalties during their reigns, so much so that Napoleon even referred to it as “the drawing room of Europe”.
Now open for public visitors, the Procuratie Vecchie Palace has a new lease on life. Its charm is well-appreciated by historians and architects all over the world. With the addition of exhibition and event spaces and public reading rooms, the restoration of the palace has helped create new spaces that fit into today’s urban fabric. Visitors can witness the beauty of Italian architecture up close. The public can now witness the beauty of the original Venetian terrazzo flooring, ceilings, and detailed paintings.
Other projects
Absent Matter is another powerful installation where Edoardo interprets the interaction of architecture with the environment spatially through the transparency of the metal mesh. The transparency depicted through voids is a symbol of this mutual fusion. The Metaphysical Ruin is an installation that is the artist’s amplified work with architectural dimensions in the physical environment. Undoubtedly, these installations and projects bring out Edoardo’s best personality – one as a narrator.
Online Sources:
One of Venice’s most iconic landmarks opens to visitors for the first time in 500 Years (2022) Lonely Planet. Available at: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/venice-procuratie-vecchie-opens-to-visitors-for-the-first-time (Accessed: February 5, 2023).
The Artist of the Absent matter, Edoardo Tresoldi. Available at: https://www.edoardotresoldi.com/ (Accessed: February 5, 2023).
Edoardo Tresoldi’s ethereal ‘Monumento’ installation rises inside Venice’s Procuratie Vecchie (2022) designboom. Available at: https://www.designboom.com/art/edoardo-tresoldi-ethereal-installation-monumento-venice-procuratie-vecchie-04-13-2022/ (Accessed: February 5, 2023).
Edoardo Tresoldi’s Monumento installation opens the Chipperfield-restored Procuratie Vecchie with a timely message on fragility, Archinect. Available at: https://archinect.com/news/article/150306839/edoardo-tresoldi-s-installation-monumento-opens-the-chipperfield-restored-procuratie-vecchie-with-a-timely-message-on-fragility (Accessed: February 5, 2023).
Edoardo Tresoldi Installation Reimagines the historic column at Venice’s Procuratie Vecchie (2022) ArchDaily. ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/980287/edoardo-tresoldi-installation-reimagines-the-historic-column-at-venices-procuratie-vecchie (Accessed: February 5, 2023).
Monumento: Tresoldi Studio (Edoardo Tresoldi) (no date) Archello. Available at: https://archello.com/project/monumento (Accessed: February 5, 2023).
Procuratie Vecchie opens in Venice with a brand-new exhibition space (2022) ArchiPanic. Available at: https://www.archipanic.com/procuratie-vecchie/ (Accessed: February 5, 2023).
