igor mitoraj - Contini Art

IGOR MITORAJ
Biography, Bibliography, Exhibitions
Biography
Igor Mitoraj was born in 1944 of a Polish mother and a French father in Oederan, Germany.
He spends his youth in Krakow where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts. Under the tutelage of
Tadeusz Kantor, he was introduced to contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein, Merz
and Klein. In 1968 he arrived in Paris to continue his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des
Beaux- Arts (National High School of Fine Arts).
A lengthy stay in Mexico in the early seventies allowed him to study South American and Aztec
cultures. At this point, Mitoraj chooses to express himself artistically in the form of sculpture.
In 1976, his first personal exhibition at the La Hune Gallery in Paris is an enormous success. He is
awarded important prizes such as the “Montrouge Prix de la Sculpture” and is encouraged by the
French minister of Culture who provides him with a studio at Montmartre. Mitoraj travelled
extensively, in particular to New York and Greece. After a visit to Pietrasanta in Tuscany , a sculptors
paradise, the artist discovers marble as an ideal material for his sculptures, in addition to his previous
use of terracotta and bronze.
In 1983, he chooses to make Italy his home and opens a studio in Pietrasanta, though he continues to
maintain his Paris atelier. In 1986, Mitoraj accepts an invitation to participate in the XLII International
Biennial Art Exhibition in Venice. In only a few years’ time, Mitoraj’s works of art have been
exhibited in many countries, often one-man showings as well as displayed in important museums. He
began to receive significant international commissions for his huge monumental sculptures both from
private collectors as well as from the public sector. His works can be seen in London at the British
Museum and Canary Wharf, at Bamberg and Krakow; in Paris at La Défence, at the Uffizi Museum and
the Boboli Gardens in Florence, in Piazza del Carmine and the Scala Theatre in Milan as well as in
Rome in Piazza Monte Grappa and Piazza Mignanelli.
In 2004, Mitoraj exhibits his monumental sculptures at the Tuileries Gardens of Paris, at the Mercati
di Traiano in Rome (in collaboration with the Contini Art Gallery) and at the Royal Palace of Warsaw.
In September 2005, The Contini Art Gallery of Venice in collaboration with the city of Venice Civic
Museums of Art and History, inaugurate an exhibition entitled Mitoraj a Venezia, an exhibition of 21
sculptures, 16 of monumental size along with 25 inedited designs. This exhibition followed an artistic
route throughout the heart of the city of Venice – the Contini Art Gallery, Cà Pesaro Museum of
Modern Art and strategically placed in various campos, along the Grand Canal. Other points of
interest even extended to Mestre on the mainland in the San Giuliano Park and at the Civic Center.
The exhibition is a huge success.
In September 2008, the Contini Gallery inaugurates a personal exhibition, BiancoNero in its Venice
gallery, with completely new works realized expressly by the artist for this occasion – twenty or more
sculptures in chromatic and material dissonance – white Carrara marble black Belgian marble and
bronze works in black patina – all placed in a highly atmospheric setting. The artist also presented a
series of icons on a gold background, utilizing the antique pictorial technique of encaustic art of which
the ancient Greeks and Pompeians were master craftsmen. The exhibition held from September 27,
2008 to April 15, 2009 attracted many visitors and collectors.
In 2011 his monumental sculptures are exhibited in the beautiful frame of Temple Valley, in Sicily,
while in the spring 2012 the solo exhibition Memoriae is unveiled, during the “Ravello Festival 2012”,
in the amazing location of Amalfitane Coast.
In 2014 two important events for the artist take place: an exhibition to inaugurate the monumental
complex in Miracoli Square, Pisa, on May 16th, and the unveiling of the first exhibition at the recently
opened gallery Contini Art UK in London on May 22nd.
The artist has worked between Italy and France until his death in Paris in October 2014.
Bibliography
1985
Igor Mitoraj - Sculpture
National Museum ofi Castel Sant'Angelo, Roma
Texts: Maurizio Calvesi, Alberto Bevilacqua, Vittorio Sgarbi, Marisa Vescovo
Igor Mitoraj - Sculpture
Compagnia del Disegno, Milano
Texts: Vittorio Sgarbi
1986
Igor Mitoraj - Sculpture
Museum Castello Dell'Imperatore, Prato
Texts: Giovanni Testori
Igor Mitoraj - Sculture 1976-1986
Galerie La Hune, Parigi
Texts: Claudio Malberti
1987
Igor Mitoraj - Sculture 1987
Compagnia del Disegno, Milano
Texts: Giovanni Tesori
1989
Igor Mitoraj
Gallerie Sala Gaspar, Barcellona
Texts: Maria Aurelia Capmany
Igor Mitoraj - Sculptures 1989
New York Academy of Art
Texts: Robert Rosenblum
Mitoraj - Sculptures and Designs
Rocca Malatestiana, Cesena
Texts: Maurizio Cecchetti, Giovanni Testori
1990
Igor Mitoraj - Sculptures and Drawings
The Gerald Peter's Gallery, Dallas
Texts: Robert Rosenblum, Giovanni Testori
1991
Tetes de Igor Mitoraj
Galerie JGM, Paris
Texts: Donald Kuspit
Igor Mitoraj
Castle Sforzesco, Milano
Texts: Donald Kuspit, Giovanni Testori
1992
Igor Mitoraj
Yorkshine Sculpture Park, Leeds
Texts: Peter Murray, John Russel Taylor
1994
Time Machine
The British Museum, London
Texts: James Putnam
1995
Igor Mitoraj - Immagini della città (Images of the City)
Macerata
Texts: Italo Tommasoni
Igor Mitoraj - Bitter Tear of Aphrodite
Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York
Texts: Donald Kuspit
Igor Mitoraj
Casa del Cordon Cultural Center, Burgos
Texts: Peter Murray, Antonio Gala, John Russel Taylor
Igor Mitoraj
Galleria Pier Giuseppe Carini, Prato
Texts: Giovanni Testori, Donald Kuspit
1996
Igor Mitoraj - Gli dei sono ancora qui (The Gods are Still Here)
Siracuse
Texts: Gesualdo Bufalino, Roberto Ciuni, Giorgio Soavi
Igor Mitoraj - The Bitter Tears of Aphrodite
Bath
Texts: John Russel Taylor
1997
Igor Mitoraj Raadselachtige Schoonheid
Museum Beelden Aan Zee, Scheveningen
Texts: Donald Kuspit, Robert Lunsingh Scheurleer
Mitoraj - Il Giardino delle Muse (The Muse’s Garden)
Library of di via Senato, Milan
Texts: Julian Zugazagoitia, Flaminio Gualdoni, Adolfo Echeverria
Mitoraj - Sculptures
Contini e Vecchiato Gallery, Forte dei Marmi
Texts: Giorgio Soavi
1998
L'ombra degli Dei (Shadow of the Gods)
Milan
Texts: Di Stefano
Glancing at the century
Athens
Igor Mitoraj
Frankfurt
Texts: Kuspit, Mosebach, Vagheggi
Mitoraj Sculptures
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Texts: Kuspit, Soavi, Zugazagoitia
1999
Igor Mitoraj - Dei ed Eroi (Gods and Heroes)
National Archeological Museum and the Boboli Gardens, Florence
Testi: Maurizio Calvesi, Donald Kuspit, Mario Lolli Ghetti, Litta Maria Medri, Antonio Paolucci.
2000
Eltville, Mumm Akademie, Villa Hajo Rüter; Bamberg, Internationales Künstlerhaus Villa Concordia,
Kunstverein Bamberg, Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen.
Republic of San Marino, Historical area, Mitoraj: nostalgia del mito, Ed. Skira.
Venezia, Galleria Contini, Mitoraj, miti incrociati, Ed. Skira.
2001
Losanne, Musée Olympique, Igor Mitoraj, nouvelle mythologie, Ed. Museo Olimpico
2002
Milan, Tega Gallery, Igor Mitoraj
Lugano, Museum of Contemporary Art, Igor Mitoraj, Ed. Skira
Darmstadt, Institut Mathildenhoe Darmstadt, Die schonheit – Eine zerbochene utopie, Ed. Die Galerie
Madrid, Joan Gaspar Gallery, Igor Mitoraj
Torre del Lago, Puccini, Manon Lescaut – Igor Mitoraj Scolpire l’Opea
2003
Warsaw, Muzeum Norodowe, Varsavia, Mitoraj Urok gorgony
Krakow, Centro Internazionale della Cultura, Igor Mitoraj
Krakow, Costanzo Costantini, Igor Mitoraj Blask Kamienia
Milan, Giorgio Soavi, Il sapore di quelle bocche sculture di Mitoraj, Ed. Skira
Madrid, Galeria Joan Gaspar Madrid, Igor Mitoraj.
2004
Rome, Mercati di Traiano, Mitoraj ai Mercati di Traiano, Ed. Artmedia.
Paris, Tuillerie Gardens, Igor Mitoraj Sculptures Monumentales, Ed. Argos Studio.
Rome, Costanzo Costantini, Conversazioni con Igor Mitoraj, L’enigma della pietra, Ed. Il Cigno.
Warsaw, Zachenta Naradowa Galeria Sztuki, Mitoraj Rysunki i Projecty, Ed. Zachenta Naradowa
Galeria Sztuki.
2005
Venice Cà Pesaro Museum of Modern Art, and other locations, Igor Mitoraj Sculture, Catalogo: Ed. De
Luca Editori d’Arte.
2006
Le porte degli Angeli, ( Doors of the Angels)
Roma, Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri,
Catalogue: Il Cigno Edizioni, Roma.
2008
BiancoNero, catalogo della mostra, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venezia.
Catalogue: ed. Th Swan Editions of Rome, curated by Giovanni Ricci Novara.
2011
Igor Mitoraj_Parco Archeologico Valle dei templi di Agrigento, The Swan Editions – Rome.
Igor Mitoraj Agrigento – Valle dei Templi, Bandecchi e Vivaldi – Pontedera, The Swan Editions Rome.
2012
Memoriae, Igor Mitoraj Catalogo della mostra, Arte’m Arte Contemporanea.
2014
Mitoraj, Traces of Time, catalogo della mostra, Contini Art Uk, Tecnostampa srl, Loreto.
Angeli, catalogo della mostra, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa.
2015
Omaggio a /An Homage to: Igor Mitoraj, catalogo della mostra, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venezia,
Bandecchi e Vivaldi - Pontedera (PI).
Mitoraj. Mito e Musica, catalogo della mostra, piazza del Duomo e complesso di Sant’Agostino, Pacini
Editore, Pisa.
Exhibitions
2016
Mitoraj a Pompei, sito archeologico di Pompei, Pompei, Italia
2015
Omaggio a Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venice, Italy
Mitoraj. Mito e Musica, Pietrasanta, Italy
2014
Angeli, Piazza dei Miracoli, Pisa, Italy
Traces of Time, Contini Art UK, London, UK
2013
Annunciazione, Chiesa e chiostro di Sant’Agostino, Pietrasanta (LU), Italy
2012
Memoriae, Villa Rufolo, Ravello (SA), Italy
2011
Igor Mitoraj , Valle dei templi di Agrigento, Italy
2010
Mitoraj monumental, Aix-en-Provence, France
Mitoraj monumental, Abbaye de Silvacane, France
Porte en bronze, Èglise de Confoux, Confoux, France
2009
Opera Festival : Aida, Giardino di Boboli, Florence, Italy
Porte des Anges, Matki Bozej Laskawej, Warsaw, Poland
Lux in Tenebris, Fabryka Trzciny, Warsaw, Poland
Bronzes Noirs, Galleria Flora Bigai, Pietrasanta, Italy
2008
BiancoNero, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venice, Italy
Fer, Palazzo dell’Abbondanza, Massa Marittima, Italy
Igor Mitoraj, Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto, Canada
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Paseo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido,Almerìa, Spain
2007
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Rambla de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Seville, Spain
Igor Mitoraj. Angeli ed eroi, Loggiato San Bartolomeo, Palermo, Italy
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, San Sebastian, Spain
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, La Corogne, Spain
2006
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Granada, Spain
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Gran Via Marqués del Turia, Valenza, Spain
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Arte en la calle: Igor Mitoraj. El mito perdido, Vigo, Spain
Festival Puccini: Tosca, Torre del Lago, Italy
Porte en bronze, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Rome, Italy
2005
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Musei Civici Veneziani, Ca’ Pesaro, Venice, Italy
2004
Sculptures: Cité perdue, JGM. Galerie, Paris, France
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures monumentales, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France
Mitoraj ai Mercati di Traiano, Mercati di Traiano, Rome, Italy
Zamek Królewski, Warsaw, Poland
2003
Igor Mitoraj, International Center of Culture, Kracow, Poland
Museum Narodowe, Poznań, Poland
Igor Mitoraj, Galería Joan Gaspar, Madrid, Spain
2002
Die schönheit. Eine zerbochene utopie, Istitut Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany
Igor Mitoraj, Museo d’Arte Moderna, Lugano, Switzerland
Igor Mitoraj, Galleria Tega, Milan, Italy
JGM. Galerie, Paris, France
Festival Puccini : Manon Lescaut, Torre del Lago, Italy
Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain
2001
Igor Mitoraj, nouvelle mythologie, Musée Olympique, Lausanne, Switzerland
Die Galerie, Kaiserplatz, Frankfort am Main, Germany
2000
JGM. Galerie, Paris, France
Mitoraj miti incrociati, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Venice, Italy
Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen, Mumm Akademie, Villa Hajo Rüter, Eltville, Germany
Igor Mitoraj, Plastiken und Zeichnungen, Kunstverein Bamberg, Villa Concordia, Bamberg, Germany
Recent Bronzes, Miriam Shiell Fine Art, Toronto, Canada
Mitoraj: nostalgia del mito, San Marino
1999
Igor Mitoraj. Dei ed Eroi, Palazzo Pitti, Museo Archeologico, Giardino di Boboli, Florence, Italy
Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain
Museo degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
Zoumboulakis Galleries, Athens, Greece
1998
Die Galerie, Opernplatz, Frankfort am Main, Germany
Mitoraj. Sculture, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
1997
La Défense, KPMG, Paris, France
Igor Mitoraj. Raadselachtige Schoonheid, Museum Beelden aan Zee, Scheveningen, Holland
Mitoraj, Il giardino delle muse, Biblioteca di via Senato, Milan, Italy
Istituto polacco, Rome, Italy
Mitoraj. Sculture, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Forte dei Marmi, Italy
Chiesa di Sant’Agostino, Piazza Duomo, Pietrasanta, Italy
1996
Academy Gallery, Bath, UK
Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Prato, Italy
Marisa Del Re Gallery, Palm Beach, USA
1995
Igor Mitoraj, Casa del Cordón, Burgos, Spain
Igor Mitoraj, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Prato, Italy
Larmes amères d’Aphrodite, Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York, USA
Park Ryu Sook Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Chiostro San Francesco, Galleria Medusa, Cesena, Italy
1994
Time machine, The British Museum, London, UK
Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain
Muzeum Narodowe, Wrocław, Poland
Galerie Nationale, Łódź, Poland
Galería Lévy, Madrit, Spain
Sala Imagen, Sevilla, Spain
Museo de Navaja, Pamplona, Spain
Fundación Caja Vital Kutxa, Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain
1993
JGM. Galerie, Parigi, France
Galeria Krdegarda, Warsaw, Poland
Galleria Forni, Bologna, Italy
Università de Cracovie, Cracow, Poland
Galerie Nazionale, Poznań, Poland
1992
The Economist Plaza, London, UK
BSG Fine Art Gallery, London, UK
Accademia Italiana, London, UK
Igor Mitoraj, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Leeds, Wakefield, UK
ARCO/JGM. Galerie, Madrid, Spain
1991
Têtes, JGM. Galerie, Paris, France
Igor Mitoraj, Castello Sforzesco, Milano, Italy
Thomas Tivelli Gallery, Aspen, USA
The M&I Rayburn Foundation, New York, USA
1990
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures and drawings, Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, USA
Stembock-Fermor Gallery, Stockholm Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
1989
Igor Mitoraj, Galería Joan Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures 1989, New York Academy of Art, New York, USA
Mitoraj. Sculture e disegni, Rocca Malatestiana, Cesena, Italy
1988
Galería Lévy, Madrid, Spain
Galleria Valente, Artforum, Hamburg, Germany
1987
Igor Mitoraj. Elegie per Roma, Galleria Due Ci, Rome, Italy
Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture 1987, Compagnia del Disegno, Milan, Italy
Stembock-Fermor Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
1986
Igor Mitoraj. Sculptures 1976-1986, Galerie La Hune, Paris, France
Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland
Igor Mitoraj .Sculture, Castello dell’Iperatore, Prato, Italy
Galerie Stemmle-Adler, Heidelberg, Germany
1985
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Museo di Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome, Italy
Igor Mitoraj. Sculture, Compagnia del Disegno, Milan, Italy
Galleria Tavolozza, Palermo, Italy
Maison de la Culture, Metz, France
1984
Galerie l’Orangerie, Cologne, Germany
Igor Mitoraj. Sculpturen, Zeichnungen, Galerie Lévy, Hamburg, Germany
Galerie Lévy, Paris, France
Galleria Toninelli, Rome, Italy
1983
Galerie Lévy, Paris, France
Galerie Artcurial, Fribourg, Switzerland
Galerie Cuppillard, Saint-Tropez, France
1982
La Rocabella, Monte-Carlo, Monaco
Kunst in Köln, Galerie Lévy, Cologne, Germany
1981
Galerie Artcurial, Paris, France
Galerie Lévy, Paris, France
Kunst in Köln, Galerie Lévy, Cologne, Germany
1980
Fondation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium
Igor Mitoraj. Sculpturen, Galerie Lévy, Hambourg, Germany
Galerie Mathilde, Amsterdam, Holland
Galerie G. Bach, Geneva, Switzerland
1979
Galerie Cupillard, Grenoble, France
Galerie Bornand, Marseilles, France
Studio 40, The Hague, Holland