Gregory Star, Dante's vision
Patinated bronze,
Signed.
Dimensions: 27 x 34 x 16 cm
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The sculpture Dante's vision depicts a portrait with bust and hand. Dante's profile has classical proportions, however, in the central axis the face narrows, as if the portrayed disappears or symbolically moves to another space. Perhaps this is the space of the brilliant poet's imagination from which the vision contained in The Divine Comedy comes?
The sculpture is part of an ever-expanding series of works I am preparing in collaboration with Spanish painter Jordi Diaz Alamana. The works of both artists are to be presented in Italy and Spain during next year's series of exhibitions intended as a tribute by these artists to Dante Alighieri in the year of the 700th anniversary of his death. The concept of the exhibition is to place a statue or portrait of Dante surrounded by painterly interpretations of scenes from the Inferno.
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Grzegorz Gwiazda - born in 1984, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan, the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and as a scholarship student at the Accademia di Belle Arte di Brera in Milan. In 2009, he graduated with honors from the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, defending his master's thesis in Prof. Adam Myjak's sculpture studio. Since 2009, he has been teaching at the Graphics and Sculpture Studio of IEA APS in Warsaw. In 2014, he defended his doctorate at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, and in 2019 he received his postdoctoral degree. Since 2015, he has been teaching at the Barcelona Academy of Art.
He was the recipient of a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2008/2009, and also received the ENTRY Initiative scholarship. He is a two-time winner in the international figurative art competition organized by the Fundació de les Arts i els Artistes in Spain (awarded sculptures Behold the Man in 2010 and Bicycle in 2015). In 2018, he received an award from the art magazine Arteon.
Star's realizations can be found in Poland, Spain and China. His works are in many collections, including the permanent collection of the Museu Europeu d'Art Modern in Barcelona.
