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May 9 – November 22, 2015
Palazzo Fortuny, San Marco, 3780, Venice
Curated by Axel Vervoordt and Daniela Ferretti
Organized by the Axel & May Vervoordt Foundation and the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
Press release from the Axel & May Vervoordt Foundation:
The exhibition PROPORTIO examines the role that proportion plays in our lives and the complex universe in which we live. By examining wide-ranging and diverse representations found in art, nature, physics, economics, history, science, music, medicine, and many other subjects, the study of proportion uncovers the natural patterns that are used to create everything in the material world.
Proportion is not only a question of numbers. Nor is it a simple comparison of measurements and dimensions in relation to a whole. According to Plato, the definition of proportion is the transition from duality to unity. It’s the investigation of how elements and patterns are connected and interconnected across disciplines. It’s the investigation of how we, as humans, perceive those patterns through our senses, as well as through our intuition. It’s also an exploration of how universal proportions guide our understanding of creation and the dynamic dance between order and chaos.
Throughout the course of known human history, the knowledge of proportions and sacred geometry in particular, has been applied across many civilizations for thousands of years. The sophisticated knowledge of sacred geometry, especially the golden ratio, was considered highly advanced and closely related to secretive spiritual wisdom and religious traditions. As a result, its use was controlled, because it was thought that it’s misuse might have undesirable consequences. In the Western world, the knowledge of sacred geometry was so secret that it was intentionally guarded for hundreds of years and may have been purposefully forgotten or discarded.
What was known? How was this knowledge used in the past? How can it help us to understand the world around us today? As an exhibition, the aim of PROPORTIO is to re-start a contemporary dialogue surrounding the lost knowledge of proportions and sacred geometry.
PROPORTIO features specially commissioned artworks by contemporary artists, 20th century masterpieces, Old Master paintings, archaeological artefacts, as well as architectural models and a large library of historical books on proportions. All these works provide a lens to help us see what proportion can teach us about the essential design of the present and how we can use this knowledge to create a blueprint for the future. This exhibition is an opportunity to explore universal proportions and an invitation to reflect upon the interconnectedness of our universe.
LIST OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Marina Abramovic, Carla Accardi, Josef Albers, Carl Andre, Rodolfo Aricò, Ida Barbarigo, Massimo Bartolini, Domenico Bianchi, Cristiano Bianchin, Alberto Biasi, Bae Bien-U, Alighiero Boetti, Otto Boll, Agostino Bonalumi, Michaël Borremans, Sandro Botticelli, Lucia Bru, Markus Brunetti, Jean-Marie Bytebier, Pierpaolo Calzolari, Francesco Candeloro, Antonio Canova, Vincenzo Castella, Eduardo Chillida, Chang-Sup Chung, Niccolò Codazzi, Viviano Codazzi, Gianni Colombo, Dadamaino, Hanne Darboven, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Raoul De Keyser, Riccardo De Marchi, Marta Dell’Angelo, Gabriele Devecchi, Maurizio Donzelli, Jan Dries, Arthur Duff, Luciano Fabro, Philippe Favier, Giorgia Fiorio, Henri Foucault, Anne-Karin Furunes, Alberto Giacometti, Ando Gilardi, Fernanda Gomes, Antony Gormley, Kees Goudzwaard, Gotthard Graubner, Aldo Grazzi, Franco Guerzoni, Chong Hyun Ha, Erwin Heerich, Michael Heizer, Samantha Holmes, Sadaharu Horio, Akiko Horio, Ryoji Ikeda, Norio Imai, Robert Indiana, Ann Veronica Janssens, Francesco Jodice, Ilya et Emilia Kabakov, Anish Kapoor, Ellsworth Kelly, William Kentridge, Anselm Kiefer, Kimsooja, Harry Kivijärvi, Susan Kleinberg, Wolfgang Laib, Edoardo Landi, Le Corbusier, Sol Lewitt, Richard Long, Nino Longobardi, Heinz Mack, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Christian Megert, Richard Meier, Fausto Melotti, Marisa Merz, Mario Merz, Amedeo Modigliani, Giorgio Morandi, François Morellet, Shuji Mukai, Rei Naito, Yuko Nasaka, Shirin Neshat, Louise Nevelson, Ben Nicholson, Renato Nicolodi, Mario Nigro, Gioberto Noro, Hans Op de Beeck, Marie Orensanz, Mimmo Paladino, Pablo Palazuelo, Izhar Patkin, Masaomi Raku, Kurt Ralske, Robert Ryman, Lucio Saffaro, Fred Sandback, Giuseppe Santomaso, Tomás Saraceno, MariaTeresa Sartori, Stéphane Sautour, Nobuo Sekine, Conrad Shawcross, Yasuhiro Shimakawa, Kazuo Shiraga, Gabriel Sierra, David Simpson, Bosco Sodi, Ettore Spalletti, Dominique Stroobant, Takis, Antoni Tàpies, Marco Tirelli, Gunther Uecker, Camiel Van Breedam, Koen Van den Broek, Dom Hans Van der Laan, Koen Vanmechelen, Grazia Varisco, Victor Vasarely, Jef Verheyen, Nanda Vigo, Bill Viola, Rachel Whiteread, Maaria Wirkkala, Hyong-Keun Yun, Gianfranco Zappettini and Raphaël Zarka.