MMP Manzù Messina Perez: open-air sculpture exhibition in Jesolo

The Italian seaside town of Jesolo Lido hosts an open-air sculpture exhibition titled 'MMP Manzù Messina Perez', curated by Alberto Fiz and organized by Associazione FAIarte A.P.S. with municipal support. From July 14, 2019, eight large 20th-century Italian sculptures by Giacomo Manzù, Francesco Messina, and Augusto Perez are displayed across three main squares: Piazza Marconi, Piazza Drago, and Piazza Carducci. Later additions include works by Bruno Lucchi and Giacinto Bosco. The exhibition aims to engage the estimated one million summer visitors and locals, presenting a 'contemporary classicism' that revives figurative tradition after the avant-garde. Fiz highlights Perez as an underappreciated pupil of Manzù and Marino Marini, whose works like 'La notte (Edipo e la Sfinge)' (1983) and 'Terrae Motus' (1992-1993) express existential anguish. Manzù's pieces include 'Cardinale seduto' (1983-2004) and 'Le gemelle' (1970-2004), while Messina's 'Adamo ed Eva' (1970-2004) in pink granite reinterprets tradition with embracing lovers. The project, titled 'Tempi interessanti per la nostra storia' referencing the 2019 Venice Biennale 'May You Live In Interesting Times', coins the neologism '(s)cultura' by Andrea Vizzini to merge culture and sculpture, challenging provincial stereotypes and repositioning Italian sculpture within 20th-century European art. The exhibition runs until September 30, 2019.