The Municipality of Imola, 30 years after the death of Ayrton Senna, intends to remember the great Brazilian champion with a new project by the artist Stefano Pierotti, author of the monument dedicated to Senna, inaugurated 27 years ago and located within the Mineral Water Park. The new project is part of a rich calendar of events entitled “Senna 30 years”, organized by the Municipality of Imola in collaboration with the “Instituto Ayrton Senna”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Region Emilia-Romagna to remember the tragic death of Ayrton Senna (1 May 1994) and Roland Ratzenberger (30 April 1994), on the weekend of the XIV San Marino F1 Grand Prix, at the “Enzo e Dino Ferrari” racetrack in Imola.
Specifically, the one developed is a project dedicated to memory and horizon, which develops on a dual level.
The first consists in the production of a work, entitled “Saudade: the face of Senna”, specially created by Stefano Pierotti, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the death of the Brazilian champion, which depicts Senna’s face, created with the Iron pictures technique, developed a few years ago by the Tuscan sculptor.
The second consists of an exhibition set up in the Salannunziata, entitled “From ‘Ayrton Senna’ to ‘Iron pictures’ – Stefano Pierotti: memory and the horizon”, curated by Vinicio Dall’Arawhich, retracing the memory starting from the monument located in the Mineral Water Park, places itself in the horizon of the most recent artistic production of the sculptor from Pietrasanta.
“Saudade: the face of Senna” – This work, entitled “Saudade: the face of Senna” was specially created on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Senna’s death, as a link of memory which, starting from that dramatic day, winds up to the creation of the monument in 1997, to be updated with today’s artistic intervention. The work, which is part of the series defined by the author as “Iron pictures”, consists of a large wall panel (3.33 meters base and 4.20 meters high, with a thickness of approximately 4 cm), composed of seven slabs of corten iron 1 mm thick, cut and welded onto metal mesh, then painted. Ayrton’s face is portrayed, freely inspired by a shot by the photographer Ercole Colombo (Ercole Colombo/Motorsport Images/Getty Images), taken at sunset during the tests in April 1994, at the Imola racetrack, in view of the Grand Prix of F1 which would have taken place on the following May 1st.
This work comes to completion of a series already called “Iron pictures” by the author himself, developed around 2017, in which the faces of figures such as Frida Kahlo, David Bowie, Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe and others stand out.
The wall panel will be donated by the sculptor Stefano Pierotti to the City of Imola and by next May 1st (the exact date will be defined shortly) it will be installed on a wall of an Acer building, in via Cenni 10, in an area where already there are murals on the facades of the adjacent buildings. It was Pierotti himself who expressed the desire “that the work be installed in a popular context, thus respecting the same values expressed by Senna”.
The exhibition at the Salannunziata, from memory to the horizon
Combined with the work “Saudade: the face of Senna”the exhibition entitled “From ‘Ayrton Senna’ to ‘Iron pictures’ – Stefano Pierotti: memory and the horizon”, curated by Vinicio Dall’Ara, will be set up in the Salannunziata. The exhibition aims to highlight the connection between the monument “to Ayrton Senna”, inaugurated on 26 April 1997 inside the Mineral Water Park and the subsequent production of the artist from Pietrasanta, also giving space to his other works, to highlight highlights its versatility both from the point of view of expressive technique and content, always maintaining a unity of intent.
In particular, the exhibition will propose three large photographic panels and archive materials (sketches, letters, scale models, etc.) which retrace the phases of creation of the “Ayrton Senna” sculpture, also highlighting the way in which the The artist faced the human, not just sporting, side of the Brazilian champion, highlighting the planning phases of the monument, the manufacturing phases, Pierotti’s meeting with the Brazilian driver’s mother, Mrs. Neyde, to present the project to her of the work and finally the moment of the inauguration of the sculpture.
This historical link is also updated by the exhibition at the Salannunziata of a further new face of Ayrton, measuring 1.70 meters x 2 meters high, also created specifically for this exhibition, with the Iron pictures technique.
Together with this painted metal face and the photographic panels specifically dedicated to the Brazilian champion, around ten works created by Pierotti will be exhibited in the Salannunziata, from the mid-1990s to other more recent and large-sized ones, in bronze, steel , wood, resin. They retrace the significant moments in the history of his activity, including female figures, more abstract works, two other faces from the “Iron pictures” series – that of Frida Kahlo and the one taken from the photo Afghan Girl (Sharbat Gula) by Steve McCurry, 1984 – and the large installation “Ascension”.
Tying everything together is the sign of the vulnerability and fragility of the human figure, including great champions and great personalities, as well as the transience of things. Vulnerability, fragility and transience are made manifest and are enhanced, by contrast, precisely by the use of iron, bronze and marble as the materials mainly worked to create the works.
Exhibition opening times
The exhibition will be set up at Salannunziata (via F.lli Bandiera 17/a) from Friday 19 April, with inauguration at 6pm, until Sunday 19 May. It will be open, with free entry, on the following days and times: Friday 4-7pm; Saturday, Sunday and holidays 10am-1pm and 4pm-7pm. The entire “Senna30years” programme, which is also being updated with further initiatives, can be seen from today on the page www.ayrton-senna.it
Tags: Imola homage Ayrton Senna large wall panel
