ROME – Infinite Columns is the imposing installation by the Korean sculptor Park Eun Sunhosted in the heart of Rome from 11 June to 30 September 2024. Five monumental worksup to 14 meters high, rise between the Colosseum Archaeological Park, Piazza Bocca della Verità and the Septizodiumin a suggestive dialogue between ancient and contemporary, East and West.
Homage to the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Korea
The exhibition, curated by Leonardo Continiwas created on the occasion of 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Italy and Koreaand it is an invitation to reflect on theme of infinityexpressed through the archetypal shape of the column. Park Eun Sun’s sculptures, made of polychrome marble and granite, fit harmoniously into the historical fabric of the city, comparing themselves with the archaeological remains and creating a new urban landscape.
A journey through cultures and traditions
Infinite columns develops at the top of an ideal triangle that connects the Temple of Venus, the Bocca della Verità square and the area in front of the ancient Septizodium. Park’s polychrome marble and granite columns stand with different intentions in each of these places.
In the context of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, two works in red and black granite they propose a ‘poetics of absences’ aimed at attracting the gaze where the void now remains, full of historical and artistic meaning, of what time and history have demolished. Park’s columns therefore ideally continue the peristyle of the Temple of Venus, which stood in front of the Colosseum.
In the context of the Bocca della Verità square, a single fourteen-metre work stands out in the Forum Boarium almost like a bell tower between the Temples of Hercules Victor and Portunusplacing itself in dialogue with two ‘big sisters’ that still remain in the city: the Trajan and Aurelia columns and perhaps ideally taking the place of the column of Antoninus Pius, whose remains were found in the 18th century – even if this stood in the Cape Marzio and not in the Forum Boarium.
Finally, two columns of over six meters stand at the foot of the place where the Septizodium once stood, a monumental nymphaeum from the imperial age. The two works overlook the Circus Maximus, a place of equal historical importance and which still vibrates with the social and cultural life of the city, with the intention of creating a positive association with respect to a context which for users represents a place of sharing and complicity, which hopefully will be enriched by the presence of the works.
The exhibition of Park Eun Sun’s monumental works in Rome in fact ideally unites Italy and South Korea, proposing an “archaeology” that investigates not only time but also space and the evolution of art over the centuries.
Park Eun Sun
Park Eun Sun was born in South Korea in 1965 and lives and works between Italy and Korea. His works stand out for the fusion of Eastern and Western elements, and for the use of precious materials such as marble and granite. His sculptures are often characterized by deep fractures, which symbolize suffering but also rebirth.
