eye of the beholder - 見る人の目: LIGHT OF THE MOON BY IGOR MITORAJ, BEELDEN AAN ZEE

Light of the Moon by Igor Mitoraj, Beelden aan Zee - Scheveningen, Den Haag, Netherlands, originalmente cargada por Rick [EinerVonDerTankstelle].

Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague; with many cute seaside restaurants, long beaches, kite surfers, a pier (with casino) and lots of art scattered everywhere. This one here by Igor Mitoraj is looking out to the North Sea. For some info about art exhibits in Scheveningen, go to beeldenaanzee.nl.

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Igor Mitoraj (born 1944) is a Polish artist born in Oederan, Germany.

He studied painting at the Kraków School of Art and at the Kraków Academy of Art under Tadeusz Kantor. After graduating, he had several joint exhibitions, and held is first solo exhibition in 1967 at the Krzysztofory Gallery in Poland. In 1968, he moved to Paris to continue his studies at the National School of Art.

Shortly afterwards, he became fascinated by Latin American art and culture, spending a year painting and travelling around Mexico. The experience led him to take up sculpture.

He returned to Paris in 1974 and two years later he held another major solo exhibition at the Gallery La Hune, including some sculptural work. The success of the show persuaded him that he was first and foremost a sculptor.

Having previously worked with terracotta and bronze, a trip to Carrara, Italy, in 1979 turned him to using marble as his primary medium and in 1983 he set up a studio in Pietrasanta. In 2006, he created the new bronze doors and a statue of John the Baptist for the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome. However report hot controversy as a result of installation (April 5 2008) of his work in Piazza Trento in Tivoli, opposite the church of St. Maria Maggiore and the Villa d'Este. The location of the fact has put at risk the celebration of the rite dell'Inchinata. The work was moved on August 11, in this way was made possible the sacred ceremony. The statue was then called in situ on August 20, 2008. The citizens of Tivoli, which already signed a petition People (4800 signatures, the source Il Messaggero) against the installation of sculpture, even aesthetically and historically totally alien to the site, hope that in future the removal can be definitive.

Heros de Lumiere, Carrara marble (1986) at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Mitoraj's sculptural style is rooted in the classical tradition with its focus on the well modelled torso. However, Mitoraj introduces a post-modern twist with ostentatiously truncated limbs, emphasising the damage sustained by most genuine classical sculptures.