Barry X Ball. The End of History

"Fired by passion, I seek to go back in time, to centuries before the revolution of modern art, to find the way to make something just as revolutionary.”Barry X Ball

In association with Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Villa e Collezione Panza presents, on the occasion of MiArt – International Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, the retrospective entitled The End of History, devoted to Barry X Ball. Born in 1955, the Californian sculptor has come a long way since his minimalist beginnings and is currently engaged in experimentation that strikes a fine balance between tradition and innovation, high tech and history, the essential and the captivating.

The exhibition, curated by Anna Bernardini, Director of Villa e Collezione Panza, and Laura Mattioli, art historian, collector and founder of the Center for Italian Modern Art in New York, features 56 works from the 1980s to the present. These range from the first minimalist pieces with a gold ground – small, gleaming, precious objects reminiscent of religious icons and altarpieces – to the recent charismatic Portraits and the Masterpieces to which a whole section is devoted. The itinerary unwinds from the rooms on the first floor of the Villa to the new space in the Rimesse per le Carrozze.

In creating his works from various types of metal, marble, alabaster, onyx and lapis lazuli the sculptor seeks to realize his dream of dominating yet elevating the material of the surfaces and volumes, by combining virtual design and computer modelling with carving and the polishing of details by hand.

For the artist scanning and making a 3D print of an existing sculpture signifies addressing the theme of objectivity and seriality understood as a copy, and going beyond it through the material: an uncontrollable natural element whose final aspect is unique. Thus Barry X Ball creates an autonomous work with regard to the image and concept.

At Castello Sforzesco offers two more works: Pietà (2017) on public display for the first time in the Sala degli Scarlioni of the Museo d’Arte Antica in Milan, created as a homage to and linking up with Michelangelo's celebrated Pietà Rondanini on show at Castello Sforzesco’s Antico Ospedale Spagnolo. And the compelling Pseudogroup of Giuseppe Panza (1998–2001), exhibited in the same room, which is a tribute by the Milan City Council and Barry X Ball to Giuseppe Panza, a pioneering collector who acquired his knowledge and lived for many years in the cultural milieu of this city, which became the starting point for his research and his artistic journey.

Yet again Villa Panza is documenting the work of an artist who engages in a constant dialogue with both history and the contemporary world – a characteristic that is endemic in identity of this place. Other key aspects, such as Barry X Ball's choice and use of materials, his extraordinarily refined execution, his sensibility and relation with the space, his constant experimentation with new technologies, together with his quest for the pureness of light and spirituality, marry perfectly with Giuseppe Panza’s ethical and aesthetic vision.

The exposition at Villa Panza is made possible by JTI (Japan Tobacco International), which since 2012 has flanked the Fondazione in the staging of major exhibitions designed to enhance and promote the cultural legacy of Villa e Collezione Panza.

Villa e Collezione Panza is a museum recognized by the Lombardy Region.

In 2016 the FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano introduced at Villa Panza the cultural accessibility project Bene FAI per tutti, devised and created by the non-profit association L’abilità with the Fondazione De Agostini and with the support of JTI. The project is dedicated to the intellectually impaired, offering them the possibility to discover the permanent collection by taking a specially designed tour. The project is also under way at Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, Villa dei Vescovi in Luvigliano di Torreglia (PD), Castello e Parco di Masino (TO) and Torre e Casa Campatelli at San Gimignano (SI).

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