Djerassi ’87-’91

A. wood, sand and paint, 7×22,9×20 cm
B. wood, iron, sand and paint, 28,5×33,6×37,7 cm
C. wood, cardboard, sand and paint, 37,5×26,5×24,8 cm
Mauro Staccioli Archive Museum, Volterra

In 1982, at Villa Celle, Mauro Staccioli first met Carl Djerassi, the inventor of the contraceptive pill who, in 1979, had started the Djerassi Resident Artists Program. Invited by his patron, the sculptor reached for the first time in 1987 the Californian foundation, a vast naturalistic area among the mountains overlooking San Francisco Bay. Three more stays in 1988, 1989 and 1991 to complete the project will follow: here Staccioli thought of a far-reaching intervention for a wood of American oaks, realizing six interventions in dialogue with the trees, or even dependent on them, since those works only find the position desired by the artist through the support of the natural support.

© Enrico Fontolan, Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Insitute, Roma. Courtesy Archivio Mauro Staccioli.
L’Archivio Mauro Staccioli ha collaborato con la Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute di Roma per la digitalizzazione dell’intero corpus documentario afferente ai lavori realizzati o ipotizzati dall’artista, dall’inizio della carriera fino al 1988. Si ringrazia il fotografo Enrico Fontolan, il Digital Humanities Lab e il Fondo Fotografico della Bibliotheca Hertziana per l’enorme lavoro svolto. Tutto il materiale è consultabile online cliccando qui.