Title: The Birth of Venus

Creator: Lucia Warck Meister

Region: Rome

Date: 2008 (installed at Griffiss)

Description: Lucia Warck Meister was born and educated in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has shown widely in individual and group exhibitions in Argentina, the U.S. and Europe. Her work is in collections in Argentina, the US, Spain, the UK, Switzerland and France. It has been reviewed in major publications including ArtNews, Art Nexus, and the New York Times. In 2007 she was invited to be a Visiting Artist by the American Academy in Rome, Italy and has been an artist-in-residence in both France and Utica, NY. Currently, she lives and works in New York City.
The Birth of Venus is “about strength and precariousness, the locus of beauty and storm, the source of calm and turmoil,” explains Warck Meister. The unusual scale is a fundamental element of the installation piece which consists of 16 translucent cast glass spheres of varying diameters (32”, 24”, and 16”). Warck Meister intends it to enhance our perception of the environment: “It appears as if it originated from within a body of water and was dispersed on the ground ready to generate from its labile body. Its undeniable sensuality and porous boundaries give it a sense of precariousness. The translucent spheres sparkle in the light of the sun activating their space and surroundings. Their shine and apparent immateriality confer lightness and an organic quality to the group. As the daylight and the passing weather shift, so will the colors and reflections. The Birth of Venus merges quietly with its site.”
A Sculpture Space resident in 2007, Warck Meister remembers, “the experience gave me the opportunity to work on a large scale and to develop a mixed media project I had had in mind for a long time. I was able to focus entirely on this work without distractions. At the same time the environment was very friendly and my fellow artist residents were from around the world. The help the Sculpture Space staff provided—finding materials and getting things done—was invaluable.”

Subject: Public art, Outdoor sculpture

Rights: © Lucia Warck Meister 2008

(In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/)

Find out more:
http://www.griffissbusinesspark.com/park_map.asp?type=S&id=4

ID#: AO-00020

Location: Griffiss International Sculpture Garden, Rome, near the corner of Hill Road and Ellsworth Road