The “Three Elements” are so monumental that it is difficult not to think of Hercules. These immense sculptures at Mareterra admired by HelloMonaco have just been inaugurated by the Prince.
If there were only two pillars, then Greek mythology and the Pillars of Hercules would come to mind…and for good reason because the myth is they indicated the limit of the known world and “grasping the Pillars” was a metaphor for reaching the ultimate in human achievement.
Mareterra shows us there are no limits, certainly not to the physical boundaries of Monaco …and it is certainly evidence of human achievement going beyond expectations.
“Three Elements”…land, sea and air, inaugurated by Prince Albert II, is the first sculpture on Mareterra. And Mareterra is indeed the perfect spot, idyllically facing the sea, where these columns of 15, 12 and 10 metres, also overlooking Larvotto, have been erected.
Monaco’s sculptural landscape expands yet further. For its sculptures alone the Principality is increasingly a magnet for culture aficionados and the latest was all of 18 years in the making.
“Three Elements” is produced by the Var artist Bernard Bezzina, not a stranger to the Principality’s Department of Cultural Affairs having previously contributed to our urban landscape.
French artist, born in 1956, Bernard is divided between the Var department, not far from Toulon, Monaco and Pietrasanta (Tuscany). Bezzina’s more general objective lies in an almost impossible quest for total art, for an absolute of representation through the restitution of fragments of beings which find themselves amplified.
One finds a parallel in Cubism at the forefront of deconstructing form and perspective and presenting art that depicted reality in an unrealistic way; it was the first abstract movement in art.
Bezzina has his own unique notion of “Division” (Divition) to which his research on matter has led him. He deconstructs, fragments, shatters structures to then proceed to a fundamental re-union.
Certainly a stunning reunion of land, sea and air, is there to be savoured at Mareterra admiring the “Three Elements” and taking in the beautiful surrounds.
