Beverly Pepper ARA PACIS

Curated by Roberta Semeraro
Ara Pacis Museum – Rome, ITALY
3 December 2014 – 15 March 2015

From December 3, 2014 until March 15, 2015, the Ara Pacis Museum will host the exhibition Beverly Pepper all’Ara Pacis, promoted by Roma Capitale, Department of Culture, Creativity and Artistic Promotion – Superintendent of Capitoline Cultural Heritage, the Embassy of the United States of America, and the Fondazione Roma.

The idea of the installation of the sculptures at the Ara Pacis came from architect Paolo Luccioni, and the exhibition is curated by art critic Roberta Semeraro. This extraordinary project came to life thanks to the Association RO.SA.M., Zètema Culture Project, architect Isabella Altamura and Eng. Eugenio Francesco Mancinelli of SEIPRO Ltd.

Thanks to sculptor Beverly Pepper (b. 1922), for the first time the perimeter area of the Ara Pacis Museum is offered as a stage for a major exhibition of sculptures. The artist has devoted years to public sculpture and environmental art, and after art installations in great urban spaces such as the Forte Belvedere in Florence, the Palais Royal in Paris and Central Park and Park Avenue in New York, has decided to return to Rome.

The four monumental artworks, between 4 and 5 meters tall and made of cor-ten steel, represent moments of reflection for visitors who will have the opportunity to capture perspectives, volume, depth, and, last but not least, light, in a fabulous blend of the glorious past of architectural styles and the present of contemporary sculpture. Inside the Ara Pacis Museum, steel tabletop sculptures with stone bases will be showcased, all part of the Curvae in Curvae series, some of which never exhibited before.

Beverly Pepper’ art work is a permanent part of the landscape: the Amphisculpture is situated at the headquarters of AT&T in New Jersey, and Palingenesis is at the  headquarters of Credit Suisse in Zurich. Her other important examples of land art are in Sol y Ombra Park in Barcelona, the Manhattan Sentinels at Federal Plaza in New York and Departure, For My Grandmother in Europos Parkas in Vilnius, Lithuania.

While her works are on display all over the world, Italy continues to be one of the most popular frames for her installations, such as the Teatro Celle, commissioned by the collector Giuliano Gori for his Fattoria Celle in Pistoia, Omphalon, a land art work at the CAMUSAC Museum of Contemporary Art in Cassino, and the most recent Amphisculpture in work at the Parco del Sole which was donated by the artist to the city of L’Aquila.

The return of Beverly Pepper to Rome is a tribute to the city that welcomed her since the early Fifties and still is the scene of her art. “We are delighted to present to the city of Rome the works of this great artist who, with her sculptures and her environmental projects has succeeded in translating art into nature” said the president of Fondazione Roma Prof. Avv. Emmanuele Francesco Maria Emanuele. “Concurrently with this exhibit we wish to bear witness and appreciate the work she has carried out in favor of the promotion of our country through her art and throughout her life.”

“Beverly Pepper’s talent has no borders and we had no other choice than to host at one of the most representative museums of the city,” according to the Councilor of Culture, Creativity and Artistic promotion of Rome Capital City, Giovanna Marinelli. “This exhibition demonstrates above all how the arts can contaminate each other and speak to each other. Sculpture reigns triumphant in the symbolic place of archaeology. I am convinced that visitors will be attracted and ravished.” In addition, as stated by the American Ambassador in Rome, John R. Phillips, the artist represents, “Two countries and an unquenchable desire to find points of contact between the two cultures, to integrate them, making them permeable to each other. Find and build bridges not only in art: this is another passion of our volcanic sculptor. “

During the whole exhibition the public will have the opportunity, by reservation, to participate in a guided tour of the exhibition. From mid-December, the bookshop of the Museum will sell a DVD with a documentary produced by MAAP and the catalogue “Beverly Pepper Ara Pacis”, published by Gli Ori Editori Contemporanei and curated by Paola Gribaudo with Gianfranco Gorgoni’ s photographs and critics contributions of Anna Imponente, Superintendent of Historical and Artistic Heritage of Lazio, and Gianluca Marziani, Director of Collicola Palace – Museum of Visual Arts in Spoleto.

Beverly Pepper is a member of SACI’s Artists Council and has exhibited her work in the SACI Gallery.

Beverly Pepper all’Ara Pacis
Museo dell’Ara Pacis
Lungotevere in Augusta, Rome – ITALY

December 3, 2014 to March 15, 2015

HOURS: Tuesday to Sunday – 9 am to 7 pm
Exhibition Info: 060608 (every day 9.00 am to 9.00 pm)
www.museiincomuneroma.it
www.arapacis.it

TICKETS: € 10,50 (full); € 8,50 (reduced)
Museo dell’Ara Pacis + Exhibition € 18 (full); € 14 (reduced)