This is the 3D optical illusion on Palazzo Strozzi: Florence Is “Wounded” that makes us reflect on the dramatic moments we are experiencing.
A glimpse of Palazzo Strozzi tells us that Florence is “wounded”. The latest work of art by the French artist JR makes us reflect on the drama of the moment. The installation, entitled “The Wound”, is 28 meters high and 33 meters wide and really deludes our eyes that the building is torn apart.
The work in fact, visible until August 22 and made with a black and white photographic collage typical of the artist’s style, is built as an anamorphosis, an illusionistic game in which observing from a precise point of sight, our eyes see different rooms of Palazzo Strozzi including the colonnade of the courtyard, an imaginary exhibition hall, and a library.
But much more than a beautiful and realistic image, it is an important message that makes us reflect on the wounds we are all suffering, and in particular art, in the Covid era.
“By inserting iconic works of the Florentine artistic heritage and directly citing a real place such as the library of the National Institute of Renaissance Studies – reads the Palazzo Strozzi press release – JR proposes a direct and suggestive reflection on accessibility not only to Palazzo Strozzi but to all places of culture in the era of Covid-19 “.
The Palace, built between 1489 and 1538 in perfect Renaissance style, is inaccessible, closed in compliance with restrictive anti-Covid measures like many places of culture.
“Palazzo Strozzi thus becomes the magnificent stage for a symbolic but severe wound that unites all Italian cultural institutions and beyond: museums, libraries, cinemas, and theaters, all of which are forced to limit or refuse public access.”
