The caged contortionist....

12:02 p.m.

Grande contorsionniste IV, by Mauro Corda

Materials: aluminium and steinless steel / Measures: ed. de 8, 300 x 80 x 80 cm

Mauro Corda (France, 1960) produced a steel sculpture of a contortionist in the most unnatural position. It’s a trapped figure, made in the Classical tradition, with some touches of Modernity, and a shiny surface due to the material used. It might remind us to the hanging body presented by Louis Bourgeois at the MoMA a few years ago, although this contortionist has a head and holds his legs in a more most extreme and unusual position.

Grande contorsionniste IV, by Mauro Corda

Materials: aluminium and steinless steel / Measures: ed. de 8, 300 x 80 x 80 cm

But what really calls our attention is the premonitory structure that holds it. A series of silver beads form a cage, so we get to share the enigmatic figure’s sense of captivity. As we get closer, we visualize the position of the sculpture, removed from standardization.

The piece was exhibited at the Gallery Opera in Miami the first days of March and now we wonder: Was Corda announcing the challenge the world would be facing with his Grande contorsionniste IV? Was he proposing an insight of what we would be facing? Or is it that now, under this new light, we find another meaning to the artwork?