Sculpture parks, where art interacts with nature

The three-dimensionality and the materiality that characterize it, make sculptural art an artistic expression able to enter in contact with the environment (after architecture), interacting with the space that surrounds it.

Over the years, the challenge of many artists was making their works not only interacting with spaces created by man – closed, open, private or public spaces – but also directly with the unattainable perfection of nature. Especially contemporary art sought a contact between an artwork as “human creation” and nature in the sense of “divine creation”, finding in beauty and harmony a synthesis.

Parks of sculptures around the world, as well as tourist attractions, are an example of how interesting, fruitful and varied may be this interaction. Between the most important ones, Parc Guell of Barcellona born from Antoni Gaudí’s estrus, Vigeland Park in Oslo, Mayo Sculpture trail in Ireland, DeCordova Park in the USA, and the list could continue. Also in Switzerland, there are interesting examples, Schönthal or Bruno Weber Sculpture Park, but also temporary expositions as “Bad RagARTz” that for about six months transforms Bad Ragaz streets and green spaces in the biggest European sculpture park.

In addition, there is a small geographic area in central Italy, between Tuscany and Lazio, a veritable cradle for sculpture parks. Within few hundred kilometers, in fact, there are some of the most beautiful parks in the world: their proximity and the wonderful landscapes in which they are inserted, make them as an ideal destination for weekend total-art and nature.

SACRO BOSCO IN BOMARZO

Near Bomarzo, small town in Viterbo at the foot of Mount Cimino, there is the oldest sculpture park, Sacro Bosco, better known as Monster Park. It dates back to 1552, when the prince Vicino Orsini commissioned to the architect Pirro Ligorio and the sculptor Simone Moschino its construction. The typical sophisticated, rational and geometric Italian gardens of the XVI cent. of Villa delle Meraviglie – the name of the original residence of the prince – are in contrast with this particular wood, which is a unicum in the Italian and global panorama. Monsters, dragons, elephants, giant turtles, mythological animals and other grotesque figures carved in the rock, are arranged in the in an irregular way, incoherently perspective or proportions, in a labyrinth of obelisks, hanging houses, iconographic inventions, mysterious symbols, literary quotes and indecipherable mottos even to researchers and lovers. After centuries of neglect, the garden has been revalued and revived by intellectuals such as Goethe and Dali, who fell in love with this magical and absurd place.

TAROT GARDEN IN CAPALBIO

Moving on few Kilometers and four centuries, it is possible to visit the Tarot Garden in Capalbio (Grosseto), born from the eclectic imagination of the French artist Niki de Saint Phalle. Started in 1979 and opened to the public in 1998, after several years of hard work, the park was the fulfillment of Niki’s artistic dream, realized with the fundamental support of her husband Jean Tinguely and other famous contemporary artists and friends, such as the architect Mario Botta who designed the entrance pavillon. Beyond the wall, which separates the park from everyday life, there is a magical world where the Tarots – the High Priestess and the Magician, the Sun, the Empress, the Temperance and many others – come to life with exaggerated forms and colors typical of the work of Niki de Saint Phalle. Twenty-two giant figures made of steel and concrete, covered with glass, ceramics and colored mirrors that reflect, amplify and multiply the natural surroundings creating an indistinguishable blend of nature and art. It’s a real fantastic city on two hectars of land, where sculptures become houses creating streets, which are also inspiration for thoughts, quotes, numbers and messages, in a physical and spiritual path.

IL GIARDINO DI DANIEL SPOERRI

Moving in the center of Tuscany, always in the province of Grosseto, there is another sculpture park: that’s “il Giardino di Daniel Spoerri”, strongly wanted and created by the Swiss artist in the 90s.  Situated in Seggiano, on the Amiata mount, the park was inaugurated in 1997 and in last years it has grown with several works and contemporary sculptures realized by Spoerri and many other artists such as Arman, Aeppli, Dietman, Dossi, Staccioli, Tinguely: the garden hosts 103 works made of 50 different artists, scattered over an area of 16 hectares. It’s a place with an extraordinary power of attraction, “tight”, as a Latin motto says on the entrance gate: HIC TERMINUS HAERET. That zone is called “Il Giardino”, but in the past it was called “Il Paradiso”. It’s no coincidence then, to feel like in the Garden of Even, where to perceive – according to Spoerri – that “intimate moment in which we enjoy, hate, love or suffer the world”.

CHIANTI SCULPTURE PARK

Moving northwards, in the scenic Chianti hills in the province of Siena, you can find one of the most famous site-specific contemporary art park. Conceived and realized by Rosalba and Piero Giadrossi, the Chianti Sculpture Park, which is located in Pievasciata close to Siena, was inaugurated in 2004 and covers an area of seven hectares. For the realization of this project that joins art and nature, the Giadrossis involved artists from all over the world: 26 installations and sculptures locates in a path 1 Km long, and 26 countries represented. Artists didn’t just realize works, they were also invited to examine the environment, as a source of inspiration. And this is exactly the main feature of the park: artworks have been specifically created for the point they are installed (site-specific), and perfectly fit in the natural environment, becoming part of the landscape and giving to visitors an immersive sense of harmony. Now that the available space into the wood is finished, family Giadrossi started a project that involves the entire local community to transform the town into a Contemporary Art village.