untitled 1984

untitled

Precariously leaning, two feelers rise over 12 m from a sunken basin. In 1984 Enzo Cucchi created the totem-like bronze sculpture as a site-specific commission in the Merian Gardens for Skulptur im 20. Jahrhundert. Purchased by the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, it is one of the few works remaining from this exhibition. When Cucchi’s sculpture was first installed, it towered above the surrounding vegetation and was visible from all sides. Since then the trees and shrubs have caught up with it. Seasonally covered with leaves and moss, the sunken basin bears reliefs of animals evoking fossils whose origins might reach far back in the earth’s history. The surface of the trunks is animated by biomorphic grooves and fissures lending a hint of narrative that evokes both the history of art and that of nature.

Enzo Cucchi

Based in Ancona and Rome, Enzo Cucchi (*1949 Morro d’Alba) is a key figure of the Italian Transavanguardia, countering avant-garde movements such as Minimal and Conceptual Art. His interests include narrative, the figurative and expressive, mythological themes, and cultural traditions. Working across painting, drawing, Objektkunst, sculpture, and set design, he also creates texts and poetry. The bronze sculpture for the Merian Gardens was his first work in this medium at this scale. 

Title: untitled
Date made: 1984
Artist: Enzo Cucchi (* 1949)
Materials: Bronze, partially painted
Dimensions: 2 pieces, each approx. 1200 × ø 55 cm
Location: Merian Gärten / Basel / Münchenstein
Mode of acquisition: Commissioned work for the exhibition “Sculpture in the 20th Century” organized in 1984 by Ernst Beyeler, Reinhold Hohl, and Martin Schwander.
Collection: Emanuel Hoffmann-Stiftung, Depositum in the Public Art Collection Basel; purchased by the Emanuel Hoffmann-Stiftung with contributions from the Canton of Basel-Stadt, the Canton of Basel-Landschaft, the Bank für Internationalen Zahlungsausgleich, Bank A. Sarasin & Cie., Coop Schweiz, Schweizerische Bankgesellschaft, Schweizerischer Bankverein and anonymous donors