The Golden Tower – James Lee Byars at the Venice Biennale 2017

During the 57th International Art Exposition in Venice (Italy), as a part of the Collateral Events of the Biennale, Michael Werner Gallery will present The Golden Tower by the American artist James Lee Byars, that will be installed en plein air in Campo San Vio (Dorsoduro, Venice) on the edge of the Grand Canal and it will be on view from 13th May through 26th November 2017.

Byars conceived this project starting from the second half of the Seventies and he envisioned The Golden Tower as a colossal monument, a beacon, a gilded oracle that would bridge heaven and earth unifying humanity.
With its 22,5 meters height, this sculpture is the artist’s largest and most ambitious work: the Venice installation fully realizes his intention of presenting the monument in a pubblic space and it is doubly significant given Byars’ deep conncetions to the city, where he lived on and off starting from 1982.

Studio Reduzzi is pleased to announce its collaboration to this ambitious project, for which Lino Reduzzi gilded the entire surface of the tower. They were used more than 30.000 24 kt. genuine gold leafs 80×80 mm, applied by Reduzzi with the oil-based size traditional technique. In short time, it will be published online a detailed description of the entire work, which will illustrate the various executive phases.

The presentation of The Golden Tower is curated by Alberto Salvadori and made possible thanks to the generosity of Fondazione Giuliani (Rome) and the support of Michael Werner Gallery (New York / London).

For further information, please contact the gallery and visit the official website of the Venice Biennale.

Shrine of Our Lady of the Guard, Tortona (Italy) – The gilded sculpture goes back to its brightness

More than sixty years later its realization, the sculpture representing the Virgin Mary with Christ Child finally goes back to its brightness, illuminating the city of Tortona (Italy) from the top of the cathedral bell tower. In fact, on September 2016 Studio Reduzzi finished the restoration works of the sculpture, which consisted of an ex novo gilding of its entire surface (more than 200 square meters).

In short time it will be published online a detailed description of the entire work, which will illustrate the various executive phases with a rich photo gallery.

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© Opera Don Orione, Tortona (Italy)

Shrine of Our Lady of the Guard, Tortona (Italy) – Studio Reduzzi started the restoration works of the gilded sculpture

On June 2016 Studio Reduzzi started the restoration works of the sculpture Mater Dei, representing the Virgin Mary with Christ Child. This 14 meters high sculpture is placed on the top of the cathedral bell tower, that measures more than 60 meters high.

The sculpture was commissioned in the second half of the Fifties by Saint Luigi Orione to the Italian artist Narciso Cassino. It was realized in bronze by Fonderia Artistica Battaglia (Milan, Italy) and then gilded with 24 karats genuine gold leafs for its entire surface. In the course of time, the adverse weather conditions damaged the golden film, consuming it and producing the loss of some parts of it. These typical degradation phenomena caused relevant problems for the conservation and the security of the sculpture itself, for which it was necessary to plan and to realize a preservative intervention.

After careful diagnostic studies, Studio Reduzzi designed the restoration and, after the approval of the Superintendent of Fine Arts for Turin, started the executive phase of the works.

Kyoji NAGATANI – The seed

The web section “Installations” has been updated adding the art work Il seme / The seed by the Japanese artist Kyoji Nagatani.

It is a monument designed and modeled by the Japanese artist in 2012. Lino Reduzzi was proud to give his technical partnership during both the desing and execution phases and he also gilded a part of the internal surface with 24 karats genuine gold leafs.

This work is located within a rectangular stretch of water at the Scuola Edile in Seriate (Italy). It is equipped with an electrical mechanism that permits its automatic opening and closing movements. The making of this sculpture was made possible thanks to the partnership between Nagatani and Italcementi, leading company in the field of building materials, that designed a specific mix of white concrete TX Active® in order to satisfy all the artist’s requirements.