DIFC and 71STRUCTURALART present the Monumental Art Exhibitions

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Our mission is to Create the first sculpture exhibition, emphasizing the continuity of the artistic process over time: prehistoric, modern and contemporary art.

All the while, reinforcing art as a compelling medium of empowerment, exchange and dialogue.

The MONUMENTAL ART EXHIBITION offer the chance to be able to walk among sculptural works of all artistic eras. This experience will allow everyone to understand how public art represents the artistic and temporal integration: a journey through infinite time.
Divulgate art as a form of communication and cultural destination. Enable art to generate conversations and dialogues across cultural and geographical boundaries.

If you are interested in buying Sculptures or for any enquiries please call +971 56 882 6777

MAE Dubai

If you are interested in buying Sculptures or for any enquiries please call +971 56 882 6777

ANTONIO SIGNORINI

DINOWISH
2019
Bronze covered with 24 carats gold leaves
166 x 96 x 137 cm

DINOWISH was born from a deep inquest into the origins of art, especially in the exploration of the similarities between rock art and children's art. Antonio Signorini is a sculptor who has researched and delved into the first artistic forms (rock art); the strength of the forms, the story and the dreams that the first artists, driven by the need to express themselves, were able to translate simply through their works.

Antonio Signorini was born in 1971 in Florence. Since childhood he has immersed himself into Renaissance and ancient Roman art, exploring the rich traditions of his homeland. His artistic journey has led him to experiment in artistic drawing and bronze and ceramic sculpture. In 2003 he left Italy and moved to London where he lived in worked for 14 years before moving to Dubai. Today, in Dubai, Signorini is focused on exploring the coexistence of ancient remnants of civilizations within the framework of modern architectural structures. Working in a place that is still discovering its own history has given Signorini the chance to draw a thread through antiquity, archaeology, artistic research and development of his sculptural pieces. The Middle East provides him with a place in which he can explore the continuous flux between public and private urban spaces. Signorini’s work has been widely exhibited in public and private spaces throughout the Middle East and Europe. His Warriors are permanently exhibited in Beirut in Samir Kassir square in front of Solidere and also in Dubai’s DIFC (Dubai International Financial Center) in front of the Four Seasons. They are also on view in the gardens of Four Seasons in Florence and have been exhibited at Mark Hachem in Beirut and at 71 Structural Art in Dubai. His Flying Horses series have been exhibited at Madein Gallery in Riyadh and Venice, Saudi Arabia and will soon show at Gallery Frilli in Florence as well as the Four Seasons, also in Florence.

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ANTONIO SIGNORINI

DNA
2018
Metal Alloy gold finish
90 x 90 x 360 cm

DNA doesn’t shape us. We shape DNA. The thousands of years of history we see today were made by people. It wasn’t made by science – it was made by culture. From the beginning of time, it was there. Uniting us all. But we shaped the strands of DNA through our infinite connections. Represented by these rings, linking spaces with old stories, victories, lives come and gone, traditions. Combined together to make life itself. You are looking at where we came from. At where our story started.

UGO RIVA

GRANDE SPIRITO
2018
Aluminium
160cm height
Base: 190cm height

Ugo Riva was born in Bergamo in 1951. He began painting whilst still working as a banker. Soon after, he quit his job and dedicated himself to his art and becoming a sculptor. Widely known for his glazed terracotta, lightly colored sculptures, Riva loves to work in the foundry, especially with bronze, which is preferred material to work with. His works also incorporate his unique patina treatment, obtained through pigments in the same manner used as in frescos—fixed on the surface at very high temperatures. He endows the pigment to his bronze sculptures that result in a stunning chromatic effect on variety of materials, including wood and terracotta. The subject matter of his works includes timeless figures, solemn and imperturbable gods, reminding us of Roman or Etruscan divinities. They remain modern in their classical style. His work is on display at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, in the main entrance of the Vittoriale Museum and in the Frilli Gallery, also in Florence.

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GIOVANNI BALDERI

PENSIERI IN DIALOGO
2019
White Carrara marble
66 x 62x 223 cm
Base: 80 x 80x 40 hcm

Giovanni Balderi was born in Seravezza, Italy, a town in the province of Lucca known for its marble quarries. Balderi studied sculpture in Pietrasanta where he graduated from the Istituto Statale d’Arte, subsequently earning two scholarships. He has traveled to Brisbane, Australia and Alabama in the US to teach courses on sculpture in addition to exhibiting his work in Italy and internationally. Balderi’s work has been shown at the Frilli Gallery in Florence, Tornabuoni Palace, also in Florence; in the outdoor park of the Palazzo della Gherardesca in Florence. In 2018 he was also commissioned to make a sculpture for the first Italian branch of Starbucks.

GIOELA SUARDI

MARINE FOREST
2019
7 columns - 35 cm x 210 cm

Gioela Suardi graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan with a degree in ceramics. She is known for her large abstract ceramic sculptures incorporating figurative and natural elements. In 1978 she opened her first studio and won an award at MIA, Monza. In 1981 she was the recipient of a gold medal at the International Exposition of Florence in the Fortezza da Basso. She worked in Nuremberg where she collaborated with the Kunst quarter and she also worked in Maiorca, Spain. Between 1994 and 1996, Suardi was appointed professor of decorative arts for the Lombardy region. In 1997 she created three large sculptures of two by four meters in size for the cathedral of Cochabamba in Bolivia. In 2000 she worked on a fresco for the dome of Wollacombe residence in Windsor, London. In 2012 she began to collaborate with sculptor Ugo Riva.

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SAURO CAVALLINI

BALLERINA
1979
Bronze
140 x 337 cm

Sauro Cavallini (d. 2016)
Born in La Spezia, in 1960 Cavallini moved to Fiesole with his family. He began his career as an artist during the 1950s in Florence. Working as a sculptor in an abstract and figurative style, Cavallini is widely regarded for his Monument to Life (known as the Hymn to Life), a three-meter high bronze sculpture located in Strasbourg in front of the Council of Europe Palace, which was donated in 1990 by Italy to the Council of Europe. In addition, two large Cavallini bronze sculptures are exhibited in Monaco; one in the Grace Kelly gardens in the Fontvielle district and the other in front of the lower entrance of the Monaco-Monte railway station. Among his most notable works exhibited in Italy are the Fontana della Maternità in Piazza Ferrucci and Icaro taken from Villa Favard in Florence; the Flight of seagulls located in front of the RAI headquarters of the Tuscan capital and the Christopher Columbus Monument created for the occasion of the 1992 Expo and located in Genoa in Viale Brigate Partigiane. Other works by Cavallini are part of private collections and can also be found at the sculptor's picturesque museum house in Fiesole.

ANNE SHINGLETON

MAJESTIC SWAN
2019
Bronze
183 x 130 x 177 cm

Anne Shingleton
Born in 1953 on a farm in Dorset, UK, after attending St. Swithuns’ school in Winchester Shingleton went to Swansea College of the University of Wales where she graduated in Zoology. This was followed by two years of illustration and graphics at the Bournemouth and Poole College of Art. In 1980 she commenced two years of studies in the classical atelier of the renowned artist Nerina Simi (1890 - 1987) in Florence, Italy. Simi was the daughter of Florentine painter Filadelfo Simi who had studied with Jean-Leon Gerome, the head of the French Academy in Paris during the 1870s. Shingleton remained in Italy where she resides to this day and has since developed her own style of painting that combines her keen observation of the natural world, her knowledge of animals and her skills in Renaissance draftsmanship. Working in collaboration with the excellent foundries in Tuscany, she has produced monumental-sized birds and insects as well as a range of smaller animals. In addition to her sculptural work, Shingleton continues to paint en plein air and has been invited to work on numerous conservation projects abroad with the organizations Ars et Natura and Artist for Nature.

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RAN HWANG

LIBERTY
2019
Gold Breads on FRP
300cm x 230cm x 160cm

Ran Hwang
Born in the Republic of Korea in 1960, Ran Hwang currently lives and works in both Seoul and New York City. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and attended the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.

Hwang’s motifs of intricate blossoms and Buddha’s – which appear across a variety of media – stem from her fascination with Zen Buddhism. Buddhism is integral to Hwang’s creative process and labor-intensive execution. To construct much of her work, Hwang creates paper buttons by hand, hammering each one approximately twenty-five times until it is secure. Her process requires the utmost concentration and discipline, recalling the meditative state practiced by Zen masters. Ran Hwang has exhibited at several international institutions including the Queens Museum of Art, New York; The Hudson Valley Center for the Arts, New York; the Chelsea Art Museum, New York; The Seoul Arts Center Museum; and The Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju Island. Hwang’s work is also a part of numerous private and public collections including The Brooklyn Museum, New York; The Des Moines Center for the Arts, Iowa; The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; and The Hammond Museum, North Salem, NY.

GRACE2014 Bronze, travertine, Patina 124cm x 220cm x 63cm — **GRACE**
2014
Bronze, travertine, Patina
124cm x 220cm x 63cm

GRACE2019 Bronze, Patina 124cm x 220cm x 63cm — **GRACE**
2019
Bronze, Patina
124cm x 220cm x 63cm

FALCON HUNTING2019 Bronze, travertine, Patina 103cm x 204cm x 86cm — **FALCON HUNTING**
2019
Bronze, travertine, Patina
103cm x 204cm x 86cm

SETER2002 Bronze, Patina 44cm x 80cm x 57cm — **SETER**
2002
Bronze, Patina
44cm x 80cm x 57cm

QUEEN2010 Bronze, Patina 55cm x 152cm x 54cm — **QUEEN**
2010
Bronze, Patina
55cm x 152cm x 54cm

DASHI NAMDAKOV

Dashi Namdakov is a Russian sculptor, graphic artist and jeweller whose works draw on the ancient culture and artistic styles of the Eurasian steppes and on Buddhist and shamanic mythology. His mysterious figures of warriors, princesses, bulls and imaginary creatures create a world of imagery that is powerful yet intricately detailed, conveying an ancient spirituality.

Namdakov was born on 14 February 1967 in the small village of Ukurik in the Chita region of Siberia, close to the Russian-Chinese border. His father, Balzhin, was a skilled craftsman who sculpted wooden statues and painted Buddhist tangkas (icons) as commissions for local monasteries. All eight of his children learned from him an ability to observe nature and translate it into images. Many became artists, but only Dashi received professional training.

On graduation, Namdakov moved to Ulan-Ude, capital of the Republic of Buryatia, and focused on graphic art. The flowing line and sharply delineated imagery he honed on paper gave way to a remarkable period of creative activity as he transformed his images into sculpture. His first solo show, at a museum in the Siberian city of Irkutsk in the year 2000, successfully launched his artistic career and Namdakov joined the professional Union of Artists. Through his art he personified the historical imagery, mythical creatures and totemic figures of the past, depicting them with a true modernity of form.

Namdakov’s sculpture is strongly influenced by the legacies of the ancient Asian nomadic empire and the Middle Ages, from the Iron Age art of Scythians, Sarmatians and Hunnu of the first millennium BC to Mongolian works of the tenth to thirteenth centuries AD. The imagery of warriors, horses and bulls and their attributes – helmets, saddles and twisted horns – echo their ancestral sources. His materials draw on Buryat crafts, for as well as sculpting in bronze, silver, gold and copper Namdakov employs wood, mammoth tusk, leather, horsehair and precious stones. Working equally comfortably on a monumental scale and in miniature, he makes sculptures that recall the intimacy and decorated intricacy of heirloom jewellery.

KING OF THE BEAST2019 Bronze, onyx 105cm x 65cm x 282cm — **KING OF THE BEAST**
2019
Bronze, onyx
105cm x 65cm x 282cm

IGOR MITORAJ

VULCANO

2007
Bronze
160cm x 122cm x 51cm

Igor Mitoraj
He was a Polish artist best known for his fragmented sculptures of the human body. Often created for large-scale public installations, his monumental works referenced the struggle and suffering of 20th-century Europe. One of his most celebrated pieces, Testa Addormentata (Head Lulled to Sleep) (1983), depicts a bandaged female head on its side rendered in a Greek Classical aesthetic, and is installed on the Canary Wharf in London. “I feel that a piece of arm or a leg speak far more strongly than a whole body,” the artist said of his choice to depict only portions of the body at a time. Born on March 26, 1944 in Oederan, Germany, the artist grew up in Poland and attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. His mentor, the artist Tadeusz Kantor, suggested that he study in Paris, following this advice he enrolled at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Over the following decades, the artist worked in Paris and in Pietransanta, Italy, where set up a studio and quarried the local stone for his work. Mitoraj died on October 6, 2014 in Paris, France at the age of 70. In 2016, the late artist was the subject of an exhibition held in the ruins of Pompeii which included his statues of the mythological figures Icarus and Daedalus. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Narodowe Museum in Krakow, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others.

BJORN SKAARUP

HIPPO BALLERINA

2017
Bronze, copper
110cm x 122cm x 51cm

Bjorn Skaarup
Bjorn Skaarup Okholm possesses an irrepressible vitality and his artistic revolution explodes into his works, which are in striking contrast to a disarmingly composed person that spends hours in libraries and museums.
Bjorn was born in Denmark but is a citizen of the world. He graduated in history in his country and was awarded a PhD in Florence, Italy. He also has developed artistic experiences in London and New York.
He is an Illustrator and sculptor of undisputed flexibility and a treasure trove of knowledge. His works address the dialogue between sacred and profane cultural; remove dust from the myth of Batrachomyomachia and honour, with just the right amount of irony, the popular imagination of comics and film.
BJORN’S CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS
Sobriety is not the theme when, in and on columns, stairs and sofas, a glorious couple in love like Hippo Ballerina and Harlequin Rhino is dancing. It is Carnival, the celebration of life, where under skirts and ruffs, beyond colours and cast bronze vibrates the passionate tribute to the great Degas and his bronze ballerina with tulle tutu, and Picasso’s bashful and dreamy Harlequin. There are also references to the masks of Italy’s Commedia dell'Arte and a passionate quotation for the masterpieces of the great master of pencil drawn dreams, Walt Disney.
Carnival is an ironic and bizarre masquerade for all of Bjorn’s animals that are part of the group "Carnival of the Animals", portrayed as individual identities, each one the star in a amusing pose. The Giraffe takes part in this crazy Carnival and, not to be outdone plays the role of the juggler on stilts, surpassing even his proverbial height.
Bjorn is never too full of quotes and his latest creation, the Odalisque, invites us to ponder what the creative world of Bjorn would have been without his Masters and what the great Masters would be without Bjorn and his contemporary language. His works of art are an interpretation of fusion with the classics in the homes of art fans of the 2000s. Bjorn’s Odalisque, like that of Ingres, is a pivotal "sensorial" experience that invites and seduces, while its soft and rounded form relaxes and has a calming effect.