{"product_id":"la-vita-nuova","title":"La Vita Nuova","description":"\u003ch1\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e1992\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBronze\u003cbr\u003eEdition of 6\u003cbr\u003e41 × 21 × 28 cm\u003cbr\u003eSigned: McDonald\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e marks an important turning point in my sculpture.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eMade in 1992, it was one of the first works in which I moved away from the more academic figurative sculpture and portraiture of my earlier practice towards the still life sculptures that occupied me throughout the 1990s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eA small chair supports a vessel and an egg, while a pear rests against one of its legs. These familiar domestic objects form a quiet, deliberately precarious arrangement. The chair is both furniture and structure, while the vessel, egg and fruit bring with them associations of nourishment, fertility, fragility and renewal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe title comes from Dante’s \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e — \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e — a work concerned with love, transformation and spiritual renewal. The title was never intended as a literal illustration of Dante. Rather, it points towards the emotional and symbolic territory of the sculpture.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eWriting about the work in the catalogue for my 1996 exhibition at Christine Abrahams Gallery, John McDonald described \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e as a significant breakthrough in my work, marking the transition from small figures and portrait busts towards still life sculpture with increasingly symbolic and metaphysical associations.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe sculpture also established several ideas that would recur throughout my work: the transformation of ordinary objects through modelling, the use of still life as a three dimensional language, and an interest in objects that carry meanings beyond their everyday function.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe individual elements were modelled by hand before being cast in bronze. Colour is integral to the work: the dark green chair, pale vessel, white egg, golden pear and green leaf create a composition in which patina functions almost as paint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eExhibition history\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e1993\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeaux Arts Gallery, Bath, presented at the Olympia Art Fair, London\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e was exhibited with Beaux Arts Gallery at the Olympia Art Fair in London. The work belongs to the period in which my sculpture was moving away from portraiture and figure studies towards increasingly symbolic still life compositions.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e1994\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSolo exhibition, Coventry Gallery, Sydney, Australia\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e was subsequently exhibited in my solo exhibition at Coventry Gallery in Sydney, placing this early transitional work within the group of sculptures through which my still life practice developed during the first half of the 1990s.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eLiterature\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eJohn McDonald, \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Stephanie Burns: Recent Sculpture,”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e catalogue essay for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eStephanie Burns (McDonald)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, 1996.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eMcDonald identifies \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eLa Vita Nuova\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e as a significant transitional work in the development of the artist’s sculpture, marking the movement from an academic figurative language towards the still life works of the 1990s.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stephanie Fuller Gallery","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41315608002632,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0277\/9312\/9577\/files\/IMG_5719.jpg?v=1787565706","url":"https:\/\/stephaniefullergallery.com\/products\/la-vita-nuova","provider":"Stephanie Fuller Gallery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}