FLORENCE, ITALY – Hero, a public sculpture at Three Bryant Park, New York by acclaimed Italian architect and designer Antonio Pio Saracino, was commissioned in 2013 as a gift by the Italian government and Eni to symbolize friendship between Italy and the United States.
Hero, inspired by Michelangelo’s David is one of two works Saracino designed as a pairing (the other work is entitled Superhero) known as “The Guardians: Hero and Superhero.” The project, on view indefinitely was organized by the Cultural Attachè of the Embassy of Italy Washington DC, Renato Miracco and New York based curator Helen Varola.
A new edition of Saracino’s Hero is on display at the Accademia Gallery, Florence during Expo 2015, the global exhibition that Italy until October 31, 2015. Hero, addressing Michelangelo’s David, which has been selected to represent the Italian Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 as an historic symbol of Italian excellence, is being promoted by the Accademia Gallery in Florence, the Italian Embassy in Washington DC and PMG Italia.
The new Italian edition of Hero, specially commissioned by New York-based Global Emerging Markets Group (GEM) and to be exhibited at the Accademia Gallery,
Florence is larger than the Bryant Park Hero – standing as tall as the original David 17ft / 5,2m. The 11,000 lb marble Hero will be created in Carrara, Italy with the same stone Michelangelo used to create David. Hero is exhibited in the courtyard of the Accademia Gallery, Florence, just a few meters from Michelangelo’s David from May through September 2015. The Academia Gallery welcomes 1.3 million visitors per year (only second to the Uffizi Gallery).
Antonio Pio Saracino is an acclaimed Italian architect and designer based in New York City. Saracino has designed buildings, monuments and products and several of his designs are part of the permanent collections of museums such as the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Art and Design in New York City. Saracino’s work has been exhibited internationally in galleries, museums and prominent exhibitions that include the Venice Biennale.
Hero for Florence project born taking a coffee in Bryant Park with the artist and a mutual friends. Staring at such an evocative Michelangelo’s masterpiece reinterpretation, i felt a real, strong emotion”.
Saracino states, “I never would have expected, two years later, to receive the great honor to see a new edition of “Hero” in the Accademia of Florence, in the same place as Michelangelo’s “David.” With the New York “Hero,” I wanted to create a symbolic protector of New York City, as “David” was intended as protector of Florence. The statue celebrates the superhuman and the inspiration that it channels. The anthropomorphic layered architectural constructions display the universal ability of mankind to cement its own presence in the world with its perennial construction skills.”
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