Evaristo Bellotti

In this horizontal installation created from Macael white marble for the Palacio de Cristal, in Parque del Retiro in Madrid, water that emerges from the ground unites with the white marble and runs off onto its surface, producing wavy forms that emphasise the natural beauty of the material. In it Bellotti combines innovation and tradition, where the purity of white marble joins the symbolism of water which refers to a mythical time and a purifying element, symbol of death and rebirth. Escultura  consists of a total of 1668 marble slabs of identical dimensions carved by the artist in the quarries of Macael (Almería), they occupy a total space of 1000 square metres. This commitment by Belloti is the fruit of the past five years’ work and contains an aesthetic experience of indisputable public projection. In it the artist transcends the closed artwork in order to transform it into a passable landscape. The horizontality of the work transforms the spectator into an actor. The visitors walk barefoot on the marble and tread in the ponds created by the water along its entire length. The presence of water on the surface, with ripples and incisions from the marble, evokes the seashore and the rolling waves on the beach.

Changing and interactive Bellotti’s installation is exposed to changes in light produced by the reflection of light on water and the room temperature, the result of water evaporating in this building built in 1887 as a greenhouse to hold the General Exhibition on the Philippine Islands. A sculpture that, in both extension and horizontal surface, contrasts with the verticality of the plants that this building originally hosted.