Denis Defrancesco

APOLLO BELVEDERE (Pure White Marble / Edition of 1)

The Apollo of the Belvedere.

My Years 1972-1974.
Emancipation.

... A Gorgonā€™s curly mane... The Jim Morrison kind, sculpted with rollers, curls sealed with ammonia... The eraā€™s canon of beauty, homemade-style. The first act of my emancipation...

... I was emerging from a childhood that hadnā€™t spared the rodā€¦ My desires cut short... My hair parted on the side... The front fold of my flannels neatly pressed... Not a word out of place... A stiff and starched, ordered childhoodā€¦ My Self in the closet... My dreams hidden beneath my pillow...

... A pair of motorbikes rumbling across my nights... Hopper and Fondaā€™s choppers... A trail of dust... Easy Rider, full speed... Freedom sliding on the road... A pair of runaways opening the way for me ... America, the promised land of my Free Will...

..Music in the distance... Woodstock ā€˜69... Notes full of mud and fervour... Chords screaming with hope and crying out for liberation .... ā€œFreedom, Freedom, Freedomā€... Richie Havensā€™ improv as a personal message sent to me... ā€œGot itā€ā€¦

... In my mind, my escape plan... My secret to leave my chrysalid... ā€œA long way from my homeā€... The immensity of the world before me... A swarm of Butterfly-Women on the horizon...

... Something was growing inside me, piercing beneath my skull, sprouting under my skin... Something dividing and rising... Something flowing out of me... I could feel myself becoming handsome; my wings sprouting...

... Hulk, Apollo, and Nietzsche: there was a bit of each in me... This ā€œsuperhumanā€ feeling... Become what you are ... Freedom at age 18... The Door open at last... I was going to become what I am...

Factsheet

Dimensions
65cm, 80cm, 90cm (Height, Width, Depth)
Weight
70kg
Year
2017
Material
Marble, Stone, Bronze
Theme
Society, Body
All artworks from Denis Defrancesco
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