Untitled

One must search for Kalari’s Sirens within this imposing block of Pietra Piasentina. They appear among the waves, visible only after careful observation. 

He too spent days observing the shapeless block in search of artistic inspiration. He sought the bodies that we now see emerging on the surface and, with a few skilled and deliberate cuts, brought to light the sensual forms of these sirens. 

The work has no title because the artist seeks an attentive and curious viewer — someone who interprets independently what they see and allows their own sensitivity and creativity to flow freely. 

It is a sculpture bordering on Michelangelo’s concept of the non-finito, in which the forms seem to emerge from the stone but not entirely, reminding us that sculpting means removing, defining what is already present within the material. One only needs to listen.

Faced with a powerful stone element of highly irregular shape, similar to a large river boulder, Kalari boldly conceived the motif directly on site, inventing a dance of water nymphs emerging from the limestone surface, their forms more suggested than described by the flowing movement of waves. 

It was not easy to avoid the risk of a merely decorative effect, but we believe Kalari succeeded skilfully, achieving a satisfying result. 

Art Commission: Dora Bassi, Giacarlo Pauletto, Marco Marra, Ugo Carà

Arian Kalari graduated in monumental sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana (Albania). Forced for ideological reasons to leave his homeland, he arrived in Italy in 1990, where his works have received wide public and critical acclaim. 

Many of his public monuments are located around Lake Iseo and in Gardone, while several of his works are held in private collections in Europe and the United States.