A Grand Finale for the ‘Wolves Coming’ Exhibition
Until Nov. 2: WOLVES COMING by Liu Ruowang. Outdoor installation in Piazza Pitti and Piazza Santissima Annunziata.
If you haven’t noticed, the wolves are coming, or rather they have already arrived in Florence. Those who walk through Piazza Pitti and Piazza Santissima Annunziata will be greeted with Chinese artist Liu Ruowang’s latest masterpiece: “Wolves Coming” (“I lupi in arrivo”). One hundred giant iron wolves each weighing 280 kg will occupy these two prestigious squares thanks to a collaboration between the Municipality of Florence and the Uffizi Galleries. The project also celebrates 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Italian Republic and the People’s Republic of China.
These fierce metal wolves have invaded the heart of Florence, forcing onlookers to confront the excessive advancement of contemporary society. In the middle, there stands a powerless warrior who represents the predatory behavior humankind has imposed on nature. Ruowang’s work asks individuals to reflect on the values of civilization and the potential risk of irreversible self-destruction, further amplified by the dramatic effects of COVID-19. The wolves are a desperate call to save the environment and ecology of the entire planet.
The exhibition, organized in part by the owner of a Milanese gallery Matteo Lorenzelli as well as Director of the Uffizi Galleries Eike Schmidt and Councilor of Culture of the Municipality Tommaso Sacchi, aims to establish a physical, intellectual, and playful link between the art and the viewers, hopefully stimulating curiosity and participation from those who may not typically attend visit exhibitions at museums. After all, “Wolves Coming” is the first outdoor exhibition in a public space after months of lockdown. The artwork thus welcomes interaction between nearby architectural masterpieces from the Renaissance (Palazzo Pitti and the Spedale degli Innocenti) and inhabitants who pass by the installation. Ruowang believes the best method to stimulate this participation is to bring art into everyday life, such as placing these sculptures in Italian piazzas.
Before the wolves invaded the municipality, they arrived in Naples in Piazza del Municipio in the fall. Both Italian mayors, Luigi De Magistris of Naples and Dario Nardella of Florence, support the powerful message by Ruowang whose intent is to teach love and respect for art to new generations. Mayor Nardella asks Florentines whether the wolves are attacking us, or are we attacking them, thus asking the public to search for a balance between man and nature. Meanwhile, mayor Magistris speaks to how these extraordinary wolves urge Neapolitans to protect the environment for the health of future generations. Schmidt compares the exhibition to The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock and the more recent migration of species to the Municipality during the lockdown.
Ruowang (1977) is one of the greatest contemporary Chinese artists, specializing in both sculpture and painting. He is known for choosing animals as his subject and his propensity for large dimensions, as seen in the wolves whose dynamic form and placement allow them to occupy space without appropriating the piazzas. In his work, he makes reference to the relationship between history and nature and draws from Chinese tradition as well as western culture and globalization. A major philosophical theme of his work is how the oppressive system of contemporary life creates pain, violence, and the loss of human values.
If you have not already come across these wolves while going about daily life in Florence, take a stroll through Piazza Pitti and Piazza Santissima Annunziata, and reflect on humankind’s impact on nature, especially as Italy transitions to a new normal. Hopefully this new normal will bring greener cities and kinder relations between the people and the animals who inhabit them. (elizabeth berry)
