Lois
Anvidalfarei
«... Anvidalfarei is in my eyes, one of the few great interpreters of human body. He descovers in it the intense physicality, as the english Lucien Freud does. In his sculptural practice he is not idealistic, considering the tradition of XX century, he is not even inclined to a strict form. By observing what stand in front of him, he develops a feeling of heaviness of matter, in the contemporary ' right path celebration' ».
(Peter Weiermair)
"With the mass of their bodies and their intensive physical presence they take over the surrounding space and invite you to interact with them: take for instance those human figures enclosed in a construction of scaffolding poles, hunched up in themselves, or with outstretched limbs, appearing to be wedged in or trapped, but also protected and sheltered, as if in a cocoon.
Anvidalfarei speaks of a veritable compulsion which forces him to create these bodies in heavy bronze. His inspiration and perception are shaped by his previous experiences fuelled, amongst other influences, by his mundane existence as a farmer. The artist looks with sober eyes, but at the same time with much love and empathy, at human beings and human existence. With titles such as “Becoming”, “The Prodigal Son”, or “Reconciliation Group”, his sculptures are an experience which has become material, but endowed with an emotional-existential, even religious quality. The artist makes the bronze come to life; the seemingly misshapen forms do not obey classical theories of proportion, but are modelled on a real body, often the artist’s own body. In his work the artist is inevitably confronting himself with his various moods, his state of mind, his emotions. They are mostly portly figures, male as well as female, who do not appear to reflect current ideals of beauty and representations of the Zeitgeist, and yet which are so much closer to reality than the models or society stars which constantly entice us with their smiles from the covers of glossy magazines, from internet forums or films. The bronze sculptures are not abstract, not conceptual, not even properly innovative, as far as the medium and its implementation, its themes, are concerned, and yet these works, in their authentic genuineness and their intensive liveliness, are topical and current. Anvidalfarei’s people live in our world whilst simultaneously remaining in their own peculiar world, they are not interested in us, the spectators, and yet we cannot stop ourselves from looking at them, from engaging with them."
Günther Oberhollenzer
Biography
Lois Anvidalfarei was born 1962 in Badia (South Tyrol). From 1976 to 1981 he attended the Art Institution of Ortisei, Val Gardena. In 1983 he began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he received a decisive influence both as a designer and as a sculptor thanks to the encounter with the works and the character of Joannis Avramidis. Since 1989 he has been living and working in Badia.
Exhibitions
Among the main solo shows we remember:
2023
Dialogue, Galleria Alessandro Casciaro, Bolzano (I)
Solo show, Borgo Antico (Old Town) of Soave, Verona (I)
2022
Lois Anvidalfarei, Lanserhaus, Appiano (I)
2021
Ces, Tublà da Nives, Ortisei (I)
Passus, Johanniterkirche Feldkirch (A)
2020
Viandanti, Castel Pergine (I)
2019
Ita Est, Gallery Alessandro Casciaro (I)
2018
Dieser Körper, der nicht aufhört, Barlach Halle K, Hamburg (D)
Körper, Historisches Museum, Regensburg (D)
2016
Galerie Art, Gstaad (CH)
Galerie Maier, Innsbruck
2013
Macro Testaccio Rome (I)
Museum für Druckgrafik, Rankweil, Feldkirch (A)
2012
Ecce Homo, Wilten Kloster, Innsbruck (A)
2009
Kloster der Basilika, Mondsee (A)
2007
Art House, Bregenz (A)
2004
RLB-Atelier, Lienz (A)
He has also taken part in numerous goup exhibitions, including:
2024
Anti-These Hallein, Perner-Insel Hallein (A)
2023
Dialogue, with Sophie Eymond, Gallery Alessandro Casciaro, Bolzano (I)
Kunst. Leben. Leidenschaft, Museum Angerlehner, Thalheim bei Wels (A)
2022
Distanzzone, Galerie Prisma (I)
Halle 50, Munich (D)
2020
LOCKOUT, Forte di Fortezza (I)
2019
Baustelle Conditio Humana, European Forum Alpbach (A)
2013
L’immagine terrestre, with Gotthard Bonell, Centro Arte Contemporanea, Cavalese (I)
Born in the Dolomites, Künstlerhaus, Vienna (A)
Ecce Homo, Schloss Bruck, Lienz (A)
Sculptura, Galerie Doris Ghetta, Ortisei (I)
2011
Figura, Festung Franzensfeste (I)
Eine Geschichte des Körpers, Lanserhaus, Appiano (I)
Pavillon Italia, 54° Biennale of Venice (I)
2010
Villa Falkenhorst, Thüringen (A)
2009
Sammellust, Kunst-Meran, Merano (I)
Todesangst, Civic Museum Brunico (I)
Clusa, Civic Museum Chiusa (I)
Zauber der Zeichnung, Lanserhaus, Appiano (I)
50 Jahre EPL, Istitut Ladin, San Martino in Badia (I)
Civic Museum Brunico (I)
2008
5 Schüler von Prof. Joannis Avramidis, Art House, Bregenz (A)
Skulptur, Villa Claudia, Feldkirch (A)
Museum Ladin, San Martino in Badia (I)
2006
Kunst+Sakralraum, Hofburg Brixen (I)
2005
Kunst.Szene.Südtirol, Palais Lichtenstein, Feldkirch (A)
2004
Il Nudo fra ideale e realtà, MAMBO, Bologna (I)
Public works:
2017
Bruno mit Hand, Hospital, Hall in Tirol (A)
Conditio Humana, Gefallene Engel, Zott-Museum, Unterammergau (D)
2015
presbytery of the church, San Lorenzo in der Wasserlos, Mondsee (A)
2014
presbytery of the basilica, Sonntagberg (A)
2011
Homage an Friedrich Gulda, Guldapark, Wien (A)
2009
Fassade der Hoffnung, Altes Landhaus, Innsbruck (A)
2008
altar, ambo, priest seat in the church Maria im Moos, Vipiteno (I)
2007
Metànoia, College for Health Professions „Claudiana“, Bolzano (I)
Related Exhibitions
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