KATHERINE MCMAHON/ARTNEWS
Context matters: proof is looking at Ursula von Rydingsvard’s sculptures in the Giardino della Marinaressa. Set in this small park, the mostly cedar works could have grown in the garden like a native species, so comfortable are they in the setting. In fact, the park was designed for the location—it had long been an abandoned and untended site. Besides the huge cedar-tree works, one with a carved lacy top where leaves might be—there is a shocking, other-worldy translucent-blue sculpture made of resin that has been cast in cedar. Islands of greener-than-real grass and light-tan cedar-chip walkways create a delightful consistency.
Curated by Peter Murray Founding and Executive Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where the works were part of a huge von Rydingsvard exhibition, this show, an official collateral event of the biennale, includes a small, carefully selected number of pieces. A respite from the cacophony of the biennale activities, the park conveys Von Rydingsvard’s warm and subtle sensibility.