The artist behind the monument that honours the former South African president Nelson Mandela at the site in South Africa where he was arrested in 1962 is making his mark on Abu Dhabi.
Marco Cianfanelli of Johannesburg is in the final stages of installing three sculptures he designed in the capital’s newest retail giant – the 2.5 million-square-foot Yas Mall on Yas Island, due to open next month.
Release, the famous sculpture in South Africa, depicts Mandela through 50 contoured steel columns. The Yas Mall sculpture – commissioned by Aldar Properties and as yet unnamed – has been created in a similar fashion.
When the mall opens, the first thing visitors will see at the main entrance is a giant sculpture of six falcons made of 132 painted steel columns standing 18 metres tall on an undulating base that is 50 metres in length.
“The landscape at the base represents dunes,” explains Cianfanelli. “The columns are arranged almost like the patterns the wind makes in the sand that creates the vertical form. The idea is that, as you move around the sculpture, starting when you drive into the mall and when you are inside, you see different falcons from different angles.”
“The multiple views and the scale is what makes this sculpture exciting for me,” continues the artist. “From any position, you will see one falcon and the others will break apart, becoming an expression of rhythm, movement or flight. I enjoy these sculptures not just at that precise moment when the image becomes clear, but also when it is losing its clarity.”
Original article by Anna Seaman
Continue reading at The National:
Soaring sculptures of flora and falcons to be displayed at soon-to-open Yas Mall
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