Sculpture by the Sea exhibition, the world’s largest free public sculpture exhibition, returns to the Bondi-to-Tamarama-Beach coastal walk from October 20th to November 6th.
Founded in 1997, the Bondi exhibition marks this year its 25th edition, which will feature over 100 sculptures by 106 artists from 20 countries. Among the featured artists are two Italians sculptors: Elena Redaelli and Leonardo Cumbo.
Cumbo, who also exhibited in last year’s edition, will present a new installation called Enfant Prodige, while Redaelli will display her sculpture titled Seabilia.
The collaboration between Sculpture by the Sea and the Italian Cultural Institute Sydney has been ongoing for a decade and brought to Australia the works of several Italian artists such as Maurizio Perron’s Paper Boats and Silvia Tuccimei’s large stainless-steel installations.
Elena Redaelli is a visual artist and researcher whose work centres on sculpture and installation. She has a strong focus on environmental art and participatory projects that engage with society. Redaelli explores the concepts of matter, transformation, and decay, often challenging traditional notions of authorship and intervention. She utilizes a variety of techniques including craft, sculpture, textiles, and drawing, drawing inspiration from ancient practices such as hand-weaving, knitting, and embroidery. Her large-scale immersive installations combine slow-paced production techniques with new media elements like video and sound. Redaelli holds an MA in Fine Arts from UCA in London and an MA in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Her work has been exhibited internationally and she has been an active participant in environmental art movements.
Leonardo Cumbo (Caltanissetta) studied Medicine from 1986 to 1990, but later pursued his passion for art by attending the Art League Students’ School in New York in 1990. In 1993, he received a Diploma in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo, and the following year obtained the Diploma in Applied Art. He taught in various Art High Schools in Palermo and Caltanissetta from 1994 to 2006, and also taught at the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin and the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania. Cumbo has achieved recognition for his art through National and International Awards and Competitions, and has exhibited his work in events worldwide. He has created monumental sculptures for public spaces in Italy and abroad, and also organized and directed several symposiums on sculpture and contemporary art exhibitions in Italy. As a versatile artist, he explores various mediums such as sculpture, photography, painting, engraving, graphics, and video-installation.