"....the artist appeal to that part of our being which is not dependent on wisdom; to that in us which is a gift and not an acquisition - and therefore, more permanently enduring. He speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives; to our sense of pity, and beauty, and pain; to the latent feeling of fellowship with all creation - and the subtle but invincible; e conviction of solidarity that knits together the loneliness of innumerable hearts, to the solidarity in dreams, in joy, in sorrow, in aspirations, in illusions, in hope, in fear, which binds men to each other, which binds together all humanity - the dead to the living and the living to the unborn"
Josef Conrad in the Preface to
the second edition of The Nigger
of the Narcissus.
The origins of particularly fine artists seem to lie, as Conrad suggests, in some magic ability which a few rare people have, to speak from deep inside, a universal language. What is spoken by such artists is truth about us and our world, basic laws, and relationships which somehow the artist is able to perceive. She or he describes for the rest of us those feelings and where they lie, in some outward form - some color, or shape or sound - fashioned to appeal to as many of us as possible. This creation, which we call art, helps each one of us in turn to search for and, hopefully, find that same inner place and those same joyous feelings.
And this searching energy, springing as it does from inside, is creative and positive. in surging out to shape art it is a tempering force to that exterior one which deals in accumulating power and material things.
Being led thus by the artist and by art away from everyday difficulties to a common interior place of thought and emotion, from whence we all originate, gives us an enormous release, a freedom, like being children again.
To do this, the true artist obviously cannot lie. And the more truthfully, the more artfully she or he leads us and joins us in that "solidarity' Conrad speaks of , the greater will be the resulting art form. This is why all great art is about freedom and truth, and why art both springs from us all, and belongs to us all.
María Gamundí is one of those rare people, an artist who uses her emotions to perceive truth, unveil it for us, and then craft that with great skill into her sculptures.
Three main roots to her work are clear. The first is European, A classicism of astonishing clarity and simplicity. This comes from the Mallorcan blood of her father. Gamundí is a name like Miró, like Dalí and Gaudí, from Cataluña.
The second is South American, and consequently Oriental, for the Indians of America trace their distant past in THE East. Maria's mother's family are partly native Venezuelans.
The third is the most profound of the three, a root which is universal and timeless: the female. No one of us can ever be indifferent to the human body - particularly to the female body. In using it so poignantly to search for ideal relationships, Maria touches profoundly upon our own births, and our creative energy. Her languid, fecund, maternal women appeal "to that in us which is a gift..." and speak "to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives".
María Gamundí doesn't feel any need to be part of a group-idea, of a movement, or of a moment. In its search for perfection, and in its calm humanity, her work springs not from other people or other work, nor even from any given moment in time. It springs from the thoughtful, caring observation and stimulus of nature....
Richard Fremantle
Born in 1952 - Caracas, Venezuela. Studied at Pratt Institute, New York City, and at the "Scuola del Libro", Urbino, Italy, between 1970-73.
PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS2016Maria Gamundi – Marmo&Bronzo Bel-Air Fine Art & Chalet D’Adrian Hotel 2012Maria Gamundi – Marmo&Bronzo Sala delle Grasce Centro Culturale "Luigi Russo" Pietrasanta, Italy. 2011 Maria Gamundi – sculptures 2010 Maria Gamundi – sculptures 2008“Mark Peet Visser” Gallery, Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. 2007 “Sogni di donne” Maria Gamundi – sculptures / Anna Lia 2005 “Le donne di Maria” di Maria Gamundi, Campo Galleria, 2004 Maria Gamundi, Bronze & Marble Sculptures / 2002 Maria Gamundi, Bronze & Marble Sculptures / 2000 Maria Gamundi, Bronze & Marble Sculptures / 1999 Maria Gamundi, Bronce & Marble Sculptures / 1998 Francisco Zuniga / Maria Gamundi, Oct.8 – Nov. 6 1996“Donna” - Maria Gamundí , Sculpture / 1995“Arte, Materia e Luce - Le Donne di Maria Gamundí” 1994 Maria Gamundí - Sculptures and Drawings. Travelling Exhibition in Norway: 1993Frans Masreel (1889-1972) Paintings and Graphics, Maria Gamundí (1952 Caracas), Sculptures Galerie Von Abercron, Munich , Germany. “Permanencia del Oficio y la Materia”. “Donne de Una Donna, Scultura in marmo e bronzo de Maria Gamundi”. 1992Earls Court Gallery, London, England. 1989“Marbles and Bronzes 1980 - 1989”. 1988“Sculptures in bronze and terracotta”. 1976“Paintings and Sculptures”. Gothaer Versicherungs Gallery, “Personal exhibition”. Sponsored by USA Government, 1975“Paintings and sculptures”. PEDE Gallery, Vienna, Austria. “Art in Concert”. Hypo Bank Gallery, Munich, Germany. 1973“Landscapes”. L'Arcolaio Gallery, Pietrasanta, Italy. “Venezuelan Landscapes”. Los Barrancos Gallery, Caracas, WORKS IN SITU2019"Spirito libero portatrice di luce" - scultura in memoria di Valentina Prisco (dedicata a tutte le vittime della strada e Ass. AIDO) - Viale Roma ang Via Dalmazia. Parte dei Museo all'aperto del Comune di Pietrasanta (Italy) 2015"Sun Worshipper” (Adoratrice del Sole) - Piazza Matteotti, in front of City Hall, Pietrasanta, Italy. 2013"Selene" - Kettle Pond,Newport News, Virginia,USA. 2001"Big Bather" - Private collection, Pennabilli, Italy. 1999"Sonia Monumental" - Museo del Parco - Portofino, Italy. CarnavalArte - Prize to the winning car, 1996“Santa Lucia", 6 ft. Bronze Sculpture for the town of Santa Lucia, Italy. 1992/3"Saint Michele Arcangel". Chapel of the Metropolitan University, Caracas, Venezuela. 1988/9 Tomb with sculpture of "Sant'Antonio" for late La Scala tenor, 1987 1 meter bronze lamp and bronze candelabra for 1985 Bronze momument of "St. Francis with Animals", life-size. 1984 Life-size family portrait in terracotta. Stained-glass windows for church of San Rocco. 1983Stained-glass windows in Volegno, Stazzema, Italy. 1982Stained-glass window, Badia di Camaiore (VII Cent.), Camaiore, Italy. 1981 Works in bronze, marble, terracotta and stained glass, Monks Chapel. 1977/9Monument of "St. Joseph the Worker", in trani marble, Bamberg, Germany. Resurrection sculpture, in trani marble, Bamberg Cemetery, Bamberg, Germany. Stairwell stained-glass window. Lebenshife, Bamberg, Germany. "Faun Fountain," in bardiglio marble. Besel Collection, Hausham, Germany. 1974/6Stone relief, Penzberg Orphanage Chapel, Penzberg, Germany. Murals, sculptures and stained-glass window. Kinderheim Berghof, Hausham, Germany. Monumental "Madona Fountain", in travertine marble, Penzberg, Germany.
Awards2015Premio internazionale "Pietrasanta e la Versilia nel Mondo" XXV Edition Circolo Culturale 'Fratelli Rosselli",Pietrasanta,Italia
| GROUP SHOWS2021Concerto "Soirée des Arts Consonanze Artistiche" con esposizione di sculture Villa Bertelli - Forte dei Marmi (Italy) 2019Giardino della Gherardesca Four Seasons - Firenze mostra curata da Filli Gallery 2015“Le Forme della Differenza” Palazzo Ducale, Massa, Italy "Home faber" La Versilia, Pietrasanta, Italy 2014"The Visionary Landscape of Professor Sir Robert Burgess" The University of Leicester - Botanical garden, UK “Homo faber” Piazza Duomo, Church and Cloister of SaintAugustine, Pietrasanta, Italia. 2013“Homo faber” Piazza Duomo, Church and Cloister of SaintAugustine, Pietrasanta, Italia. 2012“Homo faber” Piazza Duomo, Church and Cloister of SaintAugustine, Pietrasanta, Italia. “Donna Scultura.” 2011“Royal British Society of Sculptors Members Working in Pietrasanta.” Group Sculpture Exhibition, Mark Peet Visser gallery 2010Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece. 2007 Campo d’Arte. Pittori e scultori nel secondo Novecento, 2006Percorsi paralleli, Palazzo Mediceo, Seravezza, Italy. Sensibilmente Eros 2006, Carrara, Italy. “Scultura e Musica per la Donna,” 2005Galleria Subbia (dal 7 al 31/07/05) “Amor Marmoris, il lavoro come Arte” (dal 17/07 al 5/09/05) “Vetro e Sculture”, venti artisti interpretano Venini Colletiva / Galleria La Subbia, Pietrasanta, Italy. Le Figlie del Vasaio, Parco del Magliano, Marina di Massa, Italy. 2003/4“Sculture in the Garden” University of Leicester 2003“Donna Scultura” “L'acqua e la vita, magnetismi delle forme” 2002“Salviamo il Duomo” “Sculture e Scultori” International Sculpture Exhibition, “L'acqua e la vita, magnetismi delle forme” Castelnuovo “Boulevard des Sculptures 2002”. Kijkduin, Den Haag, Netherlands. “Beelde Van Format VI 2002”. De Twee Pawen Gallery, 2001“Boulevard des Sculptures 2001”. Kijkduin, Den Haag , Netherlands. “Summer Sculpture Exhibition”. De Twee Pauwen Gallery, 2000“Versilia e Lugano terre di artisti”, Lugano, Switzerland. 1999“Meesters in de Beeldhouwkunst”, International sculpture Exhibition. Miami Art Fair. Brewster Art Gallery , New York, USA. 1998“Ad Occhi Aperti 3”, The Self –Portrait International Exhibition of Sculpture, Painting and Photography “Beeldenexposite Château Neercanne International Sculpture Exhibition of Big Format”. 1997“Sem” - International Sculpture Exhibition in Homage to Sem Ghelardini. 1996“Il Dono dei Magi” - Sculptors of Versilia 6 months after the flood. 1995Miami Art Fair. Brewster Gallery, New York, USA. “Ad Occhi Aperti”, International Sculpture Exhibition. Sixteenth Biennial International Exhibition of Small Bronze 1994“La Luce della Pietra”, International Sculpture Exhibition, “Eos, Eros, Croiseur Noir: Intimate creations by contemporary Latin American Artists”. “La Luce della Pietra”, International Sculture Exhibition. 1993Romanelli Gallery, Florence, Italy. Gallerie Von Abercron, Munich, Germany. “Terzo millenio Pianeta Azzurro”. Museo di Scultura a 1992Shurini Gallery, London, England. Lucus Gallery, London, England. 1990“Art Hamburg ‘90, Müller”. Sarmiento Gallery, Hamburg, 1988“III Bienal de Escultura”. Museo Francisco Narvaéz, Porlamar, 1985“III Edición premio Eugenio Mendoza” 1984“La Donna Creativa”. International Women Sculptors 1983“Sculptors Living in Versilia”. Pietrasanta, Italy. “Artists in Camaiore”. Fiera di Ognissanti, Camaiore, Italy. 1979“Sculptors and Artisans”. Historic Center, Pietrasanta, Italy. 1978“Group Exhibition of Venezuelan Artists”, Huelva, Spain. 1973“Salon Nacional de Jóvenes Artistas”. Caracas, Venezuela. MUSEUMSWyoming State Museum, Wyoming, USA. Museo dei Bozzetti, Pietrasanta, Italy. Museo del Parco Portofino, Portofino, Italy. Represented in many private collections in Venezuela, Italy, Holland, Germany, USA, England and Canada.
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