Arturo will forever be legend, friend, mentor, rebel and master scultptor who refused to take the traditional road in the art world

Fernando Alvarez

Fernando Luis Álvarez, gallery owner and director of The Alvarez Gallery, was the first to represent the work of Italian-American sculptor Arturo Di Modica (1941-2021) throughout his fifty-year career in the United States. We are months away from his passing and with all our pride, we honor his artistic work in the Alvarez Gallery spaces, which under the management of our director was part of them since 2013 when Di Modica signed his representation by The Alvarez Gallery.

That same year Di Modica exhibited two large sculptures in the city of Stamford, Connecticut, in the outdoor spaces of the Alvarez Gallery. A life-size horse and the other a replica of his famous “Charging Bull”. Sculptures in which the artist said: “They represent peace and prosperity for the city”, because art transforms people’s emotions.

The importance of Arturo Di Modica stands out as one of the most emblematic sculptors in the United States, especially in New York City, where the famous Wall Street Bull is located. Charging Bull, a sculpture that was installed without permission in front of the city’s Stock Market in December 1989, Di Modica generated an intentional commotion and interest in the people who, the day after its placement, walked in amazement around the imposing sculpture that was removed the same day by the director of Wall Street.

Arturo Di Modica was sanctioned for his irreverent behavior, typical of art, and the artist cancelled the penalty imposed to release the sculpture and place it later in Bowling Green, where currently resides and is part of the streets of the financial district of New York. From that moment on, many stories began to emerge about the provocative action surrounding the sculpture and its meaning for the visiting public.

The artist said: “It occurred to me to sculpt a bull, the image of the growing Stock Market: it was meant to be a joke, a provocation. But instead it turned into something very serious. I was told that, after the Statue of Liberty, the Charging Bull in Bowling Green, a two-step walk from the temple of world finance, is the most visited monument in New York.”

Bowling green’s Charging Bull is visited every year by millions of tourists who do not want to leave the city without having their picture taken with the sculpture, and also without missing the opportunity to rub his horns, as they say it brings good luck. A fantastic transformation from the irreverence of art to playfulness and to the relaxation that Di Monica was aware of, when at the installation of the sculptures in the outdoor spaces of Alvarez Gallery in 2013 he said: “Art makes people calm, relaxed”.

Today we pay tribute to the sculptor, to the artist, to the person who is part of the history not only of the United States or The Alvarez Gallery; he is part of Art History with his own expression. The Alvarez Gallery is proud to be the first gallery in the United States to represent such relevant artwork and to have a huge collection of it.

Wall Street Bull replica 

                                                                   Arturo Di Modica supervising the horse and the replica of the Bull of Wall Street.

We invite you to learn more about our tour with Arturo Di Modica and the works in our collection, on the artist page: Arturo Di Modica.

You can find here, more information about our wonderful journey with Arturo Di Modica in The Stamford Advocate – Bull “Sculptor charges in to Stamford” / Scott Gargan: https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Bull-sculpture-charges-into-Stamford-4923929.php

If you would also like to obtain information on how to purchase the sculptures, please contact us via email at (info@alvarezgallery.com).

Photo Credit: https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Bull-sculpture-charges-into-Stamford-4923929.php