VENICE.- The Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore presents The Shape of Time, a major survey of the sculptural practice of the American artist Barry X Ball that celebrates the meeting between technological advances and Renaissance tradition set within the architectural masterpiece of Andrea Palladio. The artist’s works is in dialogue with the sacred space of the Palladian Basilica, reinterpreting the past through a bold and experimental formal approach.

The Shape of Time brings together 23 sculptures in the basilica, with most of these works being shown to the public for the first time. It is curated by the renowned critic Bob Nickas with the coordination of Carmelo A. Grasso, Director and Institutional Curator of Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore – ETS branch. The exhibition highlights creations from five distinct series, each showcased in carefully selected locations within the basilica:

Portrait Sculptures

Two monumental portrait sculptures are displayed among the intricately carved wooden stalls in the basilica’s magnificent Choir. Ball’s Pope Saint John Paul II serves as the signature work in the exhibition, a culmination of 12 years of meticulous labor. It is crafted in solid silver and 18K gold, realized in collaboration with the renowned Italian jewellers, Damiani.

Buddhas

Three of the artist’s recent stone Buddha sculptures are presented in the basilica’s Sacristy, arranged in a cruciform composition. Creating a meeting point between the Catholic faith and Buddhist philosophy, the works reveal the ecumenical dimension of Ball’s art. Among these stands out Mirrored Buddha Herms, a visual and conceptual dialogue between a 15th-century Japanese sculpture and its mirrored version in Belgian black marble created by the artist.

Medardo Rosso Project

Ten works from this ongoing series are displayed in the long corridor connecting the main San Giorgio nave and transept spaces to the Sacristy. An 11th sculpture, Sacristan, is exhibited in the church’s Sacristy alongside the Buddhas. Additionally, a 12th work, the monumental Enthroned Pope, Reflected, inspired by Italian sculptor Medardo Rosso’s Sick Man in the Hospital, is presented in the north branch of the church’s transept.

In 2012, Ball collaborated with Vicenza-based technical company UnoArte to 3D-scan 39 Rosso sculptures in Italian museums and private collections. Using a state-of-the-art Breuckman white-light scanner, the team captured all surfaces and volumes, creating highly detailed virtual models—the most precise digital records of Rosso’s works ever produced. Ball further refined the scan data with extensive digital reference photography, completing the virtual models at his New York studio. The intention was to use this scientific scan data as a foundation for poetic new sculptures that retain the power and mystery of Rosso’s works while introducing myriad subtle alterations that transform them into original Barry X Ball creations.

Masterpieces

Three monumental sculptures from this ongoing series have been installed in the basilica’s soaring Nave and Transept: Pietà, Saint Bartholomew Flayed and Portrait Ensemble.

Pietà: inspired by Michelangelo’s unfinished Pietà Rondanini, was produced after Ball and his team 3D-scanned the original sculpture and its Roman grave stele plinth in Milan in 2011. Subsequent digital modeling introduced critical alterations that subtly shift the conceptual focus, while the pedestal’s shape and proportions were reimagined to form a tapering obelisk integrated with the sculpture. The use of translucent golden-white Iranian onyx gives the work an ethereal glow, and varied surface treatments—fluted robot-milled expanses, silky matte passages, and mirror-polished sections—enhance the piece’s complexity and softness.

Early and Late Works

Largen 1 (Before / After Giotto): the earliest work in the exhibition, made in 1982-1983, is displayed centered at the end of a section of the basilica’s long winding corridor, around a corner from the Medardo Rosso Project sculptures. Painstakingly created utilizing wood, wax, linen, gesso, bole, and 23K gold – materials similar to those employed by Italian Late-Gothic and Early-Renaissance painters – this piece presents as a hybrid, installed on a wall and frontal like a painting, but simultaneously a sculptural object.

The Benedictine community has commissioned Barry X Ball to develop a , which is titled The Word. The work, a stone sculpture in the form of a book, inspired by the precious Lindau Gospels of the Morgan Library & Museum, will become part of the collection launched in 2019 that brings together contemporary illuminated manuscripts created by artists with whom the Abbey has collaborated.

In its ambitious scope and thoughtful integration with the historic Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, The Shape of Time not only redefines the boundaries of contemporary sculpture but also reaffirms the enduring relationship between art, heritage, and spirituality.