Pasadena, 1955
Degrees: Pomona College di Claremont 1977
Currently Lives and Works in New York.
Since the beginning of his activity Barry X Ball conceives his work as a contemporary response to great masterpieces of the past, not to replicate them, but to draw inspiration from them and challenge their beauty.
For the rereading of the classic, the artist employs a series of complex equipment and procedures, from the most innovative to the traditional ones, from digital 3D scanning, virtual design and computer-controlled modeling, to carving in precious stones and marbles and sanding executed by hand.
“Fascinated by the possibilities offered by new technologies such as the digital creation of three-dimensional virtual models and stone cutting with CNC robots, he is the first artist to experiment and refine these procedures. Despite the use of cutting-edge technologies, both in the processing of marble and in precious metals, Ball pays the utmost attention to the hand finishing of his sculptures.”
Source: FAI Fondo Ambiente
Website:
http://www.barryxball.com
Artworks:
Envy, 2008 – 2014, White Carrara (“Michelangelo”) Statuario
55.9 x 43.8 x 24.1 cm
based on Giusto Le Court (1627 – 1679)
La Invidia , circa 1670, Italian Marble
Purity, 2008 – 2011, Iranian Pink Onyx
61 x 41.9 x 28.6 cm
based on Antonio Corradini (1668 – 1752)
La Purità, 1720 – 1725, Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice
Pietà, 2011 – 2018, Iranian White Traslucent Onyx
197.5 x 71.3 x 73.8 cm
based on Pietà Rondanini (1552 – 1564)
made by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 – 1564)
San Bartolomeo, 2018, Rouge Du Roi
cm
based on San Bartolomeo Scorticato (1562)
made by Marco Ferrari d’Agrate (1504 – 1574)
Work In Progress – Block selection, cutting with two-axis shaping machine and Robot Milling of the copy of St. Bartholomew Scorticato made by Barry X Ball inside the TorArt studios (photo Laura Veschi):