Manuel Neri, Aurelia Roma, 1994

Italian marble

Manuel Neri peels away peripheral elements from a block of stone to arrive at the essential in a search for the expressive nature of figural form in his work Aurelia Roma, 1994. Posed serenely inside a pond behind the museum, Neri’s simplified female hearkens back to the marble goddesses of Greece and Rome. He distresses the surface with studied chisel blows that define areas of texture to contrast with polished areas, creating an intentional ruin.

Laumeier Sculpture Park Commission with funds bequeathed by Aurelia and George Schlapp

Location: Museum Circle