BEHIND THE SCENES:
ESTHER SHALEV-GERZ,
KING & KING
A new sculpture
Installed in the United States

During the pandemic period, Esther Shalev-Gerz conceived her new sculpture KING & KING, a gorgeous work recently installed in a private collection in the United States.

Inspired by the figurative bronze sculpture King and Queen by Henry Moore, this two-part sculpture was made from Portuguese blue marble and is placed on a dark charkcoal concrete base.

The artist describes her work as:

“An abstract sculpture in marble, composed with two half-spheres creating a dynamic balance in the becoming. Each is crafted from a stone of slightly different structure and color. The two half-spheres are carved with a concave face, revealing a gap nestled between them.

The half-sphere alludes to the crowns that were shaped like skulls or shells, like natural figures of history layered in the stone. I wanted to create the work KING & KING to celebrate the splendor of alliance.

The sphere is an infrangible form that I often call upon in my projects. My dialogue with its fundamental symbolism requires a right approach as it evokes the cosmos, planets and the forming of new worlds, always leading to active and unexpected proposals.”

Esther Shalev-Gerz

“The work is installed in an open landscape space surrounded by trees, a changing green setting that enters into dialogue with it: in this spring, the green foliage and a tree in full bloom frame the sculpture and enhance it, as in a Zen garden where all the elements are intimately linked and thought out together. With its curves and two embracing volumes, KING & KING offers a majestic and harmonious presence, at once firmly anchored to the earth and directed towards the sky, coiled in on itself and expanding. In a movement that is both balanced and unshakeable, circular and infinite, it makes the empty space around it vibrate. The delicately polished surface of the grey-blue marble reacts with its environment and the variations in light and atmosphere, constantly modifying the perception of these two joined forms: in turn, the grey glow of a cloudy sky is reflected on the curved and leaning face of the half-sphere positioned on the other, and is reflected even in its curved face; or, under a sharper light, the sun casts a very pronounced shadow, an ellipse that occupies almost the entire rectangle drawn by the base. KING & KING is a powerful and sensitive work, which reminds us of the energy contained in a simple body like the sphere, and confronts us with the potential of the curve, in a world populated by orthogonality and the rectilinear figure.”

Julia Dupont, Assistant at JSVCprojects