Face. 1967.

Cast and chiseled bronze; signed and dated. Copy number 18/20. Measurements. Diameter: 8.8 cm / 3.46 in. Weight: 296 gr.

Simple, abstract lines on one side, a face outlined with two profiles on the other, the piece has the character of a primitive medal, written in a mystical -and fanciful- sign language, similar to the runic, the Nordic alphabet, or to that of our American cultures. It belongs to Badii's artistic corpus from the 1960s, when he developed abstraction and his particular idea of ​​sinister. This concept is approached by Badii as the opposite of the classical, understood as the aesthetic foundations inherited from the great masters. Certain sinister features of the work can be found described in his “Spontaneous phrases” (1): “3… eternity… one of the emotional pillars of the sinister vision” or “7… magic-mystery… pillar of the sinister”.

Libero Badii (Arezzo, Italy, 1916 - Buenos Aires, 2001) was an Italian sculptor, draftsman, printmaker and painter, naturalized from Argentina. Son of an Italian marble maker, his first approach to the noble stone was working in the workshop of his father. He studied at the Ernesto de la Cárcova School of Fine Arts. Upon completion, his high grades earned him a South American travel scholarship. In 1962 he presented a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts, in 1968 he exhibited at the Di Tella Institute, in 1977 at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. In 1959 he won the Palanza Prize, in 1971 the San Pablo Biennial National Prize, in 1982 the Grand Prize of the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1987 the National Consecration Prize. He was appointed a member of the National Academy of Fine Arts. His work is represented in the most important national museums and at the MOMA in New York.

S.O.VIII