Three mountains whose arrangement and size evoke the three stars of Orion’s Belt. It is also a bench: an invitation to pause, feel the stone and take in the landscape.
Juan Pablo Marturano
A sculptor and mountaineer, Juan Pablo Marturano sees his work as a conversation with nature. His granite and marble sculptures reflect an intimate parity between the artist and the stone: their materiality does not answer to the final effect, and standing before them is an experience that moves from power to smoothness.
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Mountains of LightJuan Pablo Marturano · 2021 · Pink granite · Stone carving
Three mountains whose arrangement and size evoke the three stars of Orion’s Belt. It is also a bench: an invitation to pause, feel the stone and take in the landscape.
Another EdgeJuan Pablo Marturano · 2021 · Granite · Stone carving
A sculpture of curved forms blending rough and smooth textures. Its upper ridge evokes a mountain range that, far from dividing, invites people to sit on either side.
Works at Bellatrix
A sculpture of curved forms blending rough and smooth textures. Its upper ridge evokes a mountain range that, far from dividing, invites people to sit on either side.
Biography
Juan Pablo Marturano was born in Buenos Aires in 1975. He trained as a sculpture teacher at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón (1999). In Italy he specialized in marble carving at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, graduating with top honors in 2005.
With a scholarship from the Japanese government, he devoted himself to granite carving, completed a master’s degree at Kanazawa College of Art and, in 2013, earned a doctorate in Fine Arts from Tama Art University in Tokyo with a thesis on stone sculpture as an offering to the mountain.
He has exhibited in Argentina, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Israel and the United States, and his works are held in public and private collections in several countries.
Awards and honors
- Grand Prize of Honor, National Salon of Visual Arts (Argentina)
- Second Prize in Sculpture, National Salon (Argentina)
- Honorable Mention in Sculpture, Manuel Belgrano Visual Arts Salon
- Creation Grant, National Endowment for the Arts (Argentina)
- Three-time finalist, Itaú Visual Arts Prize
- "Shidosakka" Distinction, 45th Showakaiten Competition, Galerie Nichido (Tokyo)
- Jury’s Mention, 6th Hokuriku Kirin Art Competition (Japan)
Visual artist
In the words of Juan Pablo Marturano
For many years I have kept a custom widely shared among mountaineers: carrying a small symbolic offering to the summit, as a gesture of thanks to the mountain for letting us reach its peak. So I began taking a sculpture I had carved beforehand, as an offering. And in my case, the keepsake is usually a small stone, which back in the studio becomes the model for another work.
To me, this means the mountain is not just the subject: it plays an active, decisive role in my creative process. It is work made in collaboration with it.