Valerius De Marchi

Edited by Mario Guderzo

The volume constitutes the first comprehensive monograph of the work of the sculptor Valerio Demarchi, aka Valerius, born in Conegliano in 1941 and currently residing in Pieve di Soligo (Treviso). For more than fifty years the artist has distinguished himself in the field of contemporary art for his wise and calibrated attention to the representation of female beauty. For Demarchi, sculpture is "woman", but above all it is purity of volumes, exceptional mastery in the treatment of the material he has always preferred: bronze. The familiarity that Demarchi has with this material allows him to enhance the surfaces, to bring out the three-dimensional qualities, to lighten the mass through the power of the light that slides, reflects and thickens in the curves of the bodies. His works present themselves to the light and to the observer as elegance and beauty of forms. They inspire contemplation and at the same time captivate with their creative force. His sculptures refer to mythological figures, the Venuses and the Nymphs and are able to accommodate within themselves an ideal of perfection which is not a re-enactment of classicism as his women are "contemporary". Marked gazes, decisive lines and tension-free forms characterize a sculpture that can only live in the mind, but which Demarchi brings to life within a perimeter of matter that establishes its immortality. The critical texts by Mario Guderzo, Paolo Levi and Federica Luser highlight the profound sensitivity and great creative ability of this sculptor from Treviso who inherited the mastery of the great Antonio Canova and the contemporary Arturo Martini. “So it can be said that Demarchi has neutralized transparency, absence; enhancing the enigma. This is his secret, thanks to which he managed to build his triumph, he delivered beauty to eternity." Mario Guderzo A master of plastic art, an artist who is characterized by the skilful representation of female beauty. An extraordinary sculptor who exalts himself in the treatment of the material he has always loved: bronze. A wonderful photographic journey of lights and reflections through a world of immortal and magical works. A great artist who has collected the neoclassical lesson of Antonio Canova and the contemporary one of Arturo Martini.

Editorial Giorgio Mondadori