MIQUEL GELABERT Sculptures at Mar I Murtra Botanical Garden
Miquel Gelabert recently completed an important year-long collaboration with the historic Mar i Murtra Botanical Garden in Blanes, Spain. In keeping with the garden’s mission of preservation and as an alternative to excavation, Miquel Gelabert was invited to commemorate lost trees found at the site to create monumental in situsculptures, or environmental artworks that celebrate the life of the trees and their surroundings.
The central sculpture is made from a lost pine (pinus halepensis) reimagined in its totemic elements. Gelabert’s vibrant lines mimic the natural patterns in the tree’s exterior and serve to reanimate the tree’s majestic form. The reclaimed bark thoughtfully arranged in a circle between sky and sea, further serve as a reminder of the sacred qualities of the site, reserved in centuries past as a place of spiritual reflection.
For the project, Gelabert created 3 individual interventions with trees, each situated at distinct junctures within the garden’s picturesque pathways.
In each case the use of the existing botanical forms contrasted with bright and rhythmic colors creates a wonderful contemporary synergy with the natural and historic appeal of this beautifully curated Garden.
Located in Blanes, in Costa Brava, the Marimurtra Botanical Garden is one of the most beautiful gardens on the Mediterranean. At the top of steep cliffs running along the sea, you can enjoy one of the most spectacular panoramic views over the coastline and get to know more than four thousand plant species, most of them exotic ones, as well as several specimens that are extraordinary because of their age or size.
Marimurtra is the work of a man with a passion for nature. Carl Faust (Hadamar, Germany 1874-Blanes 1952), was a businessman residing in Catalonia who devoted his hopes, his efforts and all his fortune to make his dream come true, the Botanical Garden Marimurtra.
BLANES
YEAR
2018
