Memories of the Garden is an outdoor sculpture intervention in the oldest botanical garden in Europe. Curated by internationally known art historian and critic Barbara Rose, the installation is based on the glorious fascinating history of the garden and its present-day owner, Austrian artist Liselotte Höhs. The installation refers to former inhabitants and visitors by symbolically returning the garden to its former function as a graveyard annex to San Trovaso’s church.
Tombstones are evoked by Garaizabal, who draws in the air with steel inspired by ancient examples that survive in San Nicolò del Lido’s cemetery. In these pieces, Garaizabal awakens the memory of three geniuses who are deeply attached to the history of the place: Amadeo Modigliani (Livorno 1884-Paris 1920), who worked during a brief period in the garden and in the adjacent studio, now Liselotte’s studio; Mariano Fortuny (Granada 1871-Venecia 1949), whose legacy as an iconic textile and costume designer was saved Liselotte Höhs, an emblematic figure in modern Venice’s cultural and artistic life; and legendary poet Ezra Pound (Idaho 1885-Venice 1972) who, fascinated by the energy of the place and Liselotte’s personality, spent countless evenings in this garden. (Rare photographs of Pound in the garden document his life in Venice.)
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