Pope Leo XIV Celebrates Birthday With JR Art Installation At Vatican Library

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Pope Leo XIV marked his 71st birthday on Monday by inaugurating the exhibition“AQVA: Catastrophe and Wonder” at the Vatican Apostolic Library in Vatican City. The exhibition features“Diluvium,” a substantial black-and-white installation by French artist JR, which dominates the inner section of the show.

JR's artwork, stretching nearly 230 feet, reinterprets Gustave Doré's 1886 illustration of a biblical flood. The artist explained his motivation to Le Figaro:“Creating things for real, you actually connect with people and that's the heart of my work, to create a bridge between people and institutions, even in a place like this that is harder to reach to, I think the symbol of creating a wave on the library will resonate with libraries around the world.”

This visit to the 15th-century library was Pope Leo XIV's first, following in the tradition of his predecessors. He likened the library to a heart, stating that“a beating heart is a symbol of life, and it results from two opposing movements, systole and diastole: a contraction and a relaxation, a movement towards the center and another towards the periphery.”

The exhibition also showcases new pieces by two additional artists. These include the“Undae” installation in the Barberini Room, a black and white video depicting a wave in Brazil, and Bill Moran's typography series,“Letterfishes.”

Don Giacomo Cardinali, who curated the exhibition alongside Simona De Crescenzo, Francesca Giannetto, and Delio Proverbio, commented on the curatorial approach:“Believing that the wisest response to fear is to pause and confront it directly, we invited three extraordinarily creative minds to dialogue with our heritage. In doing so, we have discovered unexpected horizons within the very elements that typically daunt us.”

“AQVA: Catastrophe and Wonder” is scheduled to be open to the public from September 25 through May 14, 2027.

Source: ARTnews

MENAFN16092026005694012507ID1111675210