RALFONSO

Dear Friends,

The MB&F M.A.D.Gallery is thrilled to present Ralfonso, a powerhouse in kinetic sculpture with an expansive portfolio of monumental works in permanent collections around the world to prove it.

A master at the intersection of engineering and art, Ralfonso goes beyond traditional sculpture by incorporating movement into his pieces – Art in Motion ! 

Here at the MB&F M.A.D.Gallery Geneva, we are thrilled to feature a curated selection of his small-scale “Art in Motion” works available in very limited series. These miniaturized works of visual art with their endless evolutions consistently captivate us.  

From small pieces standing 45 cm tall to large-scale outdoor installations measuring 15 meters in length, the fluid movements of Ralfonso’s dynamic kinetic sculptures often begin with a gentle breeze creating playful interactions at the hands of Mother Nature.

A perfect example of an environmentally interactive art piece is Ralfonso’s monumental ten-meter-tall Dance with the Wind, which was commissioned for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This sculpture undulates with the gentlest breezes and the strongest winds to produce a poetic dance featuring a stack of five balls pushing a flat, round disk at the top of the vertical composition, which is counterbalanced by a weighted sphere at the base. Mirror-polished stainless steel enhances the viewer’s experience, its reflective qualities revealing its surroundings shimmering in the sun. Stop by the gallery to view the hypnotic smaller collector version standing 100 cm tall and limited to just 15 pieces.

Ralfonso’s unparalleled imagination continues to shine through in KARO, a German word for rhombus. Closer inspection of this 120-centimeter artwork, limited to just 10 pieces, reveals 16 self-balancing diamond-shaped elements forming an even larger rhombus. The striking, clean lines come to life with the slightest breeze or touch of the hand, moving each rhombus in an unlimited combination of patterns. 

Another artwork in our exclusive exhibition is the slowly tilting EXclamation – an exclamation point that looks as though it should fall over and stay down, but doesn't thanks to a clever weight system keeping it upright. Standing 80 cm tall, EXclamation is a limited edition of 33 pieces.   

Although we love having this collection in the gallery, we can imagine these striking sculptural constructions by Ralfonso moving in harmony with trees in a garden or swaying in the breeze on a rooftop terrace. See these impressive works firsthand at MB&F M.A.D.Gallery Geneva. 

In case Geneva isn’t in your travel plans, stay in touch with the latest happenings at the MB&F M.A.D.Gallery online and via our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts (@mbfmadgallery).