COSMO Art & Science Foundation supports art project by Stefan Szczesny
The COSMO Art & Science Foundation is once again sponsoring the “Arbre de Vie” exhibition – its first project in the field of cultural sponsorship: the two founders of the foundation, Barbara Bruns and Wolfgang Stamp, have chosen a brilliant starting point for their commitment to art with the sculpture designed by the renowned artist Stefan Szczesny especially for the Palais des Papes in Avignon.
The 6.50 metre tall sculpture “Arbre de Vie” made of polished stainless steel was the COSMO Foundation’s first commitment to art. It was on display from 7 June to 26 October 2014 as part of the “Métamorphoses mediterranéennes” exhibition in the courtyard of Pope Benedict XII’s cloister in Avignon.
With various botanical elements and female figures attached to an abstract tree form, Stefan Szczesny explores his typical themes of “vitality” and “lust for life”. The reflections of the surfaces, light and shadow create different levels of time. The contemporary sculpture and the historical building, the installation site, thus enter into an exciting dialogue. “It was precisely this dialogue between art and its surroundings and the newly staged tree motif that appealed to us.
The tree symbolises growth, life and nature, and these elements can also be found in the COSMO Art & Science Foundation,” explain the foundation’s founders Barbara Bruns and Wolfgang Stamp. The following year, from July to September 2015, the “Tree of Life” was the highlight of an exhibition at the Villa Domergue in Cannes, which presented various sculptures and ceramics in the beautiful gardens of the house.
In summer 2017, the sculpture, flown in by helicopter, formed the glistening centrepiece of a major exhibition of monumental sculptures by Stefan Szczesny on the citadel of Saint-Tropez.
Between 2022 and 2023, the “Arbre de Vie” was the guest of honour in the picturesque town of Grimaud. The work was installed as a central part of the “Szczesny art project” in front of the town hall in Grimaud with a view of the Côte d’Azur. From June to October 2024, the tree is invited to Tegernsee during the Art Masters Festival and will be presented to around 300,000 guests.
The COSMO Foundation is once again sponsoring the installation of the monumental tree sculpture and is also working towards a prominent show during the Venice Biennale in 2026.
