Premio Soriano Città

Soriano nel Cimino, 22. August 2014 — Artist Gio Montez has been awarded the prestigious “Premio Soriano Città 2014” by Mayor Fabio Menicacci for his outstanding contribution to the cultural landscape of Soriano nel Cimino. The recognition honours Montez for donating his artistic vision and creativity to the city through the creation of “Sublimazione”, a permanent performative installation currently sited at the panoramic Belvedere terrace in Piazzale Cavalieri di Vittorio Veneto, overlooking the Tuscia region.

The award ceremony, held in the heart of Soriano, welcomed the presence of key civic representatives including Paolo Berti, director of Premio Centro and Galleria Viva, the curator Tiziana Todi as well as His Excellency Virgilio Reyes Jr., Ambassador of the Philippines, as an honorary guest.

Montez’s sculpture, Sublimazione, is more than a monument—it is a conceptual and performative gesture. Realised in peperino grigio, the volcanic stone that characterizes the architecture and soul of Soriano, the sculpture takes the form of an empty pedestal, identical in design to that which supports Michelangelo’s David in Florence. The idea is bold: a pedestal without a statue, open for all.

By inviting visitors to climb onto the pedestal and stand as David, facing the sweeping view of the Tuscia hills, Montez transforms the space into a living, participatory monument. Here, contemporary art becomes a stage for personal transformation, reflection, and symbolic victory—“above the monsters,” as Montez poetically frames it. The work will remain in its current location while Palazzo Chigi Albani, the sculpture’s intended final home among ancient works of art, undergoes restoration.

Commissioned under the artistic direction of Paolo Berti, Montez designed Sublimazione to both integrate into and challenge Soriano’s layered cultural identity. The use of peperino grigio is a deliberate nod to the city’s architectural heritage and the surrounding monumental complexes, most notably the Fontana di Papaqua and the Monsters of Bomarzo.

But unlike the monstrous, grotesque figures that populate Bomarzo’s park at the foot of Monte Cimino—an iconic yet troubling symbol of Nature’s untamed forces—Montez’s pedestal channels the spirit of David, the just youth who triumphed over Goliath. In this sense, Sublimazione becomes a metaphorical act of resistance: a contemporary reinterpretation of Renaissance ideals in response to both cultural heritage and current challenges.

Montez also drew deep inspiration from the complex sculptural dialogues of the Spelonca del Madruzzo, where Nature and virtue confront one another in stone. While the central fountain celebrates the abundance of natural forces with a theatre of whimsical creatures, a less-known corner features a Renaissance interpretation of Moses dividing the waters, believed to be sculpted by Leone Leoni and the school of Michelangelo. It is in this dramatic contrast—between Nature’s monsters and humanity’s heroic figures—that Sublimazione finds its conceptual roots.

With Sublimazione, Gio Montez gifts the city not a static monument, but a dynamic space for interaction and elevation. Through the universal language of contemporary art, he invites every visitor to take a stand—literally and symbolically—in the role of David.

The recognition bestowed by the Premio Soriano Città affirms Montez’s role as one of Italy’s most forward-thinking artists, capable of weaving together deep historical awareness, site-specific sensitivity, and a commitment to public engagement. In a moment when cultural heritage faces both environmental and ideological threats, Montez’s work stands as a reminder that the future of art lies not only in preserving the past, but in activating it with courage and imagination.