Ayrton Senna bronze statue by Paul Oz

Today the artist Paul Oz has unveiled the bronze statue commemorating 25th anniversary of Ayrton Senna death at the Autosport International Show in Birmingham.

160 Kg in weight, the effigy portrays Ayrton Senna standing on his lower back as he sat in the McLaren during the mighty Raidillon: the most famous corner in F1 with gradient of 17%, forcing pilots to tighten the muscle of the back.

The posture and the subject are symbolic and entangled to the Brazilian driver's life. Senna once said 'If you take away Eau Rouge, you take away the reason why I do this’. The racing car took away Ayrton Senna's life, the artist takes away the car.

The process is as interesting as well as innovating.

Paul Oz put dressed up as Ayrton Senna, putting on memorabilia like Senna's official helmet and he poses to have photos from different angles for developing the mold later on.

The statue were realized in the same foundry where Damien Hirst made 'Treasures of the wreck of the unbelievable'. The artist also added some vertical scratch to the visor to make a reflection effect.

Paul Oz defines himself as 'explosive artist' and the opera perfectly capture all the dynamism and the physical effort of Ayrton Senna with the left foot slightly inclined, accelerating to take the slope after the curve at full-speed.

The final effect is a wonderful synthesis between the tradition of the ode to victorious athletes, like the Discobolus of Myron to cite one, and the concentration of dnamism and pathos, expressed in a single moment.

 

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