trussardi: 100th anniversary show 'eight and a half'

‘we’ by maurizio cattelan fiberglass structure, polyurethane rubber, wood, clothes 148 x 79 x 68 cm courtesy maurizio cattelan; the dakis joannou collection, athens image © designboom

a nomadic museum and agency for the promotion of contemporary art and culture, the fondazione nicola trussardi organizes and produces major exhibitions specially conceived for forgotten buildings, architectural landmarks, and symbolic spaces around its home territory of milan, restoring them and reopening them to the city and to the public.

bringing the foundation’s work outside of milan for the first time, ‘8 1/2’ showcases a selection of works of 13 international artists to whom the fondazione nicola trussardi has dedicated ambitious solo exhibitions and public art projects over the past eight years. opened in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the fashion house trussardi, the exhibition was curated by massimiliano gioni and produced in collaboration with the fondazione pitti discovery. it was set in florence’s stazione leopolda, a nineteenth-century former train station in the city’s center.

as evoked by the title borrowed from federico fellini’s legendary film, ‘8 1/2’ is a story in images,an endless series of flashbacks and premonitions, memories and déjà vus. works unfurl through the majestic train station leopolda like a carousel of dreams and obsessions, fantasies and longings, touching both intimate, personal spheres and the social, collective realm. ‘8 1/2’ knits together scenes from real life and states of permanent hallucination, to create an gallery of wonder.

the exhibiting artists include: maurizio cattelan, paul mc carthy, tino sehgal, anri sala, paola pivi, urs fischer, john bock,peter fischli & david weiss, martin creed, tacita dean, michael elmgreen & ingar dragset, darren almond.

‘we’ by maurizio cattelan, 2010 image © designboom

reflections on death and the fragility of life by italian artist maurizio cattelan. see also the installation ‘mise-en-scene’ milan and the designboom interview with maurizio cattelan, 2004.

‘we’ by maurizio cattelan image © designboom

image © designboom

‘house of bread’ by urs fischer, 2004 bread, wood, polyurethane foam, light 533 x 472 x 366 cm courtesy urs fischer; il giardino dei lauri, citta della pieve, perugia image © designboomurs fischer’s house of bread seems to have come straight out of a fairy tale by the brothers grimm. see urs fischer’s solo exhibition in 2005 .

bread rests spread on a carpet image © designboom

bread and expanding foam image © designboom

image © designboom

‘balloon’ by pawel althamer, 1999-2007 nylon, polyester, acrylic, ropes, helium 2100 x 617 x 366 cm commissioned and produced by fondazione nicola trussardi, milan courtesy pawel althamer; neugerriemschneider, berlin; foksal gallery foundation, warsaw image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi

the giant self-portrait by polish sculptor pawel althamer – a balloon over 20 meters long – looms above the visitors’ heads like some outlandish, temporary public monument, hypertrophic and carnivalesque.

see ‘one of many’ by pawel althamer, a solo exhibition, organized by fondazione nicola trussardi in milan, 2007.

‘balloon’ by pawel althamer image © designboom

detail of ‘balloon’ by pawel althamer image © designboom

image © designboom

‘one love’ by paola pivi, 2007 300 x 387 cm photo: hugo glendinning; courtesy paola pivi; galleria massimo de carlo, milan image © designboom

visitors are plunged into a playful, yet tragic atmosphere with the unsettling juxtapositions of paola pivi’s images. see also ‘my religion is kindness. thank you, see you in the future.’

‘meechfieber’ by john bock, 2004 16mm film transferred to dvd, color, sound commisioned and produced by fondazione nicola trussardi, milan and carnegie international 2004-2005, carnegie museum of art, pittsburgh courtesy john bock; klosterfelde, berlin; anton kern, new york image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi

in his film ‘meechfieber’ german artist john bock recounts grotesque events, a potpourri of surreal machines, bric-a-brac spaceships, costumed animals and frenetic dances. find out more about ‘meechfieber’ by john bock .

‘if I had you’ by darren almond, 2003 4-channel video installation, color, sound commissioned and produced by fondazione nicola trussardi, milan courtesy darren almond; jay jopling/white cube, london; matthew marks gallery, new york; galerie max hetzler, berlin image © designboom

‘if I had you’ – intimate, melancholy portraits shown within a 4-channel video installation by british artist darren almond.

‘parts of a film with rat and bear’ by peter fischli & david weiss, 2008 video, color, sound produced with the support of fondazione nicola trussardi courtesy peter fischli & david weiss; sprüth magers berlin london; galerie eva presenhuber, zurich; matthew marks gallery, new york image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardithe surreal film parts of a film with a rat and a bear by swiss duo fischli and weiss, shot in palazzo litta during the major retrospective. see more works from the fischli & weiss ‘flowers and questions’ exhibition in milan, 2008

‘static (pink)’ by paul mc carthy, 2004-2009 silicone 271 x 164 x 324 cm courtesy paul mc carthy; hauser & wirth image © designboom

paul mccarthy’s provocative, caustic depiction of george w. bush was one of the works shown in the american artist’s first solo exhibition ‘pig island’ at fondazione nicola trussardi.

‘everything is going to be alright’ by martin creed (work 1086), 2011 white neon / 44 x 1250 cm commissioned and produced by fondazione nicola trussardi, milan courtesy martin creed; hauser & wirth image © designboom

‘everything is going to be alright’, the neon sign by martin creed that stretches across the facade of stazione leopolda, seems like a preface to this giant game, but it is also a warning: with its excessive enthusiasm, the work serves as an ironic comment on what visitors will find beyond the threshold. see also martin creed’s solo show ‘I like things’ in milan, 2008.

‘white car and trailer’ by michael elmgreen & ingar dragset installation at galleria vittorio emanuele, milan image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi

michael elmgreen & ingar dragset’s white car and trailer, a metaphor for global tourism, emerge from the floor after a long, imaginary journey to the center of the earth. see also: michael elmgreen & ingar dragset: ‘the collectors’ at the nordic pavilion.

‘long sorrow’ by anri sala image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi

born in albania, based in paris, anri sala portrays the musical lament of saxophonist jemeel moondoc in his film long sorrow.

still cut from ‘merce cunningham performs stillness…’ by tacita dean, 2007 image courtesy fondazione nicola trussardi

shot in giorgio morandi’s former studio, ‘still life’ and ‘day for night’, two films by british born, german based artist tacita dean, adopt a silent, contemplative mood even as they reveal the myriad stories that have lain hidden for decades. see more at the ‘still life’ exhibition in milan, 2009.

the living sculptures directed by british artist tino sehgal are like alien presences that turn the spaces of stazione leopolda into the perfect background for a new, enigmatic theater of the absurd: tino sehgal at the fondazione nicola trussardi.

fondazione nicola trussardi (19)