At Palazzo Franchetti the “genius loci” is named Nicholas L.
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- Daniel Buren, 4 colours at 3 meters high, 2014. Clear acrylic sheets, coloured self-adhesive filters, wood, screws, white paint, self-adhesive black vinyl.
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- Julien Opie, Tina walking 2, 2010. LED, double-sided monolith, 186,5 x 86 x 26 cm.
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- Ai Weiwei, Forever, 2014. 1179 bicycles, 728,6 x 1603,8 x 397,9 cm.
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- Tatsuo Miyajima, Life (Corps and organs) No. 15, 2013. LEDs, microcomputer, steel, plastic covers, passive sensor, electric wire, 274 x 186 x 82 cm
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- Installation view to the room dedicated to the selected public commissions.
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- Installation view to the room dedicated to the selected public commissions.
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- Ai Weiwei, Tree, 2009-2010. Tree sections, 550 x 635 x 590 cm.
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- Ai Weiwei, Tree, 2009-2010. Tree sections, 550 x 635 x 590 cm.
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- Tony Cragg, Hedge, 2010. Fiberglass, 200 x 380 x 150 cm.
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- Tony Cragg, Hedge, 2010. Fiberglass, 200 x 380 x 150 cm.
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- Daniel Buren, A white triangle for a mirror, 2007. Mirror, paint, fiberboard, white vynil plastic 252 x 252 cm.
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- Spencer Finch, Night sky, over the painted desert, Arizona, 1/9/04, 2004. 401 incandescent bulbs, 85 light fixtures, dimensions variable.
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- Spencer Finch, Night sky, over the painted desert, Arizona, 1/9/04, 2004. 401 incandescent bulbs, 85 light fixtures, dimensions variable.
“Genius Loci” at Palazzo Franchetti, in Venice, is a show promoted by Lisson Gallery and Studio Berengo in occasion of the Architecture Biennial. According to the exhibition statement, “Genius loci” addresses the complex relationship between “art and the public realm” through artworks from a representative group of artists from the Lisson Gallery and some artists who have collaborated with the glass producer Gianni Berengo.
Does it deserve a visit? Yes it does. Why? The first reason is that some of the pieces on display are extraordinary. From the gigantic version of the Ai Weiwei’s “Forever” placed in the garden to the delicate, passionate, and tragic “Night sky” by Spencer Finch – a famous early work by the artist in which each of the lights represents a molecules of a pigment mix that matches the colour of the night sky over the Painted Desert in Arizone. Or from the sensual fibergalss sculpture by Tony Cragg (Hedge, 2009), to the elegant “White triangle for a mirror” by Daniel Buren (Who would not like to have it in his bedroom?). But these beautiful pieces wouldn’t have been so effective in a cold white cube: this is the second reason. The real “public realm” is Palazzo Franchetti and its surroundings – Campo Santo Stefano, Canal Grande, the Ponte dell’Accademia.
Therefore, no matter if you have the feeling that the show considers the problem only from a certain point of view, that is the art dealer’s one. Thanks to the scenario – a warm fascinating residential building – this specific point of view becomes the core of the matter, the place where all these beauties converge. Along with the Guggenheim, Palazzo Grassi, Punta della Dogana and the Prada Foundation, Venice is living a new dream deriving from the vision of a single man: the genius loci is named Nicholas Logsdail!
September 22, 2014
