Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Prada Wins Venice

June 10, 2011 by Marion Maneker

Jackie Wullschlager surveys the landscape at Venice and declares the winners.

Venice fixes the world’s gaze because it embodies global trends: this year, how fast distinctions are collapsing between museum and gallery, public and commercial exhibitions, and the roles of dealer, curator and collector. So it is a lovely twist in this marketplace delirium that the stillest, most thoughtful exhibition takes place at a new private museum launched by a fashion house: the Prada Foundation’s Ca’ Corner della Regina, an imposing Grand Canal palazzo with a façade of Istrian stone, frescoes lining a stunning piano nobile and untreated earth floors and open brickwork that set off modern art perfectly – especially the 1950s-60s Italian works at the intellectual core of Miuccia Prada’s collection.

I have never seen a more persuasive, moving presentation of arte povera than at this inaugural show. Prada’s interest reflects her background in political science and former membership of the Communist party, and she has assembled the very finest examples: Alberto Burri’s works in sackcloth and plastic, including the iconic ragged “Sacco” (Sack) and “Rosso Plastica” (Red Plastic); Lucio Fontana’s ochre-and- pink oval series “Concetto spaziale. La fine di Dio” (Spatial Concept. The End of God), punctured, cut and glitter-sprinkled; Piero Manzoni’s emptied-out kaolin and wrinkled “Achrome” canvases.

Together, they dramatise how the aperture and the slash became the most potent visual emblem in postwar Italy, referencing a rejection of fascism, economic deprivation and the bitter struggle between communism and catholicism.

Private Corner, Public Gaze (Financial Times)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Vernissage TV: Venice Biennale CoverageVernissage TV: Venice Biennale Coverage
  • Venice Biennale via InstagramVenice Biennale via Instagram
  • As Politics Roils, Art Returns to Questions of FormalismAs Politics Roils, Art Returns to Questions of Formalism
  • Smee on Venice BiennaleSmee on Venice Biennale
  • Venice Pavilion Power Goes GlobalVenice Pavilion Power Goes Global
  • "Venice can be such a drag.""Venice can be such a drag."

Filed Under: Art Fairs Tagged With: Venice Biennale

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor