Fondazione Prada: Gianni Piacentino’s Industrial Aesthetics
Fondazione Prada in Milan devotes two levels of its spaces to Italian artist Gianni Piacentino’s world of transportation and velocity and industrial aesthetics.
Fondazione Prada in Milan devotes two levels of its spaces to Italian artist Gianni Piacentino’s world of transportation and velocity, industrial aesthetics and a combination of pop and minimalist art. Curated by Italian curator and critic Germano Celant, the exhibition consists of Piacentino’s cars, motorcycles and planes, but also decorated bars and canvases inspired by the world of aeronautics and metallic structures of Cantilevers. The anthological exhibition comprises more than 90 artworks from Gianni Piacentino from 1965 to 2015.
Striving for perfection, Piacentino’s creative process follows the one of industrial design. His aerodynamic creations bear relation to many Californian artists, such as Billy-Al Bengston, Craig Kauffman, John McCracken and John Goode.
“It is in this historical climate of oscillation between art and design, handicrafts and industry, the useful and the useless, the one-off piece and the mass-produced object, and between the autonomy and heteronomy of pure creation, that we can place the contribution of Piacentino,” describes the curator. “[His work is] an absolute escape from the imperfection, instantaneity and randomness of making art, in order to access a universe of perfection, calculation and concentration that can compete with a motor or flight vehicle, on both sublime and absolute levels”. •
The exhibition runs at Fondazione Prada in Milan from 7 November 2015–10 January 2016.
Main image
Gianni Piacentino. Fondazione Prada – Milano.
From top to bottom:
1 – Pearl Wall Wign with Signed Nickel Plate (1971). Painted epoxy fiberglass on canvas on wood, painted nickel-plated brass. Size 43 × 340 cm.
2 – Amaranth and Pearl Decorated and Initialed Rectangular Bar (1971). Polyester-coated and painted wood, gold-plated bronze. Size 16 × 300 × 8 cm.
3 – Turquoise-Gray Pearl Propeller-Wing with Initialed Nickel Plate I (1971). Painted epoxy fiberglass on canvas on wood, painted nickel-plated brass. Size 32 × 340 × 5.5 cm.
4 – Race (F.H.W.) 3, (1991). Various materials. Size 32 × 360 × 17.3 cm.
Photo Delfino Sisto Legnani. Courtesy Fondazione Prada.
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