Damien Hirst in Venice. Right before the Art Biennale 2017 and after his latest appearance with “Where Are We Going?” more than 10 years ago he comes back!
Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana – Pinault Collection have recently announced the 2017 exhibition: a new project named “Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable” by the British artist that will run across both venues.
The exhibition of Damien Hirst in Venice, which will open to the public on April 9th 2017, marks the first time in the museums' history that the two Venetian venues of the Pinault Collection will be dedicated to a single artist. It is also the first major solo exhibition dedicated to Damien Hirst in Italy since the 2004 retrospective at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples.
The exhibition is curated by Elena Geuna, curator of the monographic shows dedicated to Rudolf Stingel (2013) and Sigmar Polke (2016) presented at Palazzo Grassi.
The Venice exhibition highlights the longstanding relationship shared by the artist and the Pinault Collection. A key artist for the Collection, Damien Hirst's work has previously been exhibited at Palazzo Grassi, where it featured in the Palazzo's 2006 inaugural exhibition Where Are We Going?. This group exhibition derived its title from the British artist's steel and glass skeleton cabinet, Where Are We Going? Where Do We Come From? Is There a Reason? (2000–2004). Damien Hirst also featured in A Post-Pop selection in 2007. In addition, the artist has appeared in major exhibitions of the Pinault Collection at the Conciergerie in Paris in 2013 (“A Triple Tour”), and at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco in 2014 (“Art Lovers”).
Damien Hirst held his first major international presentation in the Venice Biennale in 1993 with the work, Mother and Child Divided, a cow and a calf cut into sections and exhibited in a series of separate vitrines.
What do we have to expect this time? There are next to no details available at the moment, but the show promises to showcase Hirst's latest project, which has been 10 years in the making.
I have always been aware that you have to get people listening before you can change their minds. Any artist's big fear is being ignored, so if you get debate, that's great. (Damien Hirst)
This exhibition is part of a calendar of monographic shows dedicated by Palazzo Grassi to major contemporary artists – Urs Fischer (2012), Rudolf Stingel (2013), Martial Raysse (2015) and Sigmar Polke (2016) – alternating with thematic exhibitions of works from the Pinault Collection.
Save the date / Damien Hirst in Venice at Palazzo Grassi – Punta della Dogana
- – Friday 7 April 2017: Press preview
- – Saturday 8 April 2017: Vernissage
- – Sunday 9 April 2017: Public opening
