From April 2, Punta della Dogana in Venice hosts its new thematic exhibition “Icônes“, with a selection of works from the Pinault Collection.
“The word “icon” has two meanings: its Greek etymology defines it as an “image” or “likeness”, while it is used to designate a religious painting. The idea of a model, an emblematic figure is more contemporary. The status of the image—its capacity to embody a presence, between appearance and disappearance, shadow and light, to represent a space, to spark emotion, and to become one with the viewers—is at the core of this exhibition, conceived specifically for the Punta della Dogana and the Venetian context, with its rich, uninterrupted dialogue between East and West.”
On show, works by Josef Albers, James Lee Byars, Maurizio Cattelan, Étienne Chambaud, Edith Dekyndt, Sergej Eisenstein, Lucio Fontana, Theaster Gates, David Hammons, Arthur Jafa, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Kimsooja, Joseph Kosuth, Sherrie Levine, Francesco Lo Savio, Agnes Martin, Paulo Nazareth, Camille Norment, Roman Opałka, Lygia Pape, Michel Parmentier, Philippe Parreno, Robert Ryman, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Dayanita Singh, Rudolf Stingel, Andrej Tarkovskij, Lee Ufan, Danh Vo and Chen Zhen.
In a celebration of the power of images, the show turns the rooms of Punta della Dogana into meditative chapels, where the presence of a soft light – which focuses exclusively on the works – creates an atmosphere of sacredness throughout the exhibition. And just as in a sacred place, as in a church, the presence of sounds (the vocalizations and vibrations of the sound installation Prime by Camille Norment) and olfactive stimuli (the smell of earth and the scent natural essences of the work Mothabeng by Dineo Seshee Bopape), allow the visitor to live an experience that involves all the senses.
Gold, with its historical and symbolic references, and the invitation to meditation, are the distinctive elements that tie together the works in the exhibition. The iconic nature of the exhibition is revealed from the very first room, where Lygia Pape’s installation Téia 1, C – massive in its size and, at the same time, impalpable in its structure made of gold threads – surprises the visitor, alongside the works by Lucio Fontana (Concetto Spaziale, 1958) and Donald Judd (Untitled, 1991).
At the center of the building, along the concrete walls of Tadao Ando’s central cube, the site-specific work An object enclosed within itself? (Adieux) created by Joseph Kosuth expressly for “Icônes,” originates from a dialogue between the iconic couple Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and it consists of a series of quotations reproposed through neon and projections, manifesting above all else, the artist’s belief in the power of art.
Between figuration and abstraction, this exhibition invokes all the dimensions of the image in the artistic context—paintings, videos, sounds, installations, performances—through a selection of emblematic works, and new dialogues between artists who are particularly important for the Pinault Collection (David Hammons/Agnes Martin; Danh Vo/Rudolf Stingel; Sherrie Levine/On Kawara…).
“The exhibition considers both the fragility and the power of images, their polysemic character: all the works become apparitions, illuminations, revelations; they are transfigurations, in every respect.”
Discover more: www.pinaultcollection.com/
Icônes
Punta della Dogana
2.04.2023-26.11.2023
