The Palazzo Strozzi Foundation presents Reaching for the Stars. Da Maurizio Cattelan and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, exhibition that proposes a celebration of today's art stars through beyond 70 works by the most important Italian and international contemporary artists, including Maurizio Cattelan, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Lara Favaretto, William Kentridge, De Bruyckere in Berlin, Sarah Lucas, Lynette Yiadom-The Best of Lynette. Promoted and organized by Palazzo Strozzi Foundation and Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Reaching for the Stars explores the main artistic researches of the last decades through a constellation of works exhibited in all spaces of Palazzo Strozzi, from the Piano Nobile to the Strozzina, with a special new installation for the Renaissance courtyard.
Curated by Arturo Galansino, Director General of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, the exhibition is a celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection, one of the most famous and prestigious collections of contemporary art at an international level, openly restoring its variety, evolution and its being constantly in progress. Indeed, the project at Palazzo Strozzi was born out of the desire to create a platform for experimentation and participation in which the exhibition of works from the, new productions created for the exhibition, as well as an extensive program of activities and projects with the artists featured in talks and workshops, and numerous activities to engage the public.
They are present in the exhibition, eg, basic works such as1000 Names(1983)of Anish Kapoor theLove Is Great(1994) ofDamien Hirst, along with a large selection of works byMaurizio Cattelan, central artist for an exploration of Italian art between the 1990s and 2000s, together, among others, aPaola PivitheLara Favaretto. In parallel there are thematic sections such as the one dominated by the famous seriesUntitled Film Still(1978-1980) ofCindy Sherman which proposes a social and political reflection on the theme of identity in relation to works byShirin Neshat, screen printingUntitled (Not ugly enough) (1997) ofBarbara Kruger or sculpture in organic materialsSelf- Portrait(1993) ofPawel Althamer. The investigation of sculpture expands in the great works ofSecond Ursuţa, Adrian Villar Rojas, De Bruyckere in Berlin, Mark Manders, whose practices investigate the body and the figure between deconstruction and recomposition. This is echoed by the exploration of pictorial research through paintings by artists such asLynette Yiadom-The Best of Lynette, Sanya Kantarovsky, Michael Armitage, Cecily Brown, Avery Singer, testifying to the enduring vitality of this medium, between figuration and abstraction, especially in the younger generations. The itinerary is completed by a large section dedicated to video art with works by artists such asWilliam Kentridge, presente conHistory of Main Complaint (1996), Douglas Gordon andPhilippe Parreno, with the famous video installationZidane. A 21st Century Portrait (2005) andRagnar Kjartansson withThe End – Rocky Mountains (2009).
“Reaching for the Stars is a journey through forty years of discovery and research in contemporary art” statesArturo Galansino, Director of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation and curator of the exhibition “Hosting a collection like this in Florence means celebrating the values of patronage and patronage in the city where great collecting was born. The collaboration between Palazzo Strozzi and the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation goes beyond the mere exhibition of works, but it is a synergy of values, a shared platform in which to stimulate accessibility, participation and experimentation”.
“It is an honor and a great emotion for me to be able to see the 'stars' of the collection displayed in the splendid rooms of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation. Celebrate thirty years of my collecting practice within this building, masterpiece of Renaissance architecture” statesPatrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, President of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation “it is an opportunity to retrace the paths of contemporary art in recent decades, creating a lively dialogue with the ancient world and with the visiting public. Questa mostra, which starts from the splendid courtyard open to the city, it reflects the value of sharing that has always marked my collection and is in full harmony with the line of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, led with great professionalism by Arturo Galansino, in favor of participation and accessibility of culture".
The exhibition is promoted and organized by the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation and the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation.
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