Francesco Vezzoli’s New Video Work and Lecture at the Aurora Museum
Artists’ Talk
Time: 2-4 pm, December 13th, Saturday
Venue: Aurora Museum, 1st Floor Theatre
Speakers: Francesco Vezzoli, Leo Xu and Shaway Yeh
On December 13 at 8:00 pm the iconic Aurora Building screen featured an original video work by internationally acclaimed artist Francesco Vezzoli, for the first time in China.
This art project is promoted by the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai on the occasion of the Italian semester of European Presidency, in collaboration with the Shanghai based curatorial platform Arthub and the Aurora Museum.
The work is closely related to Francesco Vezzoli’s recent research about the use of color in antiquity. The artist has been collaborating with a team of archaeologists, conservators and polychrome specialists, to paint ancient Roman busts in the manner in which they would originally have been decorated. Dating from the first and second centuries A.D., Vezzoli’s Roman Imperial busts restore to contemporary imagination the decorated surfaces that have faded away over nearly two thousand years.
The video that will be presented on the Aurora building–on the 62 meters high LED screen overlooking the Huangpu River from Pudong–will feature the artist himself portrayed as a Crying Roman Togatus. The tear on his face quotes Vezzoli’s emblematic signature series of glittering tears, embroidered on worldwide iconic celebrities portraits.
On Saturday the 13th at 2:00 pm, before the unveiling of the new video work, the Aurora Museum Theatre will host a talk in which Francesco Vezzoli will be seen in conversation with Leo Xu, Shanghainese art critic and director of Leo Xu Projects, and Shaway Yeh, group style editorial director of Modern Media Group.
The images of Francesco Vezzoli’s artwork on the Aurora Screen will become part of the ongoing documentary Ossessione Vezzoli, directed by Alessandra Galletta, to be released in the Spring 2015.
The movie documents almost two years in the life of the artist, and discloses the hidden realm behind Francesco Vezzoli’s exhibitions in some of the world’s most prestigious art museums and institutions. Following him from the “initial concept” to the “making of” of major art events, Ossessione Vezzoli navigates the artists’ world in the attempt to understand how Vezzoli has swiftly become a rising star beyond the global art scene.
Background on Francesco Vezzoli
Francesco Vezzoli was born in 1971, in Brescia, Italy. He studied at the Central St. Martin’s School of Art in London. He currently lives and works in Milan. He is one of the most successful Italian contemporary artists in the world today. His works have been selected to represent Italy four times at the Venice Biennale: at the 49th, 51st and 52nd art editions held in 2001, 2005 and 2007, respectively, and at the 2014 Architecture Biennial. His works have also been featured in other international exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial 2006, the 26th Biennale in Sao Paulo, and the 6th International Biennale in Istanbul. He has also held solo shows around the world in venues such as the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; MAXXI, Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI sec, Rome; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Kunsthalle, Wien; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; The Garage CCC, Moscow; The Power Plant, Toronto; Jeu de Paume, Paris; Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin; Museo Serralves, Porto; Fondazione Prada, Milan; and Le Consortium, Dijon.
