Francesco Vezzoli The Kiss (let's play DINASTY!)

6'

Francesco Vezzoli studied at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London during the 1990s. His early artistic practice privileged an intimate, personal medium, embroidery, later structuring itself around increasingly complex and elaborate creative methodologies. From the start of his career, his work has been concentrated on the analysis of the power of the media, especially television and film. The leitmotif of his work is a combination of high and popular culture. His art often features stars of the small and big screens and jet setters that still live in the collective imagination. In his videos andperformances, the artist appropriates various formats from the world of communication. Through constant references, citations, and allusions to elements from different registers, Vezzoli creates continuous cultural slippages. Filmed in a single take, "The Kiss" stages a dialogue between Helmut Berger and his guest/prisoner, the artist. The two act out an episode of Dynasty. With a set filled with citations of the films by Visconti, the work is an ironic overturning of roles, a play of juxtapositions between art cinema and the pop atmosphere of American soap operas.

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M. Beccaria (ed.), Francesco Vezzoli, exhibition catalogue (Rivoli, Castello di Rivoli-Museo d’arte contemporanea), Turin 2002. G. Celant (ed.), Francesco Vezzoli, exhibition catalogue (Milan, Fondazione Prada), Milan 2004. J. Winkelmann (ed.), The Needleworks of Francesco Vezzoli, exhibition catalogue (Leipzig, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst), Leipzig 2004. I. Gianelli (ed.), Francesco Vezzoli Democrazy, exhibition catalogue (Venice, Venice Biennale, 52nd International Art Exhibition), Milan 2007. A. Mattirolo (ed.), Galleria Vezzoli, exhibition catalogue (Rome, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo), Milan 2013.

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Premio per la Giovane Arte Italiana 2000

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