Artwork
Historical past
#artwork historical past
#exhibition
#sculpture
#Wim Delvoye
“Ball Monitor Venus Italica” (2023), patinated bronze, 173 centimeters in top. All pictures © Wim Delvoy, courtesy of Musée d’artwork et d’histoire, Geneva, shared with permission
In 1802, Italian sculptor Antonio Canova produced a marble sculpture often known as “Venus Italica,” notably commissioned by Napoléon Bonaparte and meant to exchange one other Venus statue on the Louvre in Paris. Amongst quite a few different historic statues and artifacts on the Museum of Artwork and Historical past in Geneva, the “Venus Italica” offers the inspiration for an inventive intervention by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye.
As a part of an ongoing program referred to as carte blanche XL, MAH invited the artist-curator to reimagine the establishment’s shows, asking the elemental query: “How does one make sense of the abundance of objects, paperwork, artifacts, and all of the proof of creative and sensible actions that kind the cultural sedimentation of the place?” Delvoye’s response got here within the type of The Order of Issues, a large-scale exhibition in a number of of the museum’s galleries.
Set up view of ‘The Order of Issues’ (2024)
Delvoye is thought for his ingenious use of supplies, painstaking craftsmanship, and experimentation with expertise. He usually traverses the blurry boundary between conventional artwork methodology and in the present day’s digital realm. For this present, the artist was tasked with choosing objects from the gathering, together with gadgets that will not have been just lately highlighted, and constructing connections between previous and current.
All through the exhibition, Delvoye tugs on themes of safety—intrinsic in a museum’s mission—in items like “Rimowa Traditional Flight Multiwheel 971.70.00.4,” a metallic rolling suitcase, or a collection of velvet-lined, bespoke carriers like “Case for Moped,” which completely suits a motorized bike. And in a collection of embossed aluminum works, he attracts on artifacts like a Sixteenth-century engraved metal morion, or helmet, in “Untitled (Engraved Helmet),” which depicts an elaborate metallic onerous hat.
Delvoye additionally performs with irony in each written and visible language, like in “La peur du vide,” or “the concern of vacancy,” by which the shell of a classic race automotive sits amongst preparations of historic armor. And in multiple occasion, classical sculptures like “Venus Italica” are reworked into ball tracks, a pun on the concept of “historic marbles.”
The Order of Issues continues via June 16. See extra on the artist’s web site and Instagram.
Left: “Rimowa Traditional Flight Multiwheel 971.70.00.4” (2013), embossed aluminum, 74.5 x 52 x 26 centimeters. Proper: Element of “Ball Monitor Venus Italica” (2023)
“Untitled (Engraved Helmet)” (2017), embossed aluminum, 14 x 23 x 29 centimeters
Set up view of ‘The Order of Issues’ (2024), gallery of Vénus Italica, Musée d’artwork et d’histoire de Genève. Picture by Stefan Altenburger
“La peur du vide.” Set up view of ‘The Order of Issues’ (2024), gallery of armor, Musée d’artwork et d’histoire de Genève. Picture by Stefan Altenburger
“Le juste retour des choses.” Set up view of ‘The Order of Issues’ (2024), Musée d’artwork et d’histoire de Genève. Picture by Stefan Altenburger
“Case for Moped” (2004), aluminium, laquer, felt, Peugeot Vogue moped, 70 x 175 x 115 centimeters, 100 kilograms
“Nautilus” (2017), laser-cut stainless-steel, 72 x 68 x 32 centimeters
Set up view of ‘The Order of Issues’ (2024), Entrance corridor of Vénus et Adonis, Musée d’artwork et d’histoire de Genève. Picture by Stefan Altenburger
#artwork historical past
#exhibition
#sculpture
#Wim Delvoye
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