Have you ever felt electrified by art? Well these street artists electrified the city with their works of art on electrical boxes in Milan! Each box creates its own unique scene ranging from an aquatic environment, the man from Oz or even a box of french fries.
La Mela Reintegrata // Michelangelo Pistoletto // 2015
Street art is all around. You just have to take the time to slow down and look. Works can be painted high on the wall, on the ground, on street signs or be large sculptures in the middle of a square. While I was in Milan these were some of the street artworks I discovered on my journey.
In a sea of concrete is a bright gold colored building. Known as the Haunted House at the Prada Foundation, this building houses works by two artists: Louise Bourgeois and Robert Gober. With only a few visitors allowed to enter each hour, the Haunted House is not to be missed. A narrow cage like stairway ushers visitors to explore the rooms above.
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois
Robert Gober
Robert Gober
A former royal palace during the Sforza Dynasty, the Palazzo Reale has been transformed into an exhibition center open to the public. Showcasing a wide range of artistic periods, the exhibition 2050: A Brief History of the Future is currently on view. Taken from the book 2050: A Brief History of the Future by Jacques Attali, artists such as Chris Burden, David LaChapelle and Sugimoto explore what our future might look like.
The Seven Heavenly Palaces // Anselm Kiefer // 2015
On permanent display at the Pirelli Hangar Bicocca are Anslem Kiefer’s The Seven Heavenly Palaces. Each tower was constructed with shipping crates and weighs approximately 90 tons and ranges from 14-18 meters tall. The seven towers were inspired by the Hebrew Treatise “The Book of Palaces / Sanctuaries” which was written in the 4 or 5th century. Despite being completely safe, these towers appear as though they could topple by even the slightest wind or shake. Visitors are invited to walk around and through these colossal structures, staring up in awe of the tower that stretches above them.
Empty frame of Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet (1890) // Sampling Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main cornice
The exhibition L’Image Volée at the Prada Foundation is a group show curated by one of the artists, Thomas Demand. Categorized into three sections, the exhibition explores the themes of stolen art and images. Whilst some artists steal or alter existing art to make new works, other artists take images from the public, such as television clips and security cameras, as the basis for an artistic piece. The works in this exhibition are sure to steal your breath away.
Slashed canvas // Francis Bacon // Collection Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Dublin
Concetto spaziale, Attese // Lucio Fontana — Hisachika Takahashi // 1966 // oil on canvas // Private collection, Milan
Poster // Lucian Freud // 1988 // ink on paper // Frankfurt am Main
In the center of Milan stands the Nuovecento Museum. The tall blue windows enable the visitors to view the Duomo and surrounding piazza. Specializing in 20th century Italian art, the Nuovcento showcases artists such as Mario Merz, Gino Marotta and Lucio Fontana. These are some of my favorite works from the permanent collection.
Lucio Fontana
Magnetic Surface // Davide Boriani // electrical mechanism in aluminium, glass, iron dust, magnets & 220 volt electrical micro-motor // 1959-1964
Zebra (Fibonacci) // Mario Merz // stuffed animal, 12 neon numbers // 1973
Modular Nature // Gino Marotta // Screen print on transparent methacrylate, 6 elements, variable dimensions // 1966
Untitled // Jannis Kounellis // untreated iron, jute, travertine, limonite // 1988
Perhaps the most talked about work of art in Goshka Macuga’s exhibition To the Son of Man Who Ate the Scroll at the Prada Foundation is the life-size android. The android was designed by Macuga and built by A Lab in Japan. It speaks and gestures to visitors recounting various famous speeches. While completely mesmerizing, this is only on the first floor. The top floor of the exhibition contains even more robots. Five brightly colored tables topped with paper are evenly dispersed. Some tables contain nude figures after sex, while others contain little statuettes. But what all five tables have in common are intricate paper drawings. An explanation is offered on the last table when visitors can see two little robots drawing the pictures on the table. Macuga questions human existence, and uses robots to do so.
In the courtyard of the Palazzo Reale, visitors are invited to take a seat in one of the bright red chairs. The chairs are part of the Milan Pavilion for the XXI Triennial di Milano International Exhibition. Designed by Attilio Stocchi in response to the theme Labor after Labor, Stocchi used cherry red beams to construct a cloud-like structure above a seating area. There are screens with speakers scattered around the plaza allowing for the sounds of horses, construction and voices to be heard. The chairs are strategically placed far apart from each other so visitors are encouraged to sit alone and reflect upon what they hear and see.
Y // Carsten Höller // 2003
Walking into Carsten Höller’s exhibition Doubt at the Pirelli Hangar Bicocca you are immediately confronted with a decision. Should you take the green path that goes left or the yellow path to the right? Once you enter the door you walk up a ramp, turn the corner and hit complete darkness. You can’t help but think if you chose the right path. You begin to doubt yourself but continue on using your hands to feel your way through. After what seems an eternity you walk into what seems to be an indoor carnival. There is a carousel and a flying machine. At the end of the room is a white strobe light corridor that leads you to another room. As if it couldn’t get any more intriguing you see two empty beds moving around the space. If you are feeling adventurous you can spend the night in the bed and have the carnival all to yourself for the evening. Then, instead of leaving, you take the path back and enter through the other door, allowing you to experience both tunnels. Without a doubt this was one of my favorite exhibitions.
Double Carousel // Carsten Höller // 2011
Carsten Höller
Two Roaming Beds (Grey) // Carsten Höller // 2015
Art?! 