Many perfumiers might consider their fragrances to be a work of art but few would go as far as to put them in a gallery as the subject of an exhibition. This is precisely what Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli’s latest project is about though, and the irreverence is very much the point.
An imagined portrait of Lee Miller for Greed
The artist has created a non-existent fragrance called ‘Greed’, together with an advertising campaign that includes a 60-second, Roman Polanski-directed commercial, starring Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams. The bottle’s label features Vezzoli dressed in drag and a series of portraits of leading females from the history of art endorsing the fragrance.
A still from Roman Polanski’s commercial
‘Greed’ comes as the latest in Vezzoli’s series of subversive digs at the shallowness of the commercial world. Previous swipes include ‘Non-Love Meetings’ (2004), a pilot show for a reality dating show that never aired starring Catherine Deneuve and Marianne Faithful; ‘Trailer for a remake of Gore Vidal’s Caligula’ (2005) for a film that was never made, starring Helen Mirren and Courtney Love; and ‘Democrazy’ (2007), a campaign for two political candidates that would never be elected, staring Sharon Stone and Bernard-Henri Levy.
We quizzed the artist on his fascination with truth and the power of contemporary media culture.
Was the idea for Greed based on Marcel Duchamp’s Eau de Violette?
Yes definetly
Is there a message behind the project?
Not really, just the immodest attempt to mirror society’s silliest vices and devices
Why did you decide on the name Greed?
A wink to the erich von stroheim famous movie
What would Greed smell like?
GREED smells like nothing…BUT nothing smells like GREED
What is the idea behind the advertisement?
Usually there is lack of ideas behind advertisements….
How did you choose Roman Polanski, Michelle Williams and Nathalie Portman for it?
Simply because Polanski could be easily named the greatest living movie director in the world and Natalie and Michelle are among the finest and most beautiful actresses , but further more among the very few that have never endorsed or advertised a perfume.
Do you want people to purchase Greed as a work of art or as a perfume?
I don’t care about sales, I want to see hysteria for GREED
What fragrance do you wear yourself?
The smell of my own sweat
ADDRESS
Gagosian Gallery
Via Francesco Crispi 16
00187 Rome
-
Discover a futuristic bar in Shanghai with mad-scientist energyPenicillin opens in Shanghai with a clinical steel and concrete design by LC Studio alongside its trailblazing, sustainable cocktails
-
This cardboard and rope chair seeks to redemocratise design with ‘joyful frugality’Wallpaper* speaks to architect Nipun Prabhakar of Dhammada Collective about the studio’s latest project, ‘Paper Tube, an open-source chair made from discarded cardboard tubes and rope
-
The Sinclair name is back, attached to a pocket-sized games console with an educational edgeGrant Sinclair’s name is freighted with early computing history. Wallpaper* tapped up the British inventor to find out more about his new GamerCard console and other innovation
-
What to see at Rencontres d’Arles 2025, questioning power structures in the state and familySuppressed memories resurface in sharply considered photography at Rencontres d'Arles 2025. Here are some standout photographers to see
-
‘With a small gesture of buying a postcard, we all become copyists’: the Louvre’s celebration of copying speaks to human natureContemporary artists are invited to copy works from the Louvre in a celebration of the copyist’s art, a collaboration with Centre Pompidou-Metz
-
The glory years of the Cannes Film Festival are captured in a new photo book‘Cannes’ by Derek Ridgers looks back on the photographer's time at the Cannes Film Festival between 1984 and 1996
-
Technology, art and sculptures of fog: LUMA Arles kicks off the 2025/26 seasonThree different exhibitions at LUMA Arles, in France, delve into history in a celebration of all mediums; Amy Serafin went to explore
-
Contemporary artist collective Poush takes over Château La CosteMembers of Poush have created 160 works, set in and around the grounds of Château La Coste – the art, architecture and wine estate in Provence
-
Architecture, sculpture and materials: female Lithuanian artists are celebrated in NîmesThe Carré d'Art in Nîmes, France, spotlights the work of Aleksandra Kasuba and Marija Olšauskaitė, as part of a nationwide celebration of Lithuanian culture
-
‘Who has not dreamed of seeing what the eye cannot grasp?’: Rencontres d’Arles comes to the south of FranceLes Rencontres d’Arles 2024 presents over 40 exhibitions and nearly 200 artists, and includes the latest iteration of the BMW Art Makers programme
-
Van Gogh Foundation celebrates ten years with a shape-shifting drone display and The Starry NightThe Van Gogh Foundation presents ‘Van Gogh and the Stars’, anchored by La Nuit Etoilée, which explores representations of the night sky, and the 19th-century fascination with the cosmos
