Prolific Italian curator Francesco Bonami has a penchant for performance. Earlier this month, we saw his his avant-guard work inaugurating Joseph Nahmad's new London space, and this time last year at Luxembourg & Dayan's 'language as artistry' exhibition.
This summer, Luxembourg & Dayan welcome Bonami back, to collaborate on an absurdist, sculpture-as-performance production, 'Melodrama', with 'Act I' taking place in the London space, and 'Act II' to follow in New York.
Wallpaper* was intrigued to know how such an ambitious, two-part show could be realised across continents. 'The difficult thing was to find the right works, and we decided to limit the display to just four in each location,' Bonami explains. 'So they had to be the right ones – works that could eventually compose one single show. But like in a play you can have some characters in the first act and others in the second.'
The London opening introduces a diverse range of objects, or 'characters', spanning the period 1966–2007, setting us up for an absurdist, Beckettian romp. On entering, the audience of gallery-goers is confronted by Maurizio Cattelan’s flailing, headless taxidermied horse. Opposite, Pino Pascali’s dolphin tail, Coda di Delfino, 1966, seems eager to escape through the wings, leaving nothing more than a trace. Alongside these decapitated beasts, we find a series of quiet photographs by Franco Vimercati, from his Ciclo Zuppiera (1983) soup terrine series. This chorus of Italian players is broken by the inclusion of Switzerland's sculpting duo Fischli/Weiss, and their inanimate black rubber Heart, 1987, which lies lifeless on a pedestal at the centre of the space.
The objects are staged in a way in which they can communicate easily. 'If you believe that objects can perform like actors then they will,' Bonami says. 'Look at Vimercati's soup terrine – isn't she like an actress in a neo-realist movie? If Walt Disney had been born in Italy he could have been the curator of a show like this. In his animation movies animals and objects are his actors; humans are marginal in a way'.
The first 'human' element is introduced in Act II, which raises its curtain in New York on 14 July. Vincenzo Gemito's 19th century bronze bust sits in unlikely conversation with another cast bronze piece by Jeff Koons. As yet unnamed work from Urs Fischer and Richard Serra complete the line-up of a truly A-list sculpting cast.
London's 'Act I' introduces a diverse range of objects, setting us up for an absurdist, Beckettian romp. Pictured: Coda di Delfino, by Pino Pascali, 1966. Courtesy Luxembourg & Dayan
Also included is Switzerland's sculpting duo Fischli/Weiss and their inanimate black rubber Heart, 1987, which lies lifeless on a pedestal at the centre of the space
Bonami muses, 'Look at Vimercati's soup terrine (series, pictured) – isn't she like an actress in a neorealist movie? If Walt Disney had been born in Italy he could have been the curator of a show like this. In his animation movies animals and objects are his actors; humans are marginal in a way'
INFORMATION
'Melodrama: Act I' is on view from 24 June – 20 August in London; 'Act II' is on view from 14 July – 17 September in New York. For more information, visit the Luxembourg & Dayan website
Photography: Will Amlot. Courtesy Luxembourg & Dayan
ADDRESS
Luxembourg & Dayan
2 Savile Row
London, W1S 3PA
-
Patek Philippe brings 15 new timepieces to Watches and Wonders 2025The Swiss manufacturer showcases its intricate complications and elegant designs at the annual trade show with a suite of new models
-
Watches & Wonders 2025: preview Richemont’s latest innovations, on show at the Geneva watch fairDiscover eight enticing timepieces from the luxury group, showcased this week at the Geneva fair
-
Masters of midcentury modern design and their creations spotlighted in new book‘Mid-Century Modern Designers’ is a new book from Phaidon celebrating those who shaped the period and their notable creations, from furniture to objects
-
Tom Wesselmann’s 'Up Close' and the anatomy of desireIn a new exhibition currently on show at Almine Rech in London, Tom Wesselmann challenges the limits of figurative painting
-
A major Frida Kahlo exhibition is coming to the Tate Modern next yearTate’s 2026 programme includes 'Frida: The Making of an Icon', which will trace the professional and personal life of countercultural figurehead Frida Kahlo
-
A portrait of the artist: Sotheby’s puts Grayson Perry in the spotlightFor more than a decade, photographer Richard Ansett has made Grayson Perry his muse. Now Sotheby’s is staging a selling exhibition of their work
-
From counter-culture to Northern Soul, these photos chart an intimate history of working-class Britain‘After the End of History: British Working Class Photography 1989 – 2024’ is at Edinburgh gallery Stills
-
Celia Paul's colony of ghostly apparitions haunts Victoria MiroEerie and elegiac new London exhibition ‘Celia Paul: Colony of Ghosts’ is on show at Victoria Miro until 17 April
-
Teresa Pągowska's dreamy interpretations of the female form are in London for the first time‘Shadow Self’ in Thaddaeus Ropac’s 18th-century townhouse gallery in London, presents the first UK solo exhibition of Pągowska’s work
-
Sylvie Fleury's work in dialogue with Matisse makes for a provocative exploration of the female form'Drawing on Matisse, An Exhibition by Sylvie Fleury’ is on show until 2 May at Luxembourg + Co
-
What to see at BFI Flare film festival, 'a rich tapestry of queer experience'As one of the only film festivals to explicitly profile LGBTQI+ cinema, BFI Flare Film Festival remains a unique and beloved event. Here's what to see as it makes its return to London from 19 - 30 March
