The Artist is Present exhibition opened yesterday in Shanghai and it’s the result of a collaboration between Gucci and Maurizio Cattelan to pay homage to the art of copying. After all, who better than the Maison famous for its kitsch choices and for appropriating both sacred and profane images, and the Italian artist used to quoting works of classical art but also of pop culture to create an entire exhibition that celebrates the copy.
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The title chosen already takes up that of the famous Marina Abramovic’s performance at MoMA in 2010, which has also become the protagonist of the murals created to sponsor the Shanghai exhibition.
The exhibition’s catalog, The New Work Times, is a copy of the well-known The New York Times. This too, curated by Cattelan, will contain stories and essays, daily news and advertisements, scattered with facts and curiosities.
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Finally, the exhibition itself consists of a series of works by more than 30 artists selected by the Italian artist and Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele. The aim is to explore the age in which we live, in which everything is reproduced and the sacred principles of art in the modern era have fallen: originality, intention, expression. The exhibition aims to demonstrate how reproduction can be considered a product of original art and how copies help to preserve the originals over time.
The exhibition will remain open at the Yuz Museum in Shanghai until December 16.
Kapwani Kiwanga
Xu Zhen
Maurizio Cattelan
Josh Kline
Andy Hung Chi-Kin
Wim Delvoye
