artempo

My favorite Venetian experience was ~ hands down ~ a visit to Palazzo Fortuny and the special exhibition, Artempo: Where Time Becomes Art (9 June - 7 October 2007).

The Palazzo Fortuny is wonderful in its own right ~ originally owned by the Pesaro family, it was acquired by the designer Mariano Fortuny at the turn of the 19th century, and became his painting, photography, and design studio. Located in the Campo San Beneto, the Gothic palazzo is still filled with many of Fortuny’s silk and velvet wall hangings, paintings, furnishings, curios, and design books.

The palazzo is temporarily home to Artempo, an exhibition curated by the art dealer and collector, Axel Vervoordt. The show features work by over 80 modern and contemporary artists, including Pablo Picasso, Lucio Fontana, Anish Kapoor, James Turell and others, juxtaposed with art and objects from throughout time. Most objects are drawn from Vervoordt’s own collection and the collections of the Musei Civici Veneziani, along with significant loans from other international public and private collections. All of these things (from the wonderful to the bizarre) are set within and without the context of Palazzo Fortuny. It is a truly different kind of exhibition experience.

Photographs were not allowed inside (though, again, I did manage to sneak a few), so I have augmented what I have with a press image from the show. For more see here.

(bottom image: courtesy Musei Civici Veneziani)