24th May – 1st November 2009
Villa Pisani Stra

Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Jannis Kounellis, Richard Long, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Luigi Ontani, Mimmo PALADINO, Giuseppe Penone, Michelangelo Pistoletto. These are the not-to-be-missed artists who will be present with their works of art at Villa Pisani from 24th May to 1st November 2009 for the “Classics of the Contemporary” exhibition. In a constant dialogue between Classic and Contemporary the spaces of the Museo Nazionale Villa Pisani at Stra (Venice), will host the installations by the ten involved artists, through an itinerary enlightening the most evocative corners of the Villa, from Tiepolo’s Salone to the Stables, the Orangerie and the boxwood maze. The huge Garden is involved too.

The event,  conceived as a succession of appearances of the ten great masters invited, represents a moment of reflection on the role of “the Classical” in the work of contemporary artists and lets us trace the wire connecting the contemporary avant-garde with the classic style that has shaped the forms of Villa Pisani. Mimmo Paladino will welcome visitors in the entrance hall with his big circle, which was displayed at Ara Pacis in Rome in 2008 and is made according to the lines of the ‘Mazzocchio’ by Paolo Uccello. The maze is the context in which Jannis Kounellis, with a work realized on such purpose,  traces his Arianna’s wire, whereas Maris Merz ‘changes skin’ at the Coffee House, on a site-specific work among sculptures and designs. Underneath the majestic dome of the Esedra, Anselm Kiefer will place a mysterious cage keeping a pile of lead books, which stands as the presence of ancient culture and memory, whereas among the columns of the Stables there will be the ‘endless void’ of Anish Kapoor’s sculpture. In the interiors of the Villa Pisani, the great Love Difference Table by Michelangelo Pistoletto will mirror the fresco of the “Triumph of the Pisani” by Gianbattista Tiepolo. Around the table, in the shape of the Mediterranean, there will be chairs from the countries facing the basin, in the cultural field of which the idea of Classic is continually brought into question.

These and all the other original and evocative works of art are waiting for you at Villa Pisani in Stra until 1st November 2009.
Opening time:
From 23rd May to 30th September from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m.
From 1st October to 1st November from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
Closed on Mondays.

Admittance: Full price Euro 10,00; Reduced admission Euro 7,50