From the abyss of the Indian Ocean, the extraordinary treasure of Cif Amotan II on display at Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, Venice
Damien Hirst
10. April – 3 December 2017
‘Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable’. It is the first major solo exhibition dedicated to Damien Hirst in Italy since the 2004 retrospective at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples (“The Agony and Ecstasy”) and is curated by Elena Geuna, curator of the monographic shows dedicated to Rudolf Stingel (2013) and Sigmar Polke (2016) presented at Palazzo Grassi.
The exhibition is displayed across 5,000 square meters of museum space and marks the first time that Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, the two Venetian venues of the Pinault Collection, are both dedicated to a single artist.
Damien Hirst’s most ambitious and complex project to date, ‘Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable’ has been almost ten years in the making. Exceptional in scale and scope, the exhibition tells the story of the ancient wreck of a vast ship, the ‘Unbelievable’ (Apistos in the original Koine Greek), and presents what was discovered of its precious cargo: the impressive collection of Aulus Calidius Amotan – a freed slave better known as Cif Amotan II – which was destined for a temple dedicated to the sun.
Damien Hirst, ‘The Warrior and the Bear’. Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2017
THE WARRIOR AND THE BEAR / This monumental sculpture relates to the ancient Greek maturation ritual of arkteia, which involved groups of Athenian girls imitating she-bears, whilst dancing and performing sacrifices. This act of sanctioned wildness served to appease Artemis – goddess of the hunt – following the Athenians’ slaying of a bear. While the practice of arkteia was intended to expel the animalistic qualities of a woman’s nature in preparation for a life of domesticity, this figure subverts the tradition by celebrating the ferocity that inhered within the goddess. The sculpture’s exceptional detail – now partially obscured by coral growths – was achieved using the lost-wax casting method, the principles of which have remained largely unchanged for over 5,000 years. The technique requires the manufacture of full-scale models to create an impression in a mould, which then receives the molten metal. Lost-wax casting is thought to have emerged in the Middle East during the late fifth millennium BCE, before independently appearing among numerous geographically-disparate regions such as Egypt, China and Peru.
BIOGRAPHY Damien Hirst was born in 1965 in Bristol and grew up in Leeds. He studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths college from 1986 to 1989, and whilst in his second year, he conceived and curated the group exhibition, ‘Freeze’. The show is commonly acknowledged to have been the launching point not only for Hirst, but for a generation of British artists. Damien Hirst lives and works in London and Gloucester. Since the late 1980s, Hirst has used a varied practice of installation, sculpture, painting and drawing to explore the complex relationships between art, beauty, religion, science, life and death. Through work that includes the iconic shark in formaldehyde, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991) and For the Love of God (2007), a platinum cast of a skull set with 8,601 flawless pavé-set diamonds, he investigates and challenges contemporary belief systems, and dissects the uncertainties at the heart of human experience. Since 1987, over 90 solo Damien Hirst exhibitions have taken place worldwide, and he has been included in over 300 group shows. In 2012, Tate Modern, London presented a major retrospective survey of Hirst’s work in conjunction with the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Hirst’s other solo exhibitions include Qatar Museums Authority, ALRIWAQ Doha (2013-2014); Palazzo Vecchio, Florence (2010); Oceanographic Museum, Monaco (2010); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (2008); Astrup Fearnley Museet fur Moderne Kunst, Oslo (2005); Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples (2004), amongst others. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1995.
CASA DELLE PAROLE
ROBERTO CUOGHI
DAWSON CITY – FROZENTIME
LA CULTURA INTRASFORMAZIONE
FESTIVAL DEI MATTI
TREASURES FROM THE WRECK OF THE UNBELIEVABLE
On Wednesdays, entrance is be free for the residents in the city of Venice, upon presentation of the ID card.
The exhibition will remain open until December 3, 2017.
Open daily from 10am to 7pm (last entry at 6pm). Closed on Tuesday
Every Saturday
3pm at Punta della Dogana
5pm at Palazzo Grassi
The visitors are invited to follow free guided tours in Italian to discover the exhibition Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable
http://www.palazzograssi.it/en/events/all/saturday-free-guided-tour-italian/
Opening hours of Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana until 3 December 2017:
Open daily 10am – 7pm
Closed Tuesday
Last entry at 6pm
The Teatrino di Palazzo Grassi hosts cultural events the whole year.
PALAZZO GRASSI S.P.A
P.IVA 01959810274
SAN SAMUELE 3231
30124 VENEZIA, ITALIA
http://www.palazzograssi.it/en/events/calendar/
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