This exhibition is the first retrospective held in Italy on Franz West (1947), universally acknowledged as Austria's greatest living artist
West’s approach to sculpture was a reaction to Viennese actionism and the post-war European abstraction. His signature papier-mâché sculptures on their bases, pedestals or tables combine three-dimensional anthropomorphical shapes with colourful gestual abstract painting. Apart from these “independent” sculptures, West is well-known for his furniture design, providing space to sit, contemplate or simply relax. Franz West philosophy is that a work does not have a meaning or a function in itself, but in its perception and the different reactions it arouses. This is what the artist defines as the “participatory model”. His work always draws its viewers into a dialogue. Art is a combination of 2 elements: the object and the action. The exhibition, organised in close collaboration with the artist himself, is enriched by works on loan from private collections and museums from all over the world.