Dysfunctional Ca'd'Oro di Venezia

La suggestiva Ca'd'Oro  uno dei palazzi tardogotici più prestigiosi di Venezia e sede della Galleria Giorgio Franchetti, ospiterà la mostra dei Carpenters Workshop Gallery, realizzata in collaborazione con la banca privata svizzera Lombard Odier.

L'evento propone una serie di artisti affermati e emergenti che che operano sulla fra arte, architettura e design. 

Lavori che si legano all'ambiente storico del palazzo dialogando fra presente e passato, nel segno della ricercatezza e della maestria tecnica. 


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Carpenters Workshop Gallery will present new collectible design in partnership with Lombard Odier. Set in the Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro, the works are in dialogue with its Italian master collection and architecture. DYSFUNCTIONAL breaks the boundaries between art and design, showcasing over 30 works by 21 international artists. The exhibition seeks to forget functionality whilst celebrating the power of artistic expression and extraordinary craftsmanship. Carpenters Workshop Gallery provides a platform for new site-specific works to complement the Renaissance and Baroque collection of baron Giorgio Franchetti which is on permanent display at the Ca’ d’Oro.

Throughout the four-storey palazzo, named after the gilded quatrefoils which once adorned the façade, the sculptures are displayed to create a sense of wonder and discovery, celebrating the venues rich history. Fragile Future 3 (2019) by Studio Drift will form a frame of light around Andrea Mantegna’s painting San Sebastian (1506), which is the heart of the museum’s collection and for which Franchetti purposely built a chapel decorated with marble. The contemporary chandelier, which is made of fragile dandelion seeds and LEDs, invites the viewer to rethink our connection with nature. Daring to Go through The Door (2019) by Vincent Dubourg will interact with the Patera of the permanent collection, a bas-relief created to ward off bad spirits. Working for the first time with clay, the artist randomly places paper-like layers of clay to form a door that obscures the view. Ode (2019), a 17-metre-long wall made of recycled fiberglass and silver plated brass by Vincenzo De Cotiis, works as an archaic architectural gesture and conceptualizes space. The sculpture is megalithic and sits as an echo to the existing artworks it is surrounded by.

In the monumental 15th century courtyard, visitors can walk through a forest of light by Nacho Carbonell. The golden shimmering texture of his tree-like, organic sculptures reference the gilt and polychrome decorations. Similarly, the patina of Ingrid Donat’s Klimt Cabinet (2017) refers to the palazzo’s former golden decorations, while its openwork facade was inspired by the patterns of Venetian stained-glass windows and Burano lace. Bringing Venice’s magical atmosphere inside, the Verhoeven Twins will transform with Piaget the First Floor Lodge with Moments of Happiness (2019), a mystical constellation of feather-light and supple impressions of bubbles, whose iridescent surfaces reflect and refract light around the room. Frederik Molenschot’s latest iteration of his Citylight (2011-19) series is inspired by moving lights during midnight strolls and references the gilded history of the Ca’ d’Oro.

Some of the exhibiting artists took inspiration from Venice’s canals. With Ocean Memories Acqua Alta (2019), Mathieu Lehanneur pays homage to Venice by working from green marble and granite whose shades echo the waves of the nearby lagoon. The two coffee tables and seven stools will surround the Venus sculpture. Inspired by the tide peaks which regularly affect Venetian life, Virgil Abloh’s Acqua Alta (2019) resembles a sinking installation which acts as a time stamp in history that invites us to ponder not only the fate of Venice but of the planet, due to rising sea levels. Raising awareness of plastic pollution, Stuart Haygarth’s Tide Colour (2005) is made of plastic objects found on the British coastline.

Joep Van Lieshout looks at the role of the artist in his series RENEGADE (2019). He rejects the labels artist and designer and turns any object that he gets his hands on – even his own existing sculptures - into lamps, making every work as valuable or invaluable as the other. Elsewhere, the self-portrait Real Time (2019) by Maarten Baas shows the artist in his atelier indicating the time. Created specifically for this exhibition in Leonardo da Vinci’s homeland, exactly 500 years after he passed away, this work references the Vitruvian Man, while Baas addresses different aspects of passing time: getting older, moving forward and looking back. DYSFUNCTIONAL seeks to forget function whilst celebrating the power of artistic expression. The idea of dysfunction, defined as ‘the disruption of normal social relations’, invites visitors to rethink the conventional relationship between form and function, art and design, the historical and the modern.

Rick Owens presents Double Bubble (2013), one of his most popular works in collaboration with Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Whilst his creative partner, Michele Lamy, brings a new large-scale curatorial work to the inner courtyard. RANDOM INTERNATIONAL present the largest-ever iteration of Audience (2008-2019), consisting of 128 interactive mirrors. Their playful work explores the scrutiny of the mechanical gaze, and the reciprocity of the viewer and machine. Venice, once the epicentre of looking-glass manufacture, is the perfect setting for such a piece. Nearby, Charles Trevelyan’s Outside Within (2012) and Circumspect (2015) demonstrate his mastery of the duality between form and function, much like the Venetian Gothic surrounds in which they sit. Inspired by this illustrious location, Studio Job’s Sinking Ship (2015) ponders, with their characteristic humour, the inevitable downfall of even the most advanced and luxurious of human endeavours. Finally, in this museum that features an abundance of old masters, the modern maestro of collectible design, Wendell Castle, is represented by Above and Beyond(2014), one of just a few of his sculptures ever to be cast in bronze.

Throughout the Ca’ d’Oro, Danish design and audio brand Bang & Olufsen has curated a selection of their prime Beoplay A9 speakers adding to the atmosphere and ambience of the exhibition.

During the Vernissage Week, Carpenters Workshop Gallery is hosting The Design Edit Talks: Wednesday, 8 May, 9.30am: ‘The Art of Authenticity’ Discussion on the evolving marriage between contemporary artists and luxury brands. With the Verhoeven Twins and Chabi Nouri (CEO of Piaget), moderated by Rebecca Anne Proctor (Editor in chief of Harper’s Bazaar Interiors) Wednesday, 8 May, 11am: ‘Cutting-Edge Design and the New Technologies’ How have new technologies transformed the practices and stimulated the imaginations of contemporary designers? With Studio Drift, Random International, Mathieu Lehanneur, Verhoeven Twins, and Jakob Kristoffersen (Senior Manager, Bang & Olufsen). Moderated by the journalists Caroline Roux and Emma Crichton-Miller. Thursday, 9 May, 11am: ‘Form or Function?’ When does collectable design become sculpture? With Joep Van Lieshout, Frederik Molenschot, Nacho Carbonell, Maarten Baas and Studio Job. Moderated by the journalists Caroline Roux and Emma Crichton-Miller. Friday, 10 May, 11am: ‘Classicism and Innovation: the dialogue between the past and the present’ How do these artists balance a regard for tradition with a desire to speak to the present? With Ingrid Donat, Vincent Dubourg, Vincenzo De Cotiis, Charles Trevelyan and Stuart Haygarth. Moderated by the journalists Caroline Roux and Emma Crichton-Miller. Alongside Lombard Odier and Bang & Olufsen, the exhibition is kindly supported by Piaget and Ruinart.