GREED, A New Fragrance by Francesco Vezzoli
GREED, A New Fragrance by Francesco Vezzoli – Gagosian Gallery
February 6 – March 21, 2009
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Gagosian Gallery is pleased to present GREED, A New Fragrance by Francesco Vezzoli, the artist’s latest work that replicates the strategy and aesthetics of a commercial perfume launch
Just as Marcel Duchamp created Belle Haleine: Eau de Voilette in 1921 using a Rigaud perfume bottle with an altered label, Francesco Vezzoli has created a signature perfume for the contemporary moment. Greed’s label features Vezzoli in drag, photographed by Francesco Scavullo, where Duchamp appeared on his perfume bottle as Rrose Sélavy, photographed by Man Ray. The bottle of perfume is accompanied by a 60-second commercial for the perfume — directed by Roman Polanski and starring Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams — as well as a new series of needlework portraits of leading female figures in art history – including Tamara de Lempicka, Eva Hesse, Leonor Fini – as immortalized endorsements of Vezzoli’s fragrance.
Vezzoli has staged his ongoing preoccupation with the fundamental ambiguity of truth, the seductive powers of language, and the instability of the human persona in a series of works that explore the undisputed power of contemporary media culture. Recent productions include Non-Love Meetings (2004), a pilot show for a reality dating game that will never go to air, inspired by a documentary by Pier Paolo Pasolini and starring Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau and Marianne Faithful; Trailer for a remake of Gore Vidal’s Caligula (2005), a Hollywood movie that will never be made, starring Gore Vidal, Helen Mirren, and Courtney Love, among others; Democrazy (2007), a tele-campaign for two candidates who will never be elected, starring Sharon Stone and Bernard-Henri Lévy; and a single live staging of Luigi Pirandello’s Così è (se vi pare), the premiere of a play that will never run, starring Cate Blanchett and a host of top-billed New York stage actors.
Francesco Vezzoli was born in 1971, in Brescia, Italy. He studied at the Central St. Martin’s School of Art in London from 1992 to 1995. His work has been exhibited at many institutions including: Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2002); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2004 and 2005); Museu Serralves, Porto (2005); Le Consortium, Dijon (2006); and the Power Plant, Toronto (2007). Vezzoli’s work has also been featured in the 26th São Paulo Biennial (2004); the 51st Venice Biennale (2005); the Whitney Biennial (2006); and the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007). He currently lives and works in Milan
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