The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata

The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata

Fondazione Prada

Nikolai Suetin, Inkwell set, 1923.
Porcelain, polychrome overglaze painting, 12.5 x 15.5 x 14.5 cm.*

June 28, 2012

The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata
Fri, 6 July–Sun, 25 November 2012

Press preview: Thu, 5 July, 5–6pm

Ca’ Corner della Regina
Calle de Ca’ Corner
Santa Croce 2215, 30135 Venezia
Linea 1, San Stae stop
Hours: Daily except Tue, 10–6pm
Ticket office closes at 5:30pm

T +39 02 54670515 (Milan)
T +39 041 8109161 (Venice)
info [​at​] fondazioneprada.org

www.fondazioneprada.org

On Thursday, 5 July, the Fondazione Prada will open the exhibition The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata, curated by Germano Celant, at its Ca’ Corner della Regina space in Venice.

The title of the exhibition, The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata, is a reference to the dream, handed down from the historic avant-gardes to the artists of today, of achieving the democratic dissemination of art through a multiplication of the work of art as object, in order to favor a different perception and use of it from the aesthetic and social standpoint.

Covering a period of 75 years, from 1901 to 1975, the exhibition documents with over six hundred editions, including multiples and prototypes, the transformation of the idea of uniqueness in art and in its perception, through the multiplication not just of the objects themselves but also of the different means used for its distribution in the 20th century, from artist’s books to magazines and from experimental cinema to radio.

This small utopia, born at the beginning of the 20th century out of the attempts by the Russian constructivists and productivists to work with objects of everyday use, such as pottery, and the more individualistic aims of Marcel Duchamp, who reproduced his own works on a reduced scale and assembled them in his Boîte-en-valise, 1941 (three editions of which are presented here), put down deeper roots in the seventies, when the system of art began to spread, on the plane of information and communication, to all levels of society. An adventure in which all the principal movements became caught up, from Italian Futurism to the Bauhaus, from Neoplasticism to Dada and Surrealism, from Nouveau Réalisme to Op Art and Fluxus, culminating in the explosion in multiplication triggered by Pop Art, promoter of a genuine “supermarket” of the art object, translated into book, magazine, can, film, clothing, record, dish, furniture, toy, and many other forms.

Curated by Germano Celant.

Publication
The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata.
Milan, Progetto Prada Art edition

Press Office: T +39 02 54670202/0981 / press [​at​] fondazioneprada.org

*Image above:
Nikolai Suetin, Inkwell set, 1923. Porcelain, polychrome overglaze painting, 12.5 x 15.5 x 14.5 cm. Fondazione Prada, Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata, Venezia. Courtesy V. Tsarenkov Collection, London. © Nikolai Suetin by SIAE 2012.

 

 

The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata at Fondazione Prada
Advertisement
RSVP
RSVP for The Small Utopia. Ars Multiplicata
Fondazione Prada
June 28, 2012

Thank you for your RSVP.

Fondazione Prada will be in touch.

Subscribe

e-flux announcements are emailed press releases for art exhibitions from all over the world.

Agenda delivers news from galleries, art spaces, and publications, while Criticism publishes reviews of exhibitions and books.

Architecture announcements cover current architecture and design projects, symposia, exhibitions, and publications from all over the world.

Film announcements are newsletters about screenings, film festivals, and exhibitions of moving image.

Education announces academic employment opportunities, calls for applications, symposia, publications, exhibitions, and educational programs.

Sign up to receive information about events organized by e-flux at e-flux Screening Room, Bar Laika, or elsewhere.

I have read e-flux’s privacy policy and agree that e-flux may send me announcements to the email address entered above and that my data will be processed for this purpose in accordance with e-flux’s privacy policy*

Thank you for your interest in e-flux. Check your inbox to confirm your subscription.