Francesco Vezzoli
Madonna piangente con lacrima cubista
“It’s all just a flux to me. A composition always finalised to the last oxymoron, where there is an object in a place where it shouldn’t be. Lost and sliding concepts certainly belong to my work. What is Vezzoli doing, trying to kiss an antique, truly precious statue? However, in this layering of choices, of relations and ramifications there isn’t an intellectual agenda: I do it to learn, to entertain and to amuse myself.”
Donated by the artist. Cotton embroidery on canvas and fabric, 2019, 61 x 51 cm.
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Born in Brescia, in 1971, he lives and works in Milan.
Francesco Vezzoli graduated from the Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design in London in 1995 and later settled in Milan. Inspired by pop icons, television stars and almost forgotten movie stars such as Joan Crawford, Cary Grant and Greta Garbo, his work examines and emulates the communication and production structures of the collective imagination, exploring the power of contemporary popular culture. Vezzoli’s work is therefore a sort of remedy and re-elaboration of the ephemeral media that harnesses the power of language to ponder the ambiguous nature of truth and the fragility of the human soul. Whether it is small-stitch embroidery, photographs, videos or performances inspired by the likes of Gioachino Rossini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Luigi Pirandello and Salvador Dalì, the artist naturally combines fragments of ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, ranging from arthouse cinema, Hollywood films, television productions, art history, fashion and contemporary politics. The work on display depicts an iconic subject: the Virgin Mary, embroidered in colour with a large, black-and-white tear applied to her face.