The Battle between Carnival and Feast

During the 2019 seasonal opening of the permanent exhibition at the Palazzo Cini Gallery, a contemporary art show dedicated to Adrian Ghenie will also be staged. Produced in collaboration with the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, the exhibition will be installed on the second floor of the house-museum in Campo San Vio. Around ten paintings have been specifically created for this project. Inspired by Dutch painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Battle between Carnival and Lent, the title also suggests a link with the city of Venice through the reference to Carnival. In his approach to the series, the artist thus clearly looks to tradition but does so without forgoing an interest in contemporary events. Characterised by an experimental use of colour with strong physical material connotations, Ghenie’s paintings depict personalities whose actions have influenced and continue to influence the course of the history of the world. Born in Baia Mare, Romania, in 1977, Adrian Ghenie currently lives and works in Berlin. His show in the Romanian pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale brought him international renown and his works are now on display in major museums and galleries, such as the Centre Pompidou, Paris, the Tate Modern, London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The bilingual (Italian and English) exhibition catalogue includes an introductory conversation between the director of the Institute of Art History, Luca Massimo Barbero, and the artist.