The Fine Arts of Fondazione Prada
by Martina Galletti
It almost feels like walking onto a movie-set or perhaps even an ancient place wrapped in the atmosphere of a bygone age. Beyond the walls surrounding Milan’s former distillery (the Societa’ Italiana Spiriti), the new headquarters of Fondazione Prada now stand tall. As I walk through the gates, I can still feel the quiet yet relentless swarming of over four hundred workers on what, not very long ago, was still a building site on Largo Isarco, between via Ripamonti and Corso Lodi, an up and coming area of Milan.
The smell of paint is still fresh and my attention is immediately captured by an unfinished tower and a solid gold-coloured building (the so-called Haunted House). Not too far from this is a sequence of open yet intimate spaces, a series of old and new structures where traditional elements such as wood and travertine blend with elegant, state of the art materials like the aluminium foam which covers most of the buildings.
The entire project bears the signature of architect Rem Koolhass, founder of Dutch studio OMA and winner of the Pritzker Prize (the Nobel Prize for architecture). Despite my skepticism (to me, his involvement in the project sounded more like an omen for a high-tech, futuristic, monster rather than a quality mark), I was quick to change my mind as I found myself in a space where richness and variety are never overpowering or an end in themselves; rather, they are instrumental to creating a public space which stimulates a continuous intellectual process.
Fondazione Prada, Photo by Giulio Ghirardi
Fondazione Prada consists of seven pre-existing buildings and three new ones (the Podium, the Torre and the Cinema), all hosting different art exhibitions. ‘Serial Classic’, an exhibition curated by archaeologist Salvatore Settis explores the relationship between originality and imitation in ancient Roman art and acts as a conceptual link between the Milan headquarters of the Fondazione and those in Venice. It represents a cultured, yet slightly ironic reflection on how common the practice of copying ancient master pieces was in the late Roman Republic. Featuring many well-known pieces – from the Discobolus and the Crouching Venus to the Kassel Apollo – the exhibition is a reminder of the power of Antiquity to die and to rise from its own ashes.
The private collection of the Prada family (together with other pieces lent by some of the most prestigious museums in the world) occupies the Galleria Nord and the Galleria Sud, stretching out to the Deposito, a large warehouse marking the boundaries of the West side of the Fondazione. Here, the focus is on the 1960s, from Neo-Dada to Minimal Art.
Further North is ‘In Part’, an exhibition centred around the theme of body fragments, an idea which can be found in the work of a range of artists, from Fontana’s sculptures, to Baldessari and Vezzoli’s representation of ancient ruins, from Copley’s and Gnoli’s use of close-ups in the creation of their paintings to Klein’s unifinished silhouettes.
The Cisterna, an impressive pre-existing building comprising three large, high ceilinged spaces, hosts ‘Trittico’, the presentation of three conceptually linked pieces. The first one focuses on the geometric shape of the cube with a sensational installation by Damien Hirst representing a doctor’s surgery placed inside a giant underwater cube filled with colourful tropical fish; in the room nearby, creating a strong contrast with this contemporary installation, is Pino Pascali’s Arte Povera with “1 Metro Cubo di Terra”, (1967).
Fondazione Prada, Photo by Giulio Ghirardi
All buildings see their image reflected in the mirror-like surfaces of the walls of the Cinema, currently screening ‘Roman Polanski: My Inspiration’, a documentary about the movies which inspired the director’s work throughout his career. The Cinema will also soon be joined by a library and next to it, catering for the very young, will be the Accademia dei Bambini (The Academy of Children) a project led by Giannerra Ottilia Latis in partnership with the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles under the direction of Cédric Libert ed Elias Guenoun.
Fondazione Prada, Photo by Giulio Ghirardi
Last but not least, is the renowned Bar Luce, a captivating space designed by film director Wes Anderson featuring his distinctive colour palette, a pinball and jukebox. Here, the most intriguing aspect which probably would go unnoticed by most visitors, is the fact that the space is a faithful reproduction of a typical bar from the well-to-do Milan of the 1950’s and 1960’s, with its tall counter and its seminato veneziano (marble aggregate) floor.
In conclusion, we can only say that we wholeheartedly agree with the words of the founders Fabrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada urging us to say “no” to the chronic pessimism of Italy. Fondazione Prada is a living example of Italy’s fine art and a precious gift to Milan. It’s a place where the focus is on ideas and on the way in which humanity has transformed them into specific disciplines: literature, cinema, music, science, art and philosophy.
Fondazione Prada, Photo by Giulio Ghirardi
Fine art is in perpetual movement; that very same art that Immanuel Kant, the Eighteenth Century philosopher, defines as the ‘art of genius’ and ‘aesthetic ideas’; those representations of human imagination that despite being incredibly thought provoking cannot be fully pinned down or described by a single thought. And it is for this reason that art transcends every meaning and has the ability to express all that cannot be expressed.
Fondazione Prada is not a place where experiencing art becomes a chore; it’s not a place which is exclusively geared towards art lovers or those working in the field. Instead, it’s a place which celebrates a pleasant game between sensitivity and intellect which, as Kant would say, is the root of pleasure and beauty.
fondazioneprada.org
Text by Martina Galletti
Photos by Giulio Ghirardi
http://www.collectortribune.com/2015/07/11/the-fine-arts-of-fondazione-prada/
