Thomas Demand Con Caruso St. John Architetti a Palazzo Pitti

Galleria d’Arte, Palazzo Pitti
Florence, Italy
2001

This exhibition was a collaboration between the artist and the architects at the Galleria d’Arte, Palazzo Pitti. The gallery is a suite of highly ornate rooms on the top floor of the Palazzo, originally decorated for the receptions and parties of the King of Italy. The installation required the almost impossible task of situating the artist’s works within the highly decorated interior, which could not be touched and provided no surfaces for mounting wall-based work.

The artist’s works are mounted on panels, sitting on large pieces of veneered furniture placed around the edges of the rooms. The height of the furniture relates to the height of the plinths and columnar divisions of the wall decoration, and the pieces are very large so as to appear fixed and integral to the space of the room. The vivid colours and glossy surfaces of the works are held in the room by the rich dark tones of their plinths.