Federico Solmi

Exhibition Dates:
April 18th - July 28th

Exhibition Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday
11:00am - 7:00pm
Free Admission

Presented by The Phillips Collection, Thoma Foundation, and Var Digital Art by Var Group, the exhibition by the Italian artist premieres in the Palazzo Donà dalle Rose

New York, February 15, 2024 – Examining ideas of power and contemporary culture, SOLMI – Ship of Fools opens April 18, 2024 in Venice, Italy, concurrent with the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition spotlights new and recent video works, large-scale mixed media paintings, pastel drawings, ceramics, oleographic sculpture, and a virtual reality experience, culminating in a “total work” of art, choreographed by Solmi. Using state of the art technology, the immersive, all-encompassing environment also features a monumental holographic projection that creates a mirage within the Palazzo, both creating dialogue with and defying the historical environment in which it is situated. 

The project is guided by the curatorial insights of art historians Dorothy Kosinski, Phillips Collection Director Emerita, and Renato Miracco. In addition to writings by Kosinski and Miracco, catalogue contributions by Larry Ossei-Mensah, Serena Tabacchi, and Davide Sarchioni explore global issues and the powerful impact of ever-changing technology on artistic expression. The presentation is made possible through a partnership with Var Digital Art by Var Group, which is actively engaged in promoting art through digital technologies. The Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation has generously contributed towards the success of this project, and museum support comes from The Phillips Collection.

A pioneer of media art, Solmi—an Italian artist born in Bologna and based in New York since 1999—approaches his practice from a social surrealist perspective, employing various art-making techniques to create satirical narratives that propose a re-examination of both.

Western history and modern societal values. The title of the exhibition, Ship of Fools, references a number of classical literary and visual sources which collectively explore the ignorance and ambition of leaders and politicians. Referents include Plato’s Republic, in which a captain is surrounded by insubordinate crew members; a 1494 book by Sebastian Brant bearing the title Ship of Fools, published in Basel and illustrated with 114 woodcuts, from which the saying “ship of fools” is derived; and Géricault’s famous 1818-19 painting The Raft of the Medusa, from which the artist has long drawn inspiration.

The titular work of Solmi’s exhibition re-envisions Géricault’s painting through his irreverent and subversive artistic vernacular, bringing together cross-cultural contemporary and historical figures including the empress Theodora, Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Hernán Cortés, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Kim Kardashian, Pope Benedict XVI, Napoleon, Oprah Winfrey, and Mark Zuckerberg.

Works in the presentation harness both digital and traditional approaches to art-making. A selection of large-scale pictorial works are rendered in brightly colored pastel, and are situated alongside a selection of works on paper created in charcoal. In addition to the works on paper, 10 video works in the presentation feature hand painted artist frames and are produced through a careful process in which Solmi draws papier-mâché figures by hand and then translates them into digital forms, bridging handmade and new media. Ceramic busts of famous figures complement the video and pastel works, adding another physical dimension to the fabric of the exhibition. A hologram and related large-scale VR work titled The Bacchanalian Ones allows viewers to fully immerse themselves in the carnivalesque and surreal world that the exhibition proposes.

The artist’s deep knowledge of the murals and frescoes of the Italian Renaissance and 20th century Mexican muralism movement inform the grand scale and composure of his subjects, creating a dialogue with the Palazzo in which the presentation is on view. Recognizable figures throughout history — including Warren Buffett, Benito Mussolini, Montezuma, and Abraham Lincoln — pervade the brightly colored and disarming tableaus, which, when observed through the animated and puppetesque nature of Solmi’s renderings, inherently call into question their power and authority.

An original composition by Grammy award-winning artist Marc Urselli creates an auditory accompaniment for the video work The Painting Class (2023), adding another layer of sensation to the otherworldly painting class rendered in the piece. A frank critique, the presentation holds up a mirror to present-day society and seeks to encourage a careful examination of reality and the forces that have shaped it in the Western world.

Of his subject matter, the artist states: “I tried to give a much more explicit and understandable reading of the story, using these mythological characters to question their myth. I want to destroy these icons, these clowns covered in medals they never earned. My great effort is to understand these new power groups, the various financial tycoons, the influencers, the great contemporary industrialists, how they will be able to influence history.”

Motifs explored within works in Ship of Fools — history, commerce, colonialism, culture, and entertainment — are mirrored just beyond the walls of the exhibition in the city of Venice itself. The artist engages all spaces within the Palazzo Donà dalle Rose to create a conversation between the exhibition and its surroundings, intentionally blurring the line between reality and fiction.