MAXXI, Museum of 21st Century Art: Art on Stage

From March 19 through June 5, 2016, the Proa Foundation is proud to present Art on Stage (Arte en Escena), an exhibition of selected artworks from the international collection of MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Art. MAXXI was the first museum constructed and intended exclusively for the conservation and distribution of contemporary artistic practice. Designed by architect Zaha Hadid, known for her bold and destructured spaces, MAXXI offers aesthetic, philosophical, and spatial complexity in order to reexamine the roles played by the museum and the artist’s space in new and unprecedented ways.

This is one of many reasons that Proa, in collaboration with the MAXXI team, has organized Art on Stage, under the curation of Anna Mattirolo. The curatorial design aims to encourage reflections on art and the space of the museum, which is understood as a living stage for the featured works of art.

The exhibition brings together the photographs, sketches, and architectural records of Aldo Rossi, the videos of Vezzoli, and the monumental works of Gilbert and George, among other distinguished works approaching art as both a performance and a stage for transcendental questions. The work of Ilya and Emilia Kabakov (Where Is Our Place?), with its distorted sense of scale, is one of the fundamental pieces for understanding space through such diverse and active points of view.

Art on Stage at Proa is a bold project that, through renowned artists and artworks of this century, seeks to promote a dialogue on contemporary art and the evolution of art institutions. The works assembled provoke in us a conceptual reflection on the value of images, as well as how they can intertwine and create for viewers a dynamic that is at once active and contemplative.

A comprehensive archive (including drawings, videos, photographs, and plans) documenting architect Zaha Hadid’s theoretical foundations for the Museum’s construction enriches the exhibition.

Developed by curator Anna Mattirolo, in collaboration with Rodrigo Alonso, the exhibition is sponsored by the Italian Embassy in Argentina, the Italian Institute of Culture, and the ongoing support of Techint Organization Tenaris.