Page 75 - The MoMA/ Guggenheim issue of World of Art magazine (2003)

fondazione Prada milan
tom friedman

may have been a replication of andrea del
verrochio’s sculpture bust la Dama dal
Mazzolino (1475-1480). andrea del verrochio
(1435-1488), originally named andrea di cione
was a florentine and trained as a goldsmith
under the tutelage of giuliano verrochio, whose
name he later adopted. verrochio is renowned
for having operated a florentine art academy and giovanni iovane
including amongst his pupils were the eminent UnTiTLeD
Early and high renaissance masters—sandro 2002
consTrUcTion PaPEr
Botticelli, lorenzo di credi, leonardo da’vinci, 107 x 107 x107 cM
42 x 42 x 42 in
and Perugino. nevertheless, it is suspected that coUrTEsy of ThE arTisT anD
fEaTUrE inc., nEw york
several canvases accredited to andrea were PhoTo By orEn slor
sorami@iol.it
indeed his students’ attempts at copying his nObODy
2002
artistic technique. consTrUcTion PaPEr
66 x 168 x 25,5 cM
26 x 66 x 10 in
la Dama dal Mazzolino bears a striking coUrTEsy of ThE arTisT anD
fEaTUrE inc., nEw york
resemblance to ginevra. The ringlets, modeling
Tom Friedman
of the visage, apparel, and distant stare are the fragile and ephemeral universe of daily,
comparable. however, the hairstyle and clothing Fondazione Prada milan ordinary objects, almost rooting them in his
became the courtly fashion for the period. if artistic language, even if deprived them from
it is undeniably ginevra de’Benci would not it has been the largest and most complete the hyperbole and self-exaltation typical of
andrea del verrocchio have entitled his retrospective of the artist¹s work to be the 1960s. Through a subtle process of mental
sculpture bust to the young woman. also, staged in italy. and physical manipulation, in friedman¹s
the dates of the two pieces do not coincide. The exhibition, conceived by friedman work spaghetti, hair, chewing-gum, pieces
leonardo da’vinci’s rendition is dated a year and curated by germano celant, consists of of paper, detergent, dust, toilet paper, bars
earlier than verrocchio. wide-ranging survey of the artist’s activity up of soap, and colored construction paper are
to the present days, from the earlier works transformed into new objects characterized
Moreover, there was a large market demand to those one executed specifically for Milan. by an anti-heroic attitude and, at the same
in italy for northern art, chiefly Jan van Eyck, The decision to use the whole spaces of the time, by astonishing formal perfection. Through
Petrus christus, and rogier van der weyden in Prada foundation has set up an interesting small actions of elementary formalization,
between 1470-1480. Perchance, the northern dialogue between the monumental nature the artist raises questions regarding the
artistic influx may have had an influence on of the venue and friedman’s works, which theme of the complexity and heterogeneity
leonardo da’vinci during the 1470’s. numerous are often characterized by a disconcerting of objects, seeking unknown, secret parallels
flemish portraitures depict their sitters in stiff reduction in size. fourty works have been between them.
poses and no display of hands; this is a particular presented. about twenty of them are whatever some blank spaces follow this
trademark with Jan van Eyck and Petrus christus. completely new pieces; the others came artistic experience. Many years ago, the
rogier van der weyden’s Portrait of a Man from museums and collectors. french writer georges Perec formulated a
(1440) is of a unique importance in comparison it has been decided to set as an open theory to l’infra-ordinaire (infra-ordinary):
to ginevra de’Benci on account of the reverse. space the 1400 square meters of the Prada “... where is the rest? what happened every
Portrait of a Man shows the image of a holly foundation to let each piece breathing days and what repeats every days, banal
branch with a gold latinized verse at the top. widely. The result is that - once you move things , what is obvious, what is common,
This type of portraiture was common amongst out from the exhibition - a “lot of space” what is ordinary, what is infra-ordinary, the
the northern artists. remains after in your mind. noise, what is usual, how we can interrogate
Tom friedman belongs to the generation it? how we can describe it?”. i think that
it is clear that perhaps, da’vinci did not truncate of artists that, at the beginning of the 1990s, friedman does not know Perec, as well as
ginevra de’Benci and is mimicking the northern have begun - once again - to focus their his brilliant spontaneity allow himself not to
portraitures. The andrea del verrocchio theory is attention on the world of the objects, in know recent european history of art.
highly questionable as the sculptor was adhering some way reacting against the elimination of however, just like an enfant terrible of
to court fashion and the fact that he did not physical elements and tactile values brought ian McEwan, friedman is able to answer to
submit a title to his work of art in identifying by Pop art in favor of the image. from his Perec’s questions and maybe our ordinay
the female model. investigation emerges a renewed interest for questions.

WORLD of aRT 73