AN EERIE EXPERIENCE....
The following morning we were to go to an outside contemporary art museum called the HangarBicocca. I’m ashamed to say that although Laurent had mentioned it as a possible visit, I hadn’t really looked up to see what it was - or for that matter where it was.
Quite a long way out and there the Milan we had seen in the inner city was not extended to the outer.
The building seemed to emerge from no-where and that was a real surprise….
The space, wholly funded and managed by Pirelli, was founded in Milan in 2004 and is the outcome of a process that led to the conversion of an industrial plant into a venue for art and contemporary culture. Of course the first question I asked was « who is Pirelli? » Take a name out of context for me and I just don’t seem to link it to its roots. Of course once I found it, it all added up….
So the museum was private and as the name indicates, a hangar with an extensive floor area which could house such sculptures as those of Anselm Kieffer
« The Seven Heavenly Palaces » is a permanent installation, created for HangarBicocca in 2004 and is one of the most important works by the German artist Anselm Kiefer.
It takes its name from the palaces described in an ancient Hebrew tract, the Sefer Hechalot or "Book of Palaces", which describes the symbolic path of spiritual initiation of those who wish to enter into the presence of God.
Apparently, the work represents the culmination of Kiefer's entire artistic career, summing up his main themes and projecting them into a new, timeless dimension.
I like his work immensely as you know and have travelled around Europe to see his exhibitions in Germany, England, France and now Milan. This visit though was a surprise and the work stunning.
Before seeing Kieffer’s work, we discovered Damian Ortega. His work is called « Casino » and the first major exhibition of this Italian artist.
He explores the idea of sculpture through the use of everyday objects, undermining their meaning. The exhibition offers a sweeping overview of the artist's work, with sculptures, installations….some which I didn’t understand at all and that’s why I say is he undermining their real meaning?
At the centre of the show is the Beetle Trilogy, one of the artist's most momentous works, in the form of an "epic" tale of the Volkswagen Beetle. Laurent was fascinated. At first I couldn’t see why and then as I really began to turn around the work, I found it intriguing.
A prominent characteristic of his work is the use of simple or recycled materials, such as tools and implements, which he reworks to highlight his interest in production systems.
The next discovery was Juan Muñoz « Double Bind & Around »
This too was the first solo exhibition in Italy dedicated to Juan Muñoz. The artist, who died in 2001, was one of the leading exponents of European sculpture of the last two decades of the 20th century. When I read the little booklet (and that is where I am taking what I found interesting relating to his work), it occurred to me that I knew that name but just couldn’t place it.
The HangarBicocca is showing his most important work, Double Bind, which was made in 2001 for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London and never exhibited to the public afterwards. The exhibition includes some of his most significant works, including The Wasteland and Many Times….
The Ventriloguists
"The Wasteland" which shows this group of desolate people, the same clothes, what looks like asian faces, sometimes no feet….it’s eerie, and the silence which is hanging heavily in the space makes it even more desolate, another world -
and it became even heavier as there were "spies" it would seem on balconies looking down on the world below them. To wasteland? Or was it in hell?
and there was a lift going up from the wasteland to the balcony .....but I'm sorry, my video does not work.....but this video from YouTube will give you a feeling of what I felt
I reread T.S. Eliot’s poem dedicated to Ezra Pound when I got back to Paris. It seemed to describe perfectly what I had seen in Milan.
« Hanging Figures » was to show us how to look at work vertically. The figures are bodies in contorted and precarious postures and hanging from their mouth. At least they were not supposed to be « hung » but hanging. Even so, I didn’t find them reassuring.
The Conversation Piece which was developed at the start of the 90’s is formed by a group of anonymous human (?) figures who in my book, defy any classification in terms of gender or time. In place of legs, the figures had irregular spherical structures that are out of proportion with their torsos. They don’t interact with the public - in fact none of his work does and perhaps that is why it was so disturbing for me. I felt a little like a « peeping tom » looking in at a group of people, if they were people, when I should have been looking elsewhere. Very strange…..
His "Nature of Visual Illusion" is also a perturbing work. The figures seem to interact and converse together and yet there is this one person who is looking and laughing at them - or so it seemed to me....
We were off to the airport…..I felt numbed from I what I had seen. The space, the work, the silence….the morning had been a new experience. The trip to Milan had come to an end….Paris was a couple of hours away…..
Quite a long way out and there the Milan we had seen in the inner city was not extended to the outer.
The building seemed to emerge from no-where and that was a real surprise….
 |
The space, wholly funded and managed by Pirelli, was founded in Milan in 2004 and is the outcome of a process that led to the conversion of an industrial plant into a venue for art and contemporary culture. Of course the first question I asked was « who is Pirelli? » Take a name out of context for me and I just don’t seem to link it to its roots. Of course once I found it, it all added up….
The company, the world's fifth-largest tyre manufacturer behind Bridgestone, Michelin, Continental and Goodyear, is present in over 160 countries, has 19 manufacturing sites around the world and a network of around 10,000 distributors and retailers.
So the museum was private and as the name indicates, a hangar with an extensive floor area which could house such sculptures as those of Anselm Kieffer
« The Seven Heavenly Palaces » is a permanent installation, created for HangarBicocca in 2004 and is one of the most important works by the German artist Anselm Kiefer.
It takes its name from the palaces described in an ancient Hebrew tract, the Sefer Hechalot or "Book of Palaces", which describes the symbolic path of spiritual initiation of those who wish to enter into the presence of God.
Apparently, the work represents the culmination of Kiefer's entire artistic career, summing up his main themes and projecting them into a new, timeless dimension.
I like his work immensely as you know and have travelled around Europe to see his exhibitions in Germany, England, France and now Milan. This visit though was a surprise and the work stunning.
 |
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 |
 |
 |
He explores the idea of sculpture through the use of everyday objects, undermining their meaning. The exhibition offers a sweeping overview of the artist's work, with sculptures, installations….some which I didn’t understand at all and that’s why I say is he undermining their real meaning?
 |
 |
 |
At the centre of the show is the Beetle Trilogy, one of the artist's most momentous works, in the form of an "epic" tale of the Volkswagen Beetle. Laurent was fascinated. At first I couldn’t see why and then as I really began to turn around the work, I found it intriguing.
 |
 |
A prominent characteristic of his work is the use of simple or recycled materials, such as tools and implements, which he reworks to highlight his interest in production systems.
The next discovery was Juan Muñoz « Double Bind & Around »
This too was the first solo exhibition in Italy dedicated to Juan Muñoz. The artist, who died in 2001, was one of the leading exponents of European sculpture of the last two decades of the 20th century. When I read the little booklet (and that is where I am taking what I found interesting relating to his work), it occurred to me that I knew that name but just couldn’t place it.
The HangarBicocca is showing his most important work, Double Bind, which was made in 2001 for the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern in London and never exhibited to the public afterwards. The exhibition includes some of his most significant works, including The Wasteland and Many Times….
 |
 |
 |
 |
"The Wasteland" which shows this group of desolate people, the same clothes, what looks like asian faces, sometimes no feet….it’s eerie, and the silence which is hanging heavily in the space makes it even more desolate, another world -
and it became even heavier as there were "spies" it would seem on balconies looking down on the world below them. To wasteland? Or was it in hell?
 |
 |
and there was a lift going up from the wasteland to the balcony .....but I'm sorry, my video does not work.....but this video from YouTube will give you a feeling of what I felt
 |
 |
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| Leaving the Wasteland? |
I reread T.S. Eliot’s poem dedicated to Ezra Pound when I got back to Paris. It seemed to describe perfectly what I had seen in Milan.
« Hanging Figures » was to show us how to look at work vertically. The figures are bodies in contorted and precarious postures and hanging from their mouth. At least they were not supposed to be « hung » but hanging. Even so, I didn’t find them reassuring.
 |
 |
The Conversation Piece which was developed at the start of the 90’s is formed by a group of anonymous human (?) figures who in my book, defy any classification in terms of gender or time. In place of legs, the figures had irregular spherical structures that are out of proportion with their torsos. They don’t interact with the public - in fact none of his work does and perhaps that is why it was so disturbing for me. I felt a little like a « peeping tom » looking in at a group of people, if they were people, when I should have been looking elsewhere. Very strange…..
 |
 |
 |
 |
His "Nature of Visual Illusion" is also a perturbing work. The figures seem to interact and converse together and yet there is this one person who is looking and laughing at them - or so it seemed to me....
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Is Laurent part of the group? |
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We were off to the airport…..I felt numbed from I what I had seen. The space, the work, the silence….the morning had been a new experience. The trip to Milan had come to an end….Paris was a couple of hours away…..
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