Mapping the Studio: Artists from the François Pinault Collection

Punta della Dogana -the former customs house positioned on the tip of the Grand Canal- is an icon of the Venetian cityscape. After more than three decades of being closed to the public, the François Pinault Foundation commissioned the Japanese architect Tadao Ando to renovate the building and convert it into a center for contemporary art. For the inauguration, Punta della Dogana hosts the exhibition Mapping the Studio: Artists from the François Pinault Collection, curated by Alison M Gingeras and Francesco Bonami. This two-part exhibition entirely occupies the spaces of both Punta della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi with 200 works by 60 artists. The curators have titled the show Mapping the Studio in hopes of conveying the sense of vitality and discovery that has been an integral part of the Francois Pinault Collection over the years; in effect, the show posits an analogy between the creativity and intimacy of the artist’s studio and the collector’s deeply passionate vision of art. This creative kinship serves as the starting-point for a dialogue between the works of established artists and those of a younger generation. Well known works selected from the Francois Pinault Collection by artists such as Jeff Koons, Sigmar Polke, Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Cy Twombly, Takashi Murakami and Jake & Dinos Chapman – are shown alongside works by emerging talents such as Matthew Day Jackson, Adel Abdessemed, Wilhelm Sasnal, Rob Pruitt, Richard Hughes, Nate Lowman, Mark Bradford and Kai Althoff. Open every day from 10 am to 7 pm. Closed every Tuesday. Closed the 24, 25, 31st December, 2009 and the 1st January, 2010. Last entrance at 6 pm.