Double homage to Alessandro Mendini, architect, designer, artist and theorist who marked the revolutions of thought and customs, to whom Triennale Milano and Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain dedicate a retrospective and an installation, designed specifically for the spaces of the Palace of Art for the design week.
From 13 April to 13 October 2024, the Cubo space hosts the retrospective 'Io sono un drago. The true story of Alessandro Mendini' created in collaboration with the Alessandro Mendini Archive and curated by Fulvio Irace, with an installation project designed by Pierre Charpin, while in the Impluvium, from 16 April to 13 October, an installation created by Philippe Starck.
The title of the exhibition Io sono un drago - which hosts over 400 works of different formats, materials and subjects, coming from numerous public and private collections - takes up one of the most emblematic self-portraits of Alessandro Mendini and aims to underline the complexity of his figure within of the international scene, restoring his empathy towards everyday objects, capable of transforming even what is banal into a surprise that reveals the enchantment of everyday life. The exhibition itinerary is divided into six thematic nuclei: Identikit, where the series of self-portraits created over the course of a lifetime are exhibited; Gulliver's syndrome, a succession of out-of-scale objects, from extra-large ones - such as the Proust Armchair and the Petite Cathédrale - to the reductions in size of some projects created for Alessi; Architetture, which presents architectural works including the Groninger Museum in Hannover; Fragilismi, a nucleus dedicated to the research that led to the "fragilism" manifesto, a praise of fragility in a world marked by wars and violence; Radical Melancholy, section dedicated to the years of radical design, of which Mendini was one of the main theoreticians; Rooms, where three of the rooms designed by Mendini are presented.
To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain presents "Alors? On Dance", a series of free entry evenings with DJ sets, in the garden of Triennale Milano and the concert The Night of the Dragon, with Fred Ventura and Logic1000, on April 16, as Design Week Opening night.