What happens if Trump and Kim Jong-un enter art history? Papeschi and Ferrigno in Palermo give the answer.

The exhibition Pyongyang Rhapsody - The Summit of Love, running until March 24, 2019 and curated by Laura Francesca Di Trapani, is a sarcastic parody of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea ’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un that took place on June 12, 2018. In the futuristic setting of ZAC in Palermo, on Thursday, Jan. 24, Max Papeschi (Milan, 1970) and Max Ferrigno (Casale Monferrato, 1977) came together as Kim and Trump in an exhibition bordering on the verisimilitude crowded with large works, more than 3 meters high, that almost entirely cover the walls of the location, through which the viewer will find himself immersed in an imaginative world.

Papeschi, who recently concluded the two-year tour of the Welcome to North Korea project (a fictional propaganda campaign pointing the finger at human rights violations perpetuated by the North Korean regime), for the occasion juxtaposes old playmate Kim Jong-un with now former, arch-enemy Donald Trump under the spotlight. The memorable meeting is recreated by Papeschi through 18 works depicting the two leaders in an ongoing confrontation of grotesque super-egoes.

If on the one hand we find Kim Jong-un in Santa-Kali version, on the other we see Donald Trump/God Ra of money, if on the right we see the North Korean-labeled Monopoly, on the left he is mirrored by the Goose game ofTrump’s America, if Trump replaces Jesus in Leonardo’sLast Supper, only to find himself alone in the midst of a cosmic void, Kim steals the place of Botticelli’s Venus, surrounding himself only with clones of his protégé, basketball player Dennis Rodman.

A carousel of monstrously iconic images that reveal the absurd reality of a peace as acclaimed as it is farcical. Interspersed with the representations of Trump and Kim, stand, in a swirl of colors worthy of the best hippie tradition, the flags of North Korea, revisited by Max Ferrigno, in which the symbol of the Asian country is translated in a pop-erotic key, thus taking to extremes the ironically romantic aspect of this Summit, called, not surprisingly, “of love.”

At the end of the exhibition itinerary, however, two pin-ups/soldiers, typical of Ferrigno’s figurative imagery, stand out, greeting the public with a languid gaze that hints, however, at a grim soul, a crystal-clear synthesis of the dualism on which the exhibition hinges, which plays on the border between the real and the surreal.

The exhibition was organized thanks to the support of the Jobs Foundation, a new project dedicated to contemporary art that has found a home in Palermo’s ancient Palazzo Castrone di Santa Ninfa. Pyongyang Rhapsody - The Summit of Love was promoted by the City of Palermo as part of Palermo Capital of Culture 2018 and was realized with the collaboration of Welcome to North Korea, SMODA, Cusumano Vini and ArteEventi. Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Free admission.

Pictured: Max Papeschi, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me (2018)

What happens if Trump and Kim Jong-un enter art history? Papeschi and Ferrigno in Palermo give the answer.

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