A large trompe l'oeil transforms the facade of Palazzo Strozzi: JR's unprecedented intervention

Starting today, March 19, the facade of Palazzo Strozzi is changing its face thanks to the intervention of contemporary artist JR: his new site-specific work entitled La Ferita (The Wound ) has reinterpreted one of the symbolic places of the Renaissance in Florence and at the same time intends to propose a reflection on theaccessibility of cultural venues in the times of Covid-19.

The installation is part of Palazzo Strozzi Future Art, a new program of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi created in collaboration with Andy Bianchedi in memory of Hillary Merkus Recordati. The aim is to create a platform for the art of the present, promoting creativity, involving the public and supporting new generations. these are the reference values for a revitalization of the cultural system through various initiatives that will involve contemporary Italian and international artists at Palazzo Strozzi.

Twenty-eight meters high and 33 meters wide, JR’s monumental installation proposes a kind of visual glimpse into the facade of Palazzo Strozzi, which opens to the vision of a real and imagined interior. The work, created with a black-and-white photographic collage, as in the artist’s typical style, is constructed as an anamorphosis: an illusionistic game in which, when observed from a precise point of view, several rooms of Palazzo Strozzi, namely the colonnade of the courtyard, an imaginary exhibition hall and a library, open up, just like inside a wound.

By inserting iconic works of Florentine artistic heritage and directly citing a real place such as the library of the National Institute for Renaissance Studies, JR proposes a direct reflection on accessibility, not only to Palazzo Strozzi but to all places of culture in the time of Covid-19. Palazzo Strozzi thus becomes the spectacular stage for a wound, symbolic but painful, that accumulates all cultural institutions in Italy and beyond: museums, libraries, cinemas and theaters, forced to limit or not be able to let the public access their spaces.

JR’s works combine photography and street art, creating monumental public art interventions in cities around the world, from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro to the great square of the Louvre Pyramid, from Ellis Island in New York to the Tehachapi maximum security prison in California. At Palazzo Strozzi, JR’s intervention is characterized by further experimentation in the contamination with art history, thanks to references ranging from the Renaissance to the modern era, such as and above all to ruinism, a trend prevalent especially in the eighteenth century in which the ruins of ancient buildings are presented as evidence of a glorious past in a dramatic reflection on human destiny.

Looking “inside” Palazzo Strozzi also seems to be an almost voyeuristic act, to discover what cannot be seen: the representation of a reality that goes beyond what is habitually before everyone’s eyes. The façade is transformed into an unprecedented trompe l’œil, a reference to architectural perspectives, the illusive pictorial representations that since the 16th century, by applying perspective studies on the walls, have allowed the figuration of a depth that goes beyond the wall structure.

Parallel to the installation, Palazzo Strozzi is offering a rich program of online appoint ments aimed at the entire public, with special events for families, schools and adults in order to learn more about the work of the French artist and to interact with the work even at a distance through spaces for reflection and creative activities.

“I am happy to announce the new Palazzo Strozzi Future Art program,” said Arturo Galansino, general director of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi. “An initiative of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi that, thanks to the support of Andy Bianchedi, will allow the development of important projects with Italian and international contemporary artists. Palazzo Strozzi stands out for its desire to create a dialogue between the ancient and the contemporary through the involvement of artists who know how to interpret the present. JR’s new work represents a strong signal of reflection on the difficult conditions of access to culture in the age of Covid-19 but at the same time an opportunity for a new public involvement under the banner of values such as freedom, creative imagination and participation. In the current difficulty of offering opportunities to enjoy art in traditional spaces, the choice to create a work visible to anyone on the facade of Palazzo Strozzi becomes an invitation to rediscover a direct relationship with art and a solicitation for new forms of sharing and participation.”

"I am proud to support the Palazzo Strozzi Future Art project, which kicks off with an extraordinary installation by a creative artist like JR," added Andy Bianchedi. “My mother Hillary Merkus Recordati loved art and adored Florence, so this installation is intended to be just the beginning of a quality collaboration with the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi for increasingly important projects and initiatives.”

The initiative is promoted and organized by Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Andy Bianchedi in memory of Hillary Merkus Recordati. It is supported by the City of Florence, Tuscany Region, Florence Chamber of Commerce, Fondazione CR Firenze, Palazzo Strozzi Partners Committee, Intesa Sanpaolo, and has the patronage of Institut français Firenze.

Pictured: The Wound made by Jr on the facade of Palazzo Strozzi. Ph.Credit JR

A large trompe l'oeil transforms the facade of Palazzo Strozzi: JR's unprecedented intervention

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