SPARC*-Spazio Arte Contemporanea, now an exhibition space, was once a stately flat overlooking Campo Santo Stefano, one of the most famous squares in Venice. The flat, part of a probably 18th-century building, was in the latter part of the 20th century the home of a Venetian family with a passion for art and culture.
The owner, a naval engineer, restored it with essential taste, respecting the lagoon aesthetics: Venetian terraces, scorsoni walls and painted ceilings tell the story of the building's value. From the windows of this former private residence you can hear the music of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory, and admire the surrounding buildings, Palazzo Morosini, home of the great Venetian condottiere, Palazzo Loredan and Cavalli Franchetti, with its lush garden on the Grand Canal, the Church of Santo Stefano with its famous hulled ceiling and paintings by Tintoretto, and the monument dedicated to the man of letters Niccolò Tommaseo, known by the Venetians as El Cagalibri.
< Ph. Veronika Motulko
Designers on show:
Ada Sokół for Moooi, Anna Resei, Arjan van Dal, Arianna De Luca, AstoriDePontiAssociati for Tubes, Balzer Balzer, Bom Noh, Chris Fusaro, COTH Studio, Daniel Nikolovski, Elisa Ossino, Ghalib Alsaid, Hi Kyung Eun, Ivi van Keulen, Jonas Hejduk, Lionel Jadot, Maxwell Fertik, Natalia Criado, Paritzki&Liani for Purho, Riccardo Cenedella, Sara Ricciardi, Studio Eidola, Studio Terre, Sven Jansse, Tamar Hadechian, Trent Jansen, Zakaria Rugs.
SPARC*- Spazio Arte Contemporanea will also host the permanent project “Auto-Exotic Kitchen”, featuring a brandnew Very Simple: Kitchen and special interventions by Aristide Najean, Moooi, Kristalia and Tubes as well as collectibles by Arianna De Luca, Arjan van Dal and Daniel Nikolovski. The project, from an idea of Luca Berta and Francesca Giubilei, was curated by Alessandro Mensi, who worked “on a layering of elements that could result in a very rich and eclectic, maximalist whole, a contemporary reinterpretation of the lush Venetian rococo.”
SPARC* - Spazio Arte Contemporanea, San Marco 2828A - Campo Santo Stefano
Open from May 19 to June 18, Wednesday to Monday, 11am-7pm. Closed on Tuesdays.
Free admittance
Installation views ph. Giacomo Gandola