First love: Francesco Vezzoli unveils ‘Eternal Kiss’ at Almine Rech Gallery
Francesco Vezzoli unveils ‘Eternal Kiss’ at Almine Rech Gallery
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

They say love conquers all, or, in the case of Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli’s latest artwork: 2000-odd years coupled with a painstakingly meticulous restoration process. Freshly unveiled at London’s Almine Rech Gallery (opens in new tab), Eternal Kiss features a pair of ancient marble busts locked in a fictional embrace.
Vezzoli acquired the sculptures at auction and together with a team of archaeologists has restored the Roman portraits of a man (circa second century AD) and a woman (Imperial, Hadrianic, circa 117-138 AD) to their original state. Exploring notions of beauty and the artifact, Vezzoli takes on the role of surgeon as he nips and tucks his subjects, mending their broken features and imbuing them with new personas.
This show marks the Milan-based artist’s return to London following a nine-year absence (his last outing here, in stark contrast to Almine Rech Gallery’s intimate space, was held at the Tate Modern). ‘The exhibition will focus on the objects themselves. Eternal Kiss will become nothing less than the most ancient sculpture of a kiss in existence. It’s as simple – or as complicated – as that,’ muses Vezzoli.
So what next for the multifaceted artist? He’s directed a new film starring Cindy Sherman as an ageing diva, which will be unveiled next month in Greece as part of Rufus Wainwright’s opera Prima Donna.
Vezzoli explains: 'The main objective of Eternal Kiss is to use the process of aesthetic restoration to re-enact a fictional kiss from two thousand years ago.' Courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech Gallery.
Eternal Kiss has, Vezzoli continues, two main aims: 'The first is to restore to the heads the notion that originally they were made to function as objects of desire; the second, and more ambitious, aim of the work is to create the most ancient sculpture of a kiss in existence.' Courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech Gallery.
INFORMATION
’Eternal Kiss’ is on view until 3 October 2015
ADDRESS
Almine Rech Gallery (opens in new tab)
11 Savile Row
London W1S 3PG
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
Upgrade your Ikea kitchen with Superfront’s Bruta collection by Raw-Edges
Stockholm Design Week 2023: Raw Edges designed the new Bruta Kitchen for Superfront, marking the Swedish brand’s first design collaboration
By Rosa Bertoli • Published
-
Circus tent structure inspires this Japanese holiday home for a car lover
Hitoshi Saruta of Cubo Design Architect draws on the circus tent structure for his latest residential offering, a holiday home in Japan, called The Circus
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Fforme is the fashion label uniting European refinement with American ease
Ahead of Fforme’s presentation at New York Fashion Week on 10 February, creative director Paul Helbers, previously of The Row, tells the story behind its less-is-more approach
By Tilly Macalister-Smith • Published
-
Buckhorn Sculpture Park: inside the art paradise dreamt up by collectors Sherry and Joel Mallin
As legendary art collectors Sherry and Joel Mallin prepare to sell their upstate New York home – and the star-studded collection occupying Buckhorn, its onsite sculpture park – we go behind the scenes of this art treasure trove, and the extraordinary life, work and spirit of the Mallins
By MZ Adnan • Published
-
Theaster Gates’ New Museum exhibition meditates on mourning, materials and community
Theaster Gates talks about his first US museum show, ‘Young Lords and Their Traces’ at The New Museum (until 5 February 2023), a moving homage to the creative forces who came before
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
London art exhibitions: a guide for early 2023
Your guide to the best London art exhibitions, and those around the UK, as chosen by the Wallpaper* arts desk
By Harriet Lloyd Smith • Published
-
Michael Heizer’s Nevada ‘City’: the land art masterpiece that took 50 years to conceive
Michael Heizer’s City in the Nevada Desert (1972-2022) has been awarded ‘Best eighth wonder’ in the 2023 Wallpaper* design awards. We explore how this staggering example of land art came to be
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Cyprien Gaillard on chaos, reorder and excavating a Paris in flux
We interviewed French artist Cyprien Gaillard ahead of his major two-part show, ‘Humpty \ Dumpty’ at Palais de Tokyo and Lafayette Anticipations (until 8 January 2023). Through abandoned clocks, love locks and asbestos, he dissects the human obsession with structural restoration
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Cerith Wyn Evans: ‘I love nothing more than neon in direct sunlight. It’s heartbreakingly beautiful’
Cerith Wyn Evans reflects on his largest show in the UK to date, at Mostyn, Wales – a multisensory, neon-charged fantasia of mind, body and language
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Vanessa Beecroft’s ethereal performance and sculpture exhibition explore Sicily’s cultural history
At the historic Palazzo Abatellis, Sicily, Vanessa Beecroft has unveiled ‘VB94’, a new tableau vivant comprising a one-time performance and a new series of sculptures, the latter on view until 8 January
By Hili Perlson • Published
-
The World Reimagined revisits the history of the transatlantic slave trade through art
Ahead of a Bonhams auction on 21 November, The World Reimagined will conclude with an epic finale in Trafalgar Square this weekend (19 and 20 November). The initiative uses art to illuminate the history of the transatlantic slave trade, inviting us ‘to face our shared history with honesty, empathy and grace’.
By Amah-Rose Mcknight Abrams • Published