Horsing around: Luxembourg & Dayan brings ’Melodrama’ to its London gallery

Prolific Italian curator Francesco Bonami has a penchant for performance. Earlier this month, we saw his his avant-guard work inaugurating Joseph Nahmad's new London space, and this time last year at Luxembourg & Dayan's 'language as artistry' exhibition.
This summer, Luxembourg & Dayan welcome Bonami back, to collaborate on an absurdist, sculpture-as-performance production, 'Melodrama', with 'Act I' taking place in the London space, and 'Act II' to follow in New York.
Wallpaper* was intrigued to know how such an ambitious, two-part show could be realised across continents. 'The difficult thing was to find the right works, and we decided to limit the display to just four in each location,' Bonami explains. 'So they had to be the right ones – works that could eventually compose one single show. But like in a play you can have some characters in the first act and others in the second.'
The London opening introduces a diverse range of objects, or 'characters', spanning the period 1966–2007, setting us up for an absurdist, Beckettian romp. On entering, the audience of gallery-goers is confronted by Maurizio Cattelan’s flailing, headless taxidermied horse. Opposite, Pino Pascali’s dolphin tail, Coda di Delfino, 1966, seems eager to escape through the wings, leaving nothing more than a trace. Alongside these decapitated beasts, we find a series of quiet photographs by Franco Vimercati, from his Ciclo Zuppiera (1983) soup terrine series. This chorus of Italian players is broken by the inclusion of Switzerland's sculpting duo Fischli/Weiss, and their inanimate black rubber Heart, 1987, which lies lifeless on a pedestal at the centre of the space.
The objects are staged in a way in which they can communicate easily. 'If you believe that objects can perform like actors then they will,' Bonami says. 'Look at Vimercati's soup terrine – isn't she like an actress in a neo-realist movie? If Walt Disney had been born in Italy he could have been the curator of a show like this. In his animation movies animals and objects are his actors; humans are marginal in a way'.
The first 'human' element is introduced in Act II, which raises its curtain in New York on 14 July. Vincenzo Gemito's 19th century bronze bust sits in unlikely conversation with another cast bronze piece by Jeff Koons. As yet unnamed work from Urs Fischer and Richard Serra complete the line-up of a truly A-list sculpting cast.
London's 'Act I' introduces a diverse range of objects, setting us up for an absurdist, Beckettian romp. Pictured: Coda di Delfino, by Pino Pascali, 1966. Courtesy Luxembourg & Dayan
Also included is Switzerland's sculpting duo Fischli/Weiss and their inanimate black rubber Heart, 1987, which lies lifeless on a pedestal at the centre of the space
Bonami muses, 'Look at Vimercati's soup terrine (series, pictured) – isn't she like an actress in a neorealist movie? If Walt Disney had been born in Italy he could have been the curator of a show like this. In his animation movies animals and objects are his actors; humans are marginal in a way'
INFORMATION
'Melodrama: Act I' is on view from 24 June – 20 August in London; 'Act II' is on view from 14 July – 17 September in New York. For more information, visit the Luxembourg & Dayan website
Photography: Will Amlot. Courtesy Luxembourg & Dayan
ADDRESS
Luxembourg & Dayan
2 Savile Row
London, W1S 3PA
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Elly Parsons is the Digital Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees Wallpaper.com and its social platforms. She has been with the brand since 2015 in various roles, spending time as digital writer – specialising in art, technology and contemporary culture – and as deputy digital editor. She was shortlisted for a PPA Award in 2017, has written extensively for many publications, and has contributed to three books. She is a guest lecturer in digital journalism at Goldsmiths University, London, where she also holds a masters degree in creative writing. Now, her main areas of expertise include content strategy, audience engagement, and social media.
-
A new Athens gallery is a celebration of old and new, a stone's throw from the Acropolis
New Athens gallery Melas Martinos by Local Local is a contemporary art space, a stone's throw from the Acropolis, in the Greek capital's Monastiraki neighbourhood
-
Haute Couture Week A/W 2025: live updates from the Wallpaper* team
From 7-9 July, Haute Couture Week A/W 2025 arrives in Paris. Follow along for a first look at the shows, presentations and other fashion happenings, as seen by the Wallpaper* editors
-
Boundaries between art and life dissolve in Katherine Hubbard's intimate documentation of her mother's illness
In 'The Great Room', Katherine Hubbard merges caregiving for her mother with an unflinching documentary of the process
-
Leila Bartell’s cloudscapes are breezily distorted, a response to an evermore digital world
‘Memory Fields’ is the London-based artist’s solo exhibition at Tristan Hoare Gallery (until 25 July 2025)
-
A bespoke 40m mixed-media dragon is the centrepiece of Glastonbury’s new chill-out area
New for 2025 is Dragon's Tail – a space to offer some calm within Glastonbury’s late-night area with artwork by Edgar Phillips at its heart
-
Emerging artist Kasia Wozniak’s traditional photography techniques make for ethereal images
Wozniak’s photographs, taken with a 19th-century Gandolfi camera, are currently on show at Incubator, London
-
Vincent Van Gogh and Anselm Kiefer are in rich and intimate dialogue at the Royal Academy of Arts
German artist Anselm Kiefer has paid tribute to Van Gogh throughout his career. When their work is viewed together, a rich relationship is revealed
-
Alice Adams, Louise Bourgeois, and Eva Hesse delve into art’s ‘uckiness’ at The Courtauld
New exhibition ‘Abstract Erotic’ (until 14 September 2025) sees artists experiment with the grotesque
-
What is recycling good for, asks Mika Rottenberg at Hauser & Wirth Menorca
US-based artist Mika Rottenberg rethinks the possibilities of rubbish in a colourful exhibition, spanning films, drawings and eerily anthropomorphic lamps
-
Get lost in Megan Rooney’s abstract, emotional paintings
The artist finds worlds in yellow and blue at Thaddaeus Ropac London
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
It was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase