ExhibitionApril 26, 2024
Juan Araujo: Clouds and Shadows on Mars. Palazzo Massimo, Museo Nazionale Romano
The Palazzo Massimo at the Museo Nazionale Romano presents Juan Araújo's first solo exhibition at a museum in Italy, “Juan Araujo: Clouds and Shadows on Mars,” on view until May 28, 2024. The exhibition, curated by Luis Pérez-Oramas and Stéphane Verger, was conceived specifically for the Museo Nazionale Romano - Palazzo Massimo. It comprises a selection of new works, many of which are inspired by the museum’s Villa di Livia frescoes. Juan Araujo’s paintings are presented in dialogue with the permanent collection, exploring ideas of time and space.
Over the last twenty years, Venezuelan artist Araujo has pursued a highly personal investigation of the history of Western culture, art history, and modernism by making hyper-realistic paintings based on images found in printed materials or online. In this exhibition, Araujo’s subjects include references to Italian contemporary culture, such as Pinocchio, Michelangelo, Antonioni’s films, Giorgio Morandi’s paintings, and Luigi Ghirri's photographs, alongside tributes to ancient mythology and Cy Twombly. The exhibition takes its title from a new work, 'Clouds and Shadows on Mars,’ which depicts a scene from the current conflict between Israel and Palestine and a description given by NASA of an image taken of Mars.
Araujo's work poses a flowing, rhizomatic conception of the present that collapses temporal and thematic boundaries. It is rooted in images of space: depictions of catastrophic events that occurred millions of years ago, presented alongside fragments of contemporary culture, ancient deities, and the remains of our past as preserved in the Museum.
Over the last twenty years, Venezuelan artist Araujo has pursued a highly personal investigation of the history of Western culture, art history, and modernism by making hyper-realistic paintings based on images found in printed materials or online. In this exhibition, Araujo’s subjects include references to Italian contemporary culture, such as Pinocchio, Michelangelo, Antonioni’s films, Giorgio Morandi’s paintings, and Luigi Ghirri's photographs, alongside tributes to ancient mythology and Cy Twombly. The exhibition takes its title from a new work, 'Clouds and Shadows on Mars,’ which depicts a scene from the current conflict between Israel and Palestine and a description given by NASA of an image taken of Mars.
Araujo's work poses a flowing, rhizomatic conception of the present that collapses temporal and thematic boundaries. It is rooted in images of space: depictions of catastrophic events that occurred millions of years ago, presented alongside fragments of contemporary culture, ancient deities, and the remains of our past as preserved in the Museum.
Gallery
