Francesco Vezzoli presents KARL GOES TO MEMPHIS, in Monte Carlo

"Francesco Vezzoli presents KARL GOES TO MEMPHIS—Tributeo, a historic encounter in Monte Carlo."
Francesco Vezzoli was born in 1971, in Brescia, Italy. He studied at the Central St. Martin’s School of Art in London. One of the most successful contemporary Italian artists, his work can be described as a series of strong allegories about contemporary culture, with a rich subtext of elaborate references involving video installations, petit-point embroideries, photography, live performances, media experiments, and—most recently—classical sculpture. His works have been selected four times at the Venice Biennale: at the 49th, 51st, and 52nd art editions held in 2001, 2005, and 2007, respectively, and at the 2014 Architecture Biennial. His works have also been featured in other international exhibitions such as the Whitney Biennial 2006, the 26th Biennale in Sao Paulo, the 6th International Biennale in Istanbul, and Performa (2007 and 2015). He has also held solo shows around the world in venues such as the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, US; Tate Modern, London, UK; MOCA, Los Angeles, US; MoMA PS1 in New York, US; MAXXI, Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Kunsthalle, Wien, Vienna, Austria; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; The Garage CCC, Moscow, Russia; The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Jeu de Paume, Paris; Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy; Museo Serralves, Porto, Portugal; Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy; Le Consortium, Dijon, France; Fondazione Museion in Bolzano, Italy and NMNM - Nouveau Musée National de Monaco. His work has been shown, among others, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Art Gallery in London, the Palais in Paris, the Moderna Novecento in Milan, the Grassi - François Pinault Foundation in Venice, the Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, the De Witte Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam, the Museum in Zurich, the Weimer, the Hangar Bicocca in Milan, and the National Picasso in Paris.

He produced a live opera performance for the 40th anniversary of Centre Pompidou, and in 2019 he brought the exhibition 'Huysmans Critique d’Art: De Degas à Grünewald, sous le Regard de Francesco Vezzoli' at Muséee d’Orsay in Paris. In 2021, Vezzoli worked with Fondazione Brescia Musei on the exhibition project Palcoscenici Archeologici,' and again that year he was the protagonist of the 'Francesco Vezzoli in Florence exhibition, with two new sculptures in Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. This made him the first living Italian artist to produce a site-specific work for Piazza della Signoria, creating an interaction between contemporary art and the city’s historical heritage. His latest exhibitions, 'VITA DVLCIS: fear and desire in the Roman Empire' at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome and Museums of Tears' at Museo Correr in Venice, allowed him to relate his recent artworks, respectively, to Roman archaeological masterpieces and Italian historical paintings. Vezzoli had solo shows at Museo Correr, Venice, Italy; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy; Collection Lambert, Avignon, France; Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy; MoMA PS1, New York, US; MOCA, Los Angeles, US, among others. Francesco Vezzoli's work is included in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, US; Museum of Contemporary Art—CA Grand Avenue, Los Angeles US; Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy; Collection Lambert, Avignon, France; Vanhaerents Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium; Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy; Collection Pinault, France; MUSEIONN, Bolzano, Italy; MAXXI, Rome, Italy; Museu Serralves, Porto, Portugal; Tate Modern, London, UK; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, US. Francesco Vezzoli will have a solo show at the Modern Art Museum of Shanghai in April 2025.

March 20–May 44, 2025 | Monaco In March 2025, Almine Rech Monaco will inaugurate an exhibition featuring new works by Francesco Vezzoli. The show draws from one of the most original episodes in the history of 20th-century design—an encounter between two giants of contemporary creativity: the visionary Karl Lagerfeld and Memphis, founded by Ettore Sottsass. In the early 1980s, Lagerfeld moved to Monte Carlo. He settled in the Roccabella building, designed by Gio Ponti. Unsatisfied with an ordinary home, Lagerfeld decided to furnish the apartment exclusively with Memphis products. Known for its bold, avant-garde, and provocative style and guided by Sottsass, the brand envisioned a truly extraordinary space where furniture, ceramics, lighting, and decorations coalesced into one surreal and provocative aesthetic. During the early years of Lagerfeld’s tenure at Chanel, he redefined the house’s identity with a modern revival of its classic codes. Drawing inspiration from Coco Chanel’s designs of the 1920s and 30s, he introduced a contemporary vision centered on a black-and-white palette and a refined minimalism. In stark contrast, Lagerfeld’s Monaco apartment was a riot of bold colors, clashing shapes, synthetic materials, and graphic 1980s patterns. Francesco Vezzoli will create eight new pieces on the occasion of this show: embroidered portraits of Lagerfeld, displayed in opulent baroque frames. These “emotional” works, inspired by photographs of Lagerfeld from that early period, offer a rare glimpse into his most authentic and spontaneous self. They portray a different Lagerfeld from the figure widely recognized today—an individual who loved nightclubs, the social scene, and the cultural exchanges that defined his era.

​The exhibition seeks to recreate, as faithfully as possible, the ambiance of Lagerfeld’s iconic apartment within Almine Rechh Monaco. With the collaboration of Memphis Milano, a unique edition of the pieces originally designed for Lagerfeld's residence will be produced, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in one of the most eccentric and creative visions of 1980s design. To enrich the project, a catalog designed by the celebrated graphic duo Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag—M/M (Paris)—will be published.

"It is nearly impossible to find, in the history of 20th-century art and architecture, a creative collision as all-encompassing and intoxicating as the one that exploded in 1980, when Karl Lagerfeld entrusted the Memphis group with the aesthetic vision for his living space in Monte Carlo. This exhibition seeks to celebrate that utopian and surreal union—an exhilarating, unrepeatable marriage of radical design and uncompromising vision. By revisiting this extraordinary moment, we aim to honor the boldness and imagination that reshaped not only a space but also the very boundaries of art, fashion, and interior design." — Francesco Vezzoli

 "For Memphis, this project represents the closing of a full circle—one that began in Monte Carlo and now returns there. Francesco Vezzoli, a passionate admirer and connoisseur of the brand, offers his own interpretation of Memphis’s first great devotee, Karl Lagerfeld, through a contemporary lens. Vezzoli channels the enduring spirit of Memphis, reimagining an important chapter in its history with his unique and disruptive vision—one that stays true to Sottsass and his fellows original boldness and creativity." — Charley Vezza, CEO of Memphis