Danh Vo's Rome Exhibition Critiques Capitalism and Colonialism Through Nature

At Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio in Rome, Danh Vo presents a site-specific exhibition curated by Diego Cassina, running until July 17, 2026. The show juxtaposes mass-reproduced paintings of canonical works by Caravaggio, Bartolomeo Ghetti, and Bartolomeo Manfredi with indoor plant grow lights, highlighting the tension between art commodification and nature's resilience. Key works include a 16th-century Christus triumphans statue entwined with a climbing plant, and Heinz Peter Knes's Untitled (2021) bronze and steel sculpture displayed as a relic. A Hayat cardboard box and serial reproductions critique capitalist overproduction and religious complicity. At the entrance, a letter from French missionary Théophane Vénard, executed in Vietnam in 1861, is transcribed by Vo's father Phung Vo, addressing colonial legacy. The exhibition echoes themes from Vo's 2020 Chicxulub show in London and aligns with the 61st Venice Biennale's focus on nature, as seen in the Equatorial Guinea pavilion The Forest The Undergrowth and the Italian pavilion Con te, con tutto curated by Cecilia Canziani.