Angelo Accardi's 'Art Crimes' at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

Angelo Accardi has created a site-specific intervention titled 'Art Crimes' at the Crypt of San Sepolcro, part of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The project explores the concept of artistic theft and influence, inspired by Raphael's preparatory cartoon for The School of Athens, which is held in the Ambrosiana collection. Accardi, a Pop Surrealist known for 'creative plundering,' presents a seven-meter-long work that reinterprets Raphael's cartoon, inserting pop icons such as Andy Warhol, Maurizio Cattelan, Inspector Clouseau, and Mr. Bean, along with his own self-portrait. The exhibition also includes other panels filled with references to Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Felix the Cat, Cattelan's banana, Duchamp's urinal, and Accardi's signature ostriches and the Pink Panther. The Pink Panther sits in an armchair facing the cartoon. The Crypt of San Sepolcro, built on Roman ruins and frequented by Leonardo da Vinci, previously hosted a 2019 intervention by Marina Abramović. Accardi's project follows the idea that 'geniuses steal,' citing Renaissance artists who borrowed from Greco-Roman art, Romantics who added light, and Pop artists who transformed advertising imagery. The exhibition runs at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.