Cyprien Gaillard at Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan

Cyprien Gaillard presented his first solo exhibition in Italy at the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, held from November 13 to December 16, 2012, in the Caserma XXIV Maggio, a military complex blending industrial and neo-Romantic architecture in Milan. The foundation, known for placing contemporary art in forgotten urban spaces, invited Gaillard to occupy the site's furnaces. Though not created in situ, the works resonated deeply with the location, evoking a doomed utopia and inevitable collapse. A sound piece by the band Salem reinterpreting Wagner's Rheingold added a mystical atmosphere. The exhibition featured chalk tracings of prints, black-and-white postcard fragments, scientific-like arrangements of press clippings juxtaposed with meteorite pieces, and videos where sublime nature flirts with catastrophe. The 846 Polaroids of Geographical Analogies served as anecdotal witnesses to disappearing phenomena, culminating in a contemplative journey through contemporary ruins. The review was written by Myriam Ben Salah.