Fondazione Prada's Global Exhibition Explores the Folding Screen as Art and Design
Fondazione Prada showcases 'Paraventi: Folding Screens from the 17th to 21st Centuries,' a three-part exhibition taking place in Milan, Shanghai, and Tokyo, under the curation of Nicholas Cullinan. The Milan exhibition displays seventy items, featuring 17th-century Coromandel screens alongside modern works from eighteen artists, including Wade Guyton and Kerry James Marshall. It is divided into seven thematic categories and a chronological overview of screens spanning the 17th to 19th centuries. The Shanghai venue presents two Chinese screens from the 17th to 18th centuries and five new commissions. Meanwhile, the Tokyo exhibition emphasizes Keiichi Tanaami and a 16th-century screen by Terutada Shikibu. Designed by SANAA, the layout includes curvilinear walls and uniquely shaped pedestals, illustrating the cultural journey of screens from China to the West.
Key facts
- Fondazione Prada presents 'Paraventi: Folding Screens from the 17th to 21st Centuries' simultaneously in Milan, Shanghai, and Tokyo.
- Curated by Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
- Seventy pieces at Milan's Podium, including 17th-century Coromandel screens and contemporary commissions.
- Eighteen contemporary artists commissioned: Wade Guyton, Anthea Hamilton, William Kentridge, Kerry James Marshall, Chris Ofili, Laura Owens, Betye Saar, Tiffany Sia, Wu Tsang, Luc Tuymans, Francesco Vezzoli.
- Milan exhibition has seven thematic sections on ground floor and chronological survey upstairs.
- Historical figures include Alvar Aalto, Charles and Ray Eames, Le Corbusier, Josef Hoffmann, Jean Prouvé, Giacomo Balla, René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Marlene Dumas, Mona Hatoum, Yves Klein, Sol LeWitt, Keiichi Tanaami, Cy Twombly, Luc Tuymans.
- Younger artists: Kamrooz Aram, Atelier E.B (Beca Lipscombe & Lucy McKenzie), Małgorzata Mirga-Tas.
- Shanghai includes two 17th–18th-century Chinese screens and five new commissions by Tony Cokes, John Stezaker, Shuang Li, Wu Tsang, Cao Fei.
- Tokyo features Keiichi Tanaami and 16th-century screen 'Plum, Bamboo and Mynah Birds' by Terutada Shikibu.
- Exhibition design by SANAA with curvilinear plexiglass walls and fabric screens; upper-level pedestals inspired by Lina Bo Bardi's MASP and SANAA's Louvre-Lens.
- Poster image: 18th-century Coromandel screen from Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon.
- The screen's cultural migration traced from China's Zhou dynasty (771–256 BCE) to Japan (8th century) to West via Portuguese ships.
Entities
Artists
- Wade Guyton
- Anthea Hamilton
- William Kentridge
- Kerry James Marshall
- Chris Ofili
- Laura Owens
- Betye Saar
- Tiffany Sia
- Wu Tsang
- Luc Tuymans
- Francesco Vezzoli
- Alvar Aalto
- Charles Eames
- Ray Eames
- Le Corbusier
- Josef Hoffmann
- Jean Prouvé
- Giacomo Balla
- René Magritte
- Pablo Picasso
- Marlene Dumas
- Mona Hatoum
- Yves Klein
- Sol LeWitt
- Keiichi Tanaami
- Cy Twombly
- Kamrooz Aram
- Beca Lipscombe
- Lucy McKenzie
- Małgorzata Mirga-Tas
- Tony Cokes
- John Stezaker
- Shuang Li
- Cao Fei
- Terutada Shikibu
- Duncan Grant
- Francis Bacon
- Kenneth Halliwell
- Lina Bo Bardi
Institutions
- Fondazione Prada
- National Portrait Gallery, London
- Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
- Omega Workshop
- Bloomsbury Group
- MASP (Museu de Arte de São Paulo)
- Louvre-Lens
- SANAA
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- Shanghai
- China
- Tokyo
- Japan
- Piazzale Isarco
- Lisbon
- Portugal
- Sussex
- United Kingdom
- Charleston
- São Paulo
- Brazil