Francesco Vezzoli's 'Party Politics' Exposes Italian Power Decadence

Francesco Vezzoli's solo exhibition 'Party Politics' at Fondazione Giuliani in Rome presents oversized photographs of Italian political and entertainment figures from the 1980s, captured by paparazzi like Umberto Pizzi. The show includes images of Sofia Loren, Marella Agnelli, Bettino Craxi, Silvio Berlusconi, Giulio Andreotti, Ilona Staller, Gianni de Michelis, and Maria Pia Fanfani, framed in gold to evoke Old Master paintings. Vezzoli, born in Brescia in 1971, draws parallels to Carpaccio's narrative cycles, suggesting Italy's moral and cultural decline began in the 1980s. The exhibition features critical texts by Filippo Ceccarelli and Michele Masneri, who note that Italian politicians have become entertainers themselves. A key image, 'Le sette vite del Telegatto,' shows Andreotti, Corrado, Vittorio Gassman, Enzo Biagi, Gianluca Vialli, Zucchero, and Beppe Grillo in a football-team pose, symbolizing the First, Second, and Third Republics. The show follows Vezzoli's earlier 'TV70: Francesco Vezzoli guarda la Rai' at Fondazione Prada.