Morandi and de Waal in Dialogue at Stockholm's Artipelag

A major exhibition pairing Giorgio Morandi and Edmund de Waal opened on April 7, 2017 at the Artipelag center in Stockholm, Sweden. The show features about 50 works by Morandi—mostly still lifes on loan from the MAMBO in Bologna—alongside 30 pieces by de Waal. Curated by Bo Nilsson, the exhibition runs until October 1, 2017. It is de Waal's first solo show in Sweden. The British artist and writer, born in 1964, is known for his bestselling novel The Hare with Amber Eye and for minimalist porcelain vase installations. He is represented by Gagosian and has exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and the Kunsthaus in Graz, alongside Ai Weiwei. The exhibition explores affinities beyond the shared motif of bottles and containers, focusing on sequence, spatial placement, light, shadow, impermanence, and the substance of image versus reality. Morandi, a solitary Bolognese painter, spent his life between his family home on Via Fondazza and a villa in Grizzana, painting only bottles and landscapes. His work has inspired artists like Tacita Dean and Luigi Ghirri, and his market has seen exponential growth, with collections including that of Barack Obama.