Simon Starling's Metamorfuoco Opens at Gallerie Estensi in Modena

On September 9, 2022, the Gallerie Estensi in Modena opens Metamorfuoco. Sotto la luce di Tintoretto, an immersive exhibition by British artist Simon Starling (born 1967 in Epsom). The show is the first of the Artist in Residence program initiated by director Martina Bagnoli in 2021, curated by Gianfranco Maraniello, recently appointed director of Milan's Area Musei d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Starling's project centers on Tintoretto's painting cycle inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, specifically The Fall of Phaeton, which hangs in its original high placement. The exhibition features a large ceramic floor by Marazzi based on ancient illustrations from the Biblioteca Estense, hand-built telescopes by architect Mike Davies, and an animated avatar of the artist. Starling's practice often reuses historical works to reflect on the present, as seen in his earlier projects with Tiepolo and Caravaggio. He discusses climate change, noting the urgency to act, and the connection between Phaeton's myth and a burning Ferrari video, linking Modena's automotive heritage to the drought-stricken Po River. Starling won the Turner Prize in 2005.