Urs Fischer's Precarious Sculptures at Palazzo Grassi

Urs Fischer's exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, running from April 15 to July 15, 2012, features sculptures that embrace instability and movement. The Swiss artist reorganized the palace's rooms to open views to the Grand Canal and create visual echoes through new transparencies. Two wax self-portraits with burning wicks, a technique from his 2011 Venice Biennale success, slowly melt over the exhibition's duration. Many works are suspended by ropes or chains, including a real egg held by a hand anchored to the wall. Fischer reconstructs his studio, 'Madame Fisscher,' in the ground-floor patio, positioning himself as an anti-Jeff Koons; a Koons Balloon Dog greets visitors in the entrance, while a stuffed dog wags its tail, revealing its mechanical nature. Fischer humorously references Joseph Beuys (replacing fat with pink paint), Bruce Nauman (body fragment casts), and Franz West (organic tubing). The most compelling works are bronze sculptures made with former professor Georg Herold, depicting miniature men and women on pedestals, broken and encaged. A live nude model, initially mistaken for wax, suddenly awakens and destabilizes the surrounding sculptures.