Pinault Collection Danh Vo, The Caretaker

A portfolio by HeinzPeter Knes

Special thanks to Nairy Baghramian and to the Pinault Collection.

Danh Vo’s works are impregnated with the notions of identity, belonging, fragility, mutability and intercultural contacts. He has been invited by the Pinault Collection as an artist but also as a curator / a “caretaker” – in collaboration with Caroline Bourgeois – to work with the collection which is a premiere for the foundation. Taking over the Punta della Dogana the exhibition “Slip of the Tongue” revolves around the idea that the activity of the artist is aimed at the preservation and afterlife of objects rather than at their interpretation. The title was taken from a sculpture work by artist Nairy Baghramian who has been in active conversation with Danh Vo. She and several interlocutors close to the artists have been involved in the project which gives the show another dimension: an attempt at mapping friendship. Photographer and artist Heinz Peter Knes took the pulse of the exhibition while it was still in the making and has kindly made his photos available to L’Officiel Art.

In the Background, Nairy Baghramian, Retainer, 2013, polycarbonate, chromed metal, print, painted metal, rubber, dimensions variable. Nairy Baghramian, Slip Of The Tongue, 2014, rubber, epoxy resin, polystyrene, concrete, paint, dimensions variable.