The Power of Women, La Grande Madre
Interview with Massimiliano Gioni, curator of the exhibition La Grande Madre (The Great Mother) for the Trussardi Foundation in Milan.
by Valentina Raggi
It is the most anticipated exhibition in the city of Expo - powerful and important for the amount of works and artists involved, but especially for the shocking topic.
“La Grande Madre” will be inaugurated on August 26th in Milan at Palazzo Reale. The exhibition is organized by the Trussardi Foundation, a non-profit institution and nomadic museum for the diffusion of contemporary culture, created by the Italian fashion house in 1996. The theme of Expo 2015 ”Feeding the Planet. Energy for Life" is interpreted by the curator and artistic director of the Trussardi Foundation Massimiliano Gioni and its president Beatrice Trussardi as a spectacular journey through the female fertility represented in the twentieth century art. The motherhood is not seen just as a physiological process


Artemest: Hod did the idea for this exhibition come about?



A: Do you have a favorite artist or artwork from the exhibition?
MG: It’s not an easy choice. There are beautiful works such as "Newborn" by Brancusi. And the more disturbing ones like Meret Oppenheim’s work showing a massacre of children. Then there are works of Hannah Hoch, Elsa von Freytan Loringhoven, Mina Loy and Valentine De Saint Point. There is a section dedicated to the sculptures of Louise Bourgeois, but also photographs of Roland Barthes in his mother's arms and one of Virginia Woolf literally wearing the clothes of her dead mother. And there is Jeff Koons’ “Venus” which will be displayed in Italy for the first time.



About the author Valentina Raggi is a design journalist and communication consultant. She works for Grazia Casa, Casa Vogue Brasile and How To Spend It Russia.