MACHAS

Agostino Iacurci Ruinenlust

Following the success of his January show at the Los Angeles Design Center, Agostino Iacurci unveils his latest creation, Ruinenlust, at Garage Bentivoglio in Bologna on the occasion of the 12th edition of Art City, a cultural program coinciding with Artefiera, the international art fair of Bologna.

The installation, inspired by a sketch from Giani, an 18th-century painter and architect linked to Palazzo Bentivoglio, aims to establish a dialogue between the artist’s contemporary vision and Palazzo Bentivoglio’s historical heritage and the city itself.

Ruinenlust is, in fact, visible from the street through a sizable window and presents a painted temple constructed from wood, felt, and iron and accentuated by the glow of a neon moon.

The installation’s bright colours and textured materials, coupled with the “untraditional” expositive space, beckon the viewer into a reflection on time. Ruinenlust is a German term that stems from Ruinen (ruins) + Lust (desire), expressing the irresistible attraction towards dilapidated buildings and abandoned places. “Ruinenlust is a feeling of nostalgic pleasure,” explains Iacurici, “peculiar to German pre-romanticism, which can be extended, in an existential key, to that kind of sensation of melancholy mixed with pleasure that one experiences in self-indulgence for their own failures.”

For Iacurci, this contemplation transforms the installation into a ruin of the future within the walls of one of the most magnificent ancient palaces in the city. Despite evoking a theatrical set, the temple will not host performances or actors but invites passersby to venture inside, offering an immersive encounter with the juxtaposition of ancient and modern, real and imaginary, past and present.

Ruinenlust is on view from January 31 to February 24, 2024, at Palazzo Bentivoglio, Bologna.