Triennale Milano has opened the exhibition Elio Fiorucci, curated by Judith Clark, with exhibition design by Fabio Cherstich. The largest and most extensive exhibition of works and objects ever dedicated to this unique figure– seeks to recapture the different creative dimensions of Elio Fiorucci (Milan, 1935-2015), entrepreneur, cool hunter, and founder of the eponymous brand that revolutionized costume, fashion and the contemporary art scene in Italy since the 1960s.
Stefano Boeri, President of Triennale Milano, says:
We wanted to fill, right here, where the Fiorucci phenomenon was born and exploded, the void of a formidable amnesia. Milan, thanks to Fiorucci, has in fact been for at least two decades one of the magnets of the most advanced ideas in international youth culture and the cradle of the most fertile and daring contaminations not only between fashion, design, visual art and advertising, but also between culture and commerce. By invading the dark Milan of the 1970s with colors and shapes and then exporting his chromatic comet to the world, Elio Fiorucci gave his city the gift of primacy in international creativity.
The exhibition is a retrospective with a clear biographical purpose that includes all the human, entrepreneurial and cultural events of Elio Fiorucci’s life, offering a new perspective of this character; it will also present research by academics and collaborators describing Fiorucci’s unique vision, and a series of experiments that revolutionized fashion and marketing in Italy and around the world. With a particular focus on the life and biography of the designer: it displays, in chronological sequence, material from his personal archives as well as industrial products, revealing Fiorucci’s unmistakable aesthetic.
The exhibition design highlights the theatricality of the various elements that make up the narrative: the whole exhibition will be pervaded by Elio Fiorucci’s voice – through recordings not previously made public – which will retrace some personal moments of his story and will be set in dialogue with the voices of other key figures in the designer’s life, creating a narrative that interweaves with the story of the brand.
The provocative and humorous graphics and language that inspired the designer are also central to the exhibition, rendered through a multiplicity of media, records and works that range in scale from a polaroid to a room-size installation, with videos, photographs, architectural models, clothing, accessories and contemporary works of art, demonstrating how the brand has always had its own identity, closely linked to the personality of its founder.
The Cuore – Centro studi, archivi, ricerca space also displays a selection of volumes and magazines from the Arnoldo and Alberto Mondadori Foundation in Milan that focus on fashion. Accompanying the exhibition is a catalog (in Italian and English), published by Electa, which includes texts by scholars and prominent figures from the world of creativity and culture. The catalog was conceived as a compendium of works of a heterogeneous nature selected to highlight themes and languages explored by Elio Fiorucci throughout his articulate career.
Curated by: Judith Clark Exhibition design: Fabio Cherstich
Elio Fiorucci, November 6th, 2024 – March 16th, 2025, Triennale Milano
Tickets: Full ticket: 15 euro / reduced: 12 euro / students: 7.50 euro Day ticket for entry to all the exhibitions at Triennale Milano: 25 euros Triennale Milano Opening Times Tuesday– Sunday 10.30 am – 8.30 pm (last admittance 7 pm)
