Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
lime red-light installation. Look closely: Fortuny's Moorish lanterns illuminate Roberta di
Camerino purses and glittering Warhols.
Large-scale art installations in Fortuny's attic warehouse are often overshadowed by the
striking architecture and rooftop views, but the downstairs gallery hosts intriguing con-
temporary art shows. If these salons inspire design schemes, visit Fortuny Tessuti Artistici
(
Click here
) in Giudecca, where textiles are still hand-printed according to Fortuny's top-
secret methods.
PALAZZO GRASSI
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( box office 199 13 91 39, 041 523 16 80;
www.palazzograssi.it
; Campo San Samuele 3231; adult/reduced/child
€15/10/free, 72hr ticket incl Punta della Dogana €20/15/free; 10am-7pm Wed-Mon; San Samuele)
Grand
Canal gondola riders gasp at their first glimpse of massive sculptures by contemporary
artists like Thomas Houseago docked in front of Giorgio Masari's 1749 neoclassical
palace. French billionaire François Pinault's provocative art collection overflows Palazzo
Grassi, supplying Venice with sensation and scandal aplenty between Biennales - but
Tadao Ando's creatively repurposed interior architecture steals the show.
Clever curation and shameless art-star namedropping are the hallmarks of rotating
Palazzo Grassi exhibits, showcasing Takashi Murakami's smiling Superflat daisies, Ray-
mond Pettibon's poetically captioned cartoons ('I curse the happy for whom the unhappy
is only a spectacle') and Barbara Kruger's provocative maxims ('We are astonishingly
lifelike').
Postmodern architect Gae Aulenti peeled back twee rococo decor to highlight Masari's
muscular classicism in 1985-86, and minimalist master Ando added stage-set drama in
2003-05 with ethereal backlit scrims and strategic spotlighting. Ando's design directs at-
tention to contemporary art, without detracting from baroque ceiling frescoes. Don't miss
the cafe overlooking the Grand Canal, with interiors redesigned by contemporary artists
with each new show.
CHIESA DI SANTO STEFANO
MAP
CHURCH
GOOGLE MAP
(
www.chorusvenezia.org
;
Campo Santo Stefano; admission €3 or with Chorus Pass;
10am-5pm Mon-Sat;
Ac-
cademia)
The free-standing
bell tower
behind it leans disconcertingly, but this brick Gothic
church has stood tall since 1325. Credit for ship-shape splendour goes to Bartolomeo Bon
for the marble entry portal and to Venetian shipbuilders, who constructed the vast wooden
carena di nave
(ship's keel) ceiling that resembles an upturned Noah's Ark.
