Hint Tip: Prada's 24 h Museum

Few labels have cultivated as artsy an edge as Prada. The Italian brand, forever restless, continues its tradition of backing unconventional art projects with 24 h Museum, conceived by Francesco Vezzoli. The Milan-based artist is, of course, better-known for his pornographic remake of I, Caligula for the 2005 Venice Biennale, and for orchestrating a LACMA gala where Lady Gaga performed on a Damien Hirst-embellished piano.

Starting January 24, and for exactly 24 hours, Vezzoli will transform Paris’s iconic Palais d’Iéna into a surreal installation based on three types of museums: historic, contemporary and forgotten. Part art museum, part red-carpet event, the living exhibition celebrates—in cohoots with Rem Koolhaas’s think tank AMO—the "eternal allure of femininity" through Vezzoli’s interpretation of classical sculpture as contemporary divas. Think Beyoncé meets Bernini, or Madonna meets Michelangelo. If it sounds kitschy, it is, in the artistic sense of the word.

Just before midnight, the space will transform into a disco, where real-life goddesses will mingle with Vezzoli’s creations. And if you can’t make it to the Palais d’Iéna, don’t worry. You can still be a part of the online exhibition by submitting your own Vezzoli-fied photo via Facebook. Or peek in when the invite-only nightclub is live-streamed on the site.

• Posted Jan 22, 2012
• Comment
  Tweet