After abandoning her university studies in chemical nuclear engineering, Paola Pivi shifted her ambitions towards a career in contemporary art. Celebrated today for her provocative eccentricity, Pivi’s artistic production is full of odd encounters and whimsical moments. From animals in strange habitats, to an 18-wheeler truck positioned on its side, to gushing fountains of juice, ink, and espresso, the artist asks the public to reconsider the manipulation of the natural world around us. Pivi’s diverse practice, spanning documented performance, design, sculpture, video, photography, and installation, has, over the last two decades, often manifested itself through industrial materials or wildlife arranged in new incarnations and pop cultural representations.

I Want It All embraces Pivi’s penchant for physical and visual excess. The exhibition will include photo and video documentation of Pivi’s ambitious performances as well as expansive site-specific installations. Dozens of playful sculptures of baby polar bears covered in colorful plumage will take over the museum’s special exhibition gallery, displaying human mannerisms and imbued with innocent curiosity. In addition, new soft sculptures produced in collaboration with Italian design company Moroso will debut as well as a museum commission made from 250 pairs of shoes.

Pivi’s exploration of the nature and, in many cases, its manipulation by humans for beauty, function, or profit is timely and relevant, as mankind continues to impact the Anthropocene. At the same time, the joy infused in her work will also trigger feelings of delight, as our global community continues to navigate through and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paola Pivi: I Want It All is organized by José Carlos Diaz, chief curator at The Warhol. The exhibition coincides with the upcoming publication Paola Pivi, edited by Justine Ludwig and published by Phaidon in association with The Andy Warhol Museum; Anchorage Museum; The Bass Museum of Art; [mac] musée d’art contemporain de Marseille; and MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo. The monograph features more than 250 images, including previously unpublished work, together with five new essays.

Paola Pivi: I Want It All is generously supported by The Fine Foundation and Galerie Perrotin.

Warhol Pop Partners