Maurizio Cattelan

For its sixth exhibition, Blenheim Art Foundation hosts a solo exhibition by Maurizio Cattelan’s work at Blenheim Palace. Cattelan’s most significant display in the UK for twenty years, Victory is Not an Option responds to the martial and political history of the Palace, exploring timely themes of national identity, power and personality. The exhibition brings together some of the most influential artworks from Cattelan’s celebrated thirty-year career, many shown in the UK for the first time. The suspended horse Novecento and a new version of Untitled – Cattelan’s profile encased in a gold boot – serve as allegorical reminders of Italy’s turbulent twentieth-century history. The exhibition also debutes new pieces such as the titular installation Victory is Not an Option, a site-specific walkway of Union Jack flags.

America, Cattelan’s fully-functioning, solid 18-karat gold lavatory speaks to the historic constructs of status, wealth and power that underlie institutions like Blenheim Palace. Originally visited by over 100,000 people at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, this is the iconic artwork’s first exhibition in Europe.

For more information, please visit: blenheimartfoundation.org.uk