The exhibition A Guest + A Host = A Ghost marks a new display of the Dakis Joannou Collection at the DESTE Foundation. In what has become a yearly tradition, Dakis Joannou, with the collaboration of artists, curators, and friends – presents his collection in a new configuration.
Borrowing its title from one of Marcel Duchamp’s aphorisms, A Guest + A Host = A Ghost is constructed as a series of solo exhibitions, many of which have been conceived and installed by the participating artists themselves. A comprehensive presentation of some of the artists that Dakis Joannou has been collecting in depth over the past few years, the exhibition showcases earlier works and new productions by: Pawel Althamer, Maurizio Cattelan, Paul Chan, Nathalie Djurberg, Marcel Duchamp, Urs Fischer, Robert Gober, Jeff Koons, Paul McCarthy, Seth Price, Gregor Schneider, Kiki Smith, Kara Walker, Andro Wekua, and Franz West.
In a series of symbiotic encounters and parasitic relationships, coherent presentations of an artist’s work are often interrupted by incongruous presences or perturbed by unusual juxtapositions: drawings by Kara Walker surround a tomb by Urs Fischer; Maurizio Cattelan’s homeless man kneels down in front of Kiki Smith’s Bat Woman; Robert Gober’s haunted rooms incorporate Gregor Schneider’s architectural fragments; Seth Price’s vacuum figures face off a work by Jeff Koons. Each artwork turns into the ghostly reflection of its neighbour, making it impossible to distinguish hosts from guests, friendly creatures from menacing shadows.
Exhibition design by Massimiliano Gioni and Dakis Joannou with the participation of Maurizio Cattelan, Urs Fischer and Cecilia Alemani.
