On the occasion of her site-specific installation at HOW(EVER) – Portikus Art Book Festival, artist Nathalie Du Pasquier will be in conversation with curator Luca Lo Pinto to discuss Du Pasquier’s approach to exhibition making as a “Gesamtkunstwerk”. Over the course of her career, the artist has investigated the intricate relationship between objects and their surrounding environment, leading to a series of artworks including paintings, sculptures, drawings, furniture and books – consistently positioned between representation and abstraction, two-dimensional portrayal and volume. Together Du Pasquier and Lo Pinto have collaborated on several publications and exhibitions, including Campo di Marte at MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2021), From Some Paintings at La Loge in Brussels (2017) and BIG OBJECTS NOT ALWAYS SILENT at Kunsthalle Wien (2016).

Nathalie Du Pasquier (*1957 in Bordeaux, France) has lived in Milano since 1979. Until 1986 she worked as a designer and was a founding member of memphis. She designed numerous “decorated surfaces”: textiles, carpets, plastic laminates, and some furniture and objects. Since 1987 painting has become her main activity. She has exhibited in international group exhibitions, including at Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2022); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2019); Le Consortium, Dijon (2018) and Museo José Luis Cuevas, Ciudad de México (2007). Her works have been the subject of solo exhibitions at Kunsthal Aarhus (2023); MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome (2021); MRAC – Musée régional d'art contemporain, Sérignan (2022); GfZK – Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig (2019); MGLC – The International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (2019); Camden Arts Centre, London (2017); Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2017), among others.

Luca Lo Pinto (*1981 in Rome, Italy) is the artistic director of MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome. From 2014 until 2019 he worked as curator of Kunsthalle Wien. He is co-founder of the magazine and publishing house NERO. He produced a range of solo exhibitions with artists including Emilio Prini, Simone Forti, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Jason Dodge, Tony Cokes, Friedl Kubelka, Cinzia Ruggeri, Camille Henrot, Olaf Nicolai, Pierre Bismuth, Babette Mangolte, Lawrence Weiner, Gelatin & Liam Gillick, Charlemagne Palestine, Lisa Ponti, Darren Bader as well as publications with Mario Garcia Torres and Mario Diacono. In 2012 he edited the book Documenta 1955–2012. The endless story of two lovers. He has been a contributor to numerous exhibition catalogs and magazines, such as Flash Art, Kaleidoscope, Mousse Magazine, Purple, Spike Art Magazine, Rolling Stone.

The event is free of charge. The conversation will be held in English. It takes place at Portikus on a Saturday as part of HOW(EVER) – Portikus Art Book Festival (17.10.–20.10.2024).

(Image caption: Nathalie Du Pasquier, Campo di Marte, exhibition view, SOLO/MULTI. Museum for Preventive Imagination, MACRO 2021. Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: Agnese Bedini and Melania Dalle Grave of DSL Studio.)