Paola Pivi’s exhibition I don’t like it, I love it at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) brings together one of the most ambitious bodies of work in her thirty-year practice, pairing long-imagined pieces with major new commissions that inhabit the Brutalist architecture of the museum at full scale. Conceived through extended dialogue with AGWA’s curatorial team, the show pushes, as Pivi says, ‘the entire boundary,’ expanding her ongoing investigation of joy, urgency, and the evolving conditions of freedom today. ‘I am one of the luckiest human beings and artists, given the chance to be able to freely express myself,’ the Italian artist tells us, ‘something that today we are losing at a perceivable speed.’

Across the exhibition, on view until April 26th 2026, Pivi’s signature balancing of the playful and the existential becomes a framework for rethinking how we inhabit the world. Her fluorescent feathered polar bears, joyful in movement yet tied to global warming, which she insists on calling ‘global warming rather than climate change’, emerge from what she describes as ‘respect for life’ and ‘treasuring movement and the joy to be here.’ Her approach dissolves the distinction between delight and responsibility. ‘For me, joy comes from caring about life. It’s all connected. There is no separation,’ she notes. This belief that art expands perception underpins her entire practice. ‘I know that art can change the world because art can change.’ Below, designboom speaks with Paola Pivi about the making of I don’t like it, I love it, the importance of freedom, and why the ‘impossible’ is often just the beginning.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Love addict (2025) by Paola Pivi, composed of 999 molded resin trays filled with glycerine and food colouring; dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

in ‘I don’t like it, I love it’ scale, light and play collide

The largest of these new pieces is a giant inflatable comic strip cell suspended in the towering lobby of the museum.  Drawn from an early Big Nate vignette by Lincoln Peirce, the piece transforms line and paper into volume and air, opening a dialogue about the power of images to catalyze imagination. For Pivi, the cell encapsulates the generative spark that travels between artist, artwork, and viewer. ‘All that energy that is stored in this little cell… exploded in his Big Nate work worldwide, and it also inspired me,’ the multimedia artist shares with designboom. ‘That speaks about the power of aesthetics, the power of art.’

This sense of stored energy appears again in the second new work, a suspended field of 1,000 transparent trays filled with colored liquids on AGWA’s rooftop level. The installation responds directly to the intense natural light entering the building and to Pivi’s experience living in Hawai‘i.‘It all came together while I was living there, with the colors and the light — the life of the planet,’ she comments. For her, the opportunity to realize these long-held visions speaks to a broader principle: ‘The more we are given chances to express ourselves without limitation, the more the world can go forward.’

The exhibition also showcases her iconic feathered polar bears, which emerged when she moved to Alaska in 2006. For Pivi, their joy and their urgency are inseparable. ‘For me, joy comes from caring about life. It’s all connected.’ Her bears, playful in posture yet tied to the realities of global warming, exemplify the tension that runs through her work: a belief that art can open space for empathy, imagination, and possibility without prescribing what viewers should think. ‘I’m not going to tell people what they need to think… I want people to tell me what they think. I hope people will be better than me and teach me.’ Scroll on for the full interview with Paola Pivi.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Love addict (2025) by Paola Pivi, composed of 999 molded resin trays filled with glycerine and food colouring; dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

in conversation with paola pivi

designboom (DB): This exhibition at AGWA is one of your largest projects so far. When you first walked into the building, what did you see or feel that shaped the works you created for this space?

Paola Pivi (PP): Oh well, I created the show, or actually a different version of the show that then changed along the way, well before seeing the space, this extraordinary piece of architecture. The amount of space is an important feature of τthat building. It’s really dynamic and generous with the amount of space. In certain galleries, definitely in this museum, we do not feel constricted because we have different areas with different lighting. It all feels very varied and very complex and dynamic, and it’s like there is movement in the art itself. I designed the show with the curator Robert Cook well before entering the space, just by conversations for a long time. Basically, Robert, the curator, and the director Colin were ready to engage with me, the artist, to do the most ambitious show we could do, not only in terms of size of the installation or the scope of the production, but also in the decision of which artworks to present to the world today, to bring forward the dialogue of art. To really try our best as a team, from every point of view, to do a show that would push the entire boundary.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Love addict (2025) by Paola Pivi, composed of 999 molded resin trays filled with glycerine and food colouring; dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

DB: One of the new commissions is a giant inflatable comic cell, inspired by your own journey from studying chemical engineering to becoming an artist. Why was it important for you to bring comics into this show, and how do you see them connected to creativity and freedom?

PP: Two of the artworks are two dreams come true for me. They are artworks that I have been working on and hoping to make for years, and now AGWA is commissioning these works and giving me a chance to see them in reality. They are extremely important for me, and I am one of the luckiest human beings and artists, given the chance to be able to freely express myself, something that today we are slowly losing. Not slowly, actually, we are losing it at a perceivable speed. So in this instance, I’m given the freedom and the chance to express myself, and these two artworks are a form of expression for me. One is a cell of comic strips, one cell basically enlarged and created as an inflatable. The black line of the marker on paper, which then becomes a black line printed on the paper of magazines of the comic strips, becomes black inflatable material, and the white of the paper becomes empty space. And so this enormous cell or vignette will be hung in the middle of the museum’s towering lobby, a space with balconies and a large spiral staircase that goes up, filled with sunlight entering through windows. I expect it to be a very impressive installation.

The cell comes from comic strip artist Lincoln Peirce. It was one of the four cells, the last of the four cells, of the first story that Lincoln published many years ago. And it was the first time he published the character Big Nate, who then went on to become a very famous book character. I did not choose the cell because I knew it was Big Nate. I chose the cell just by random searches on the internet, and I found it so meaningful. Then I realized that it belonged to Lincoln Peirce and that it was the seminal work of that very prolific body of work. All that energy that is stored in this little cell not only exploded in his Big Nate work worldwide, the number of children who read it is probably immense, but it also inspired me to use it for this installation. That speaks about the power of aesthetics or the power of art, this energy that is stored in these things that artists make. The second work is an installation of transparent hanging trays filled with colorful liquids of many colors. This installation, which is all suspended, is hung on the top floor of the museum, which is a room that has two walls basically made of glass, with very large windows opening onto the roof terrace. So it will interact with light, and this is also onto the void of the lobby.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Love addict (2025) by Paola Pivi, composed of 999 molded resin trays filled with glycerine and food colouring; dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

DB: Why would you say that this second work is important to you?

PP: I had this vision of the work some time ago, and then it completely solidified in my head when I moved to Hawaii, with the colors and the light. And when I speak about the colors and light of Hawaii, I mean the life of the planet. It all came together while I was living there, and now I’m allowed to try to do it, which is extraordinary for me. But it’s not about me. It’s about me and every other artist on this earth. The more we are given chances to express ourselves without limitation, the more the world can go forward. Whether it’s me or another artist, I wish this for all of us. I wish for every human being to maintain freedom of expression, because these days it’s completely at risk.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Paola Pivi: Art Hunter (2025), polyurethane foam, plastic, trapeze, and feathers, 210 × 148 × 94 cm; This is my life (2025), polyurethane foam, plastic, feathers, and metal base, 270 × 138 × 97 cm; Art makes you high (2025), polyurethane foam, plastic, and feathers, 189 × 265 × 145 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio.

DB: Your art, while joyful and playful, also deals with big issues like climate change and coexistence. How do you hold those two things together without losing the joy or the urgency?

PP: For me, joy comes from caring about life. It’s all connected. There is no separation. If I have fun at a party, it’s because I feel connected to the people I’m with. There cannot be one without the other. We are not compartmental, it’s all connected. My polar bear sculptures, when I moved to Alaska in 2006, they came into my work out of respect for life, out of treasuring life and movement and the joy to be here. Then global warming, I prefer to call it global warming rather than climate change, became an issue we acknowledged a little bit later. In those years it was still on the fringes.

Once my sculptures began to represent polar bears, and polar bears embodied the representatives of global warming because many of them were suffering visibly, then suddenly my art also became a vehicle for this message. I find it appropriate, and I welcome this, because the entire artwork originated from admiration and respect for life. I just welcome this. I let it do what it wants to do. I’m not going to tell people what they need to think when they see my art. I want people to tell me what they think, because I’m interested in what people think. I hope people will be better than me, think better than me, and teach me.

Paola Pivi, I am a new art (2023), urethane foam, plastic, and feathers, 172 × 202 × 85 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi | image © Hugo Glendinning

DB: Have you noticed any difference in how children versus adults experience your pieces?

PP: In contemporary art, the children’s audience is kind of rare. It’s a fact. So it’s not like I have hundreds of experiences with children. Those few times when I see children in my art, they usually like it. But it’s for all ages.

Paola Pivi, exhibition view of It’s not my job, it’s your job (2023) at [mac] musée d’art contemporain de Marseille; urethane foam, plastic, and feathers, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi. | image © Hugo Glendinning

DB: Many of your works feel like impossible scenes—zebras in the Arctic, planes turning in the sky. What draws you to the impossible, and what do you hope it opens up for the audience?

PP: For the audience, I hope for freedom of thought, freedom of expression deriving from that. Why do I seek the impossible? I just try to do art, with a capital A. Certain things seem impossible, but then they’re possible because I did them. So they were not impossible to start with. We definitely shouldn’t put limits on what we can hope and achieve. And this shouldn’t be interpreted only in the Western way of conquering, but also in every possible direction — hopefully resetting some kind of balance in the world and rights for human beings.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Paola Pivi, Fortunately, one picture is worth a thousand of these suckers… (homage to Lincoln Peirce) (2025), nylon, polyurethane, metal, and blowers, 1400 × 700 × 20 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. Created with the express permission of Lincoln Peirce; the original comic strip was published on 7 January 1991. © Paola Pivi. | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

DB: Looking back across almost 30 years of making art, what feels like the thread

that connects everything you’ve done?

PP: You see, I never stopped, and I don’t want to stop thinking about that. My research is pure, and to maintain it pure, I’m doing my research. I’m not evaluating my research.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Paola Pivi, Fortunately, one picture is worth a thousand of these suckers… (homage to Lincoln Peirce) (2025), nylon, polyurethane, metal, and blowers, 1400 × 700 × 20 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. Created with the express permission of Lincoln Peirce; the original comic strip was published on 7 January 1991. © Paola Pivi. | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

DB: If art has the power to change how we imagine the world, what do you hope your work invites people to imagine, especially now in such an uncertain time?

PP: It’s the same answer I always gave for all 30 years. I know that art can change the world because art can change. That doesn’t happen every single time, of course, as there are thousands and thousands of artworks. But among those thousands, there is always one that, when we encounter it, instantly changes the way we think, the way we perceive the world, the capacity of perception, of elaboration, of producing thought, of producing a different way of living. So the potential is there as a fact. Everybody who loves art knows this is possible, and it does happen here and there. I hope my art does that to certain people and inspire them to become more amazing human beings in the sense that they can engage with life on the planet in a more sophisticated way. That is exciting for me to be surrounded by somebody who might have extra mental powers. I know for a fact, because people have told me, that my art has influenced some individuals to become a better version of themselves. Engaging in this operation hopefully affects me and makes me progress.

Paola Pivi, Untitled (donkey) (2003), framed photographic print, 180 × 224 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi. | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

DB: Your projects often involve collaboration, whether with craftspeople, technicians, or even cartoonists in this show. How do you work with others to keep your vision alive while also letting it evolve through collaboration?

PP: I work with others when the final result is better with others, when the artwork requires it. What is at stake, what is the goal, is to make an artwork. For example, when I did 25,000 COVID Jokes Is Not a Joke, I collected 25,000 COVID jokes from 60 places in the world, so that I had a multitude of cultures and languages from all over the world. I basically collaborated with 25,000 people. And it was essential to create that artwork.

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Paola Pivi, Untitled (donkey) (2003), framed photographic print, 340 × 423 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. © Paola Pivi. | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

DB: The title of the show is playful yet emphatic. Is there a story behind it?

PP: The title is created by Karma Culture Brothers, my beloved husband. He’s a songwriter and composer, and words come out of his mouth in a very powerful way. I am happy to be able to grab titles from him and position these little, well, I cannot say poems, but they are like little artworks made with a few words, that sit onto my show or my art and have this very strong communication quality to set the tone to a place where we can listen to each other.

Paola Pivi Share, but it’s not fair 2012 cotton fabric and polyester filling variable dimensions Installation view, “Share, But It’s Not Fair” at Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, 2012 Courtesy the Artist and Perrotin © Paola Pivi | image by Thomas Fuesser

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Paola Pivi, Share, but it’s not fair (2012–2025), viscose and polyester fabric with polyester filling, dimensions variable; Free Humans (2008), acrylic wall painting, 179 × 2133 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. Sentence by Karma Culture Brothers. © Paola Pivi. | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

Installation view at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA), Perth, 2025 — Paola Pivi, Share, but it’s not fair (2012–2025), viscose and polyester fabric with polyester filling, dimensions variable; Free Humans (2008), acrylic wall painting, 179 × 2133 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. Sentence by Karma Culture Brothers. © Paola Pivi. | image © Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio

project info:

name: Paola Pivi – I don’t like it, I love it

artist: Paola Pivi | @paolapivi

location: Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) | @artgallerywa, Perth

dates: 8th November 2025 – 26th April 2026

curator: Robert Cook

director: Colin Walker

The post ‘I know that art can change the world’: paola pivi on freedom, joy, and her AGWA exhibition appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Untitled (project for Echigo-Tsumari) by Paola Pivi is a monumental installation leaning against the Grand Palais, featuring an oversized, vividly colored ladder that stretches more than 20 meters. The inflatable artwork is on view until September 7th, 2026, as part of Euphoria: Art is in the Air, an exhibition by the Balloon Museum that marks the long-anticipated reopening of the Grand Palais in Paris and reanimates the iconic venue with color and a spirit of joyful disorientation. First shown in 2015 within the historic courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (find designboom’s previous coverage here), the ladder reemerges here, positioned just outside the renovated historic building. Pivi’s intervention, playful and jarring, interrupts the classical symmetry of the space. Installed just outside the main volume of the building, the structure appears as an object entirely out of place – monumental, technicolor, and stripped of practical purpose. 

images courtesy of MASSIMODECARLO gallery unless stated otherwise

the colorful inflatable artwork subverts logic

Paola Pivi reimagines the familiar form of the ladder into something absurdly unfunctional, a surreal prop that invites a kind of metaphorical ascent. The Italian artist opens a moment of visual curiosity with a sudden disorientation that activates the senses and allows thought to drift beyond the strictures of logic. Untitled (project for Echigo-Tsumari) prompts viewers not to climb physically, but to elevate emotionally and imaginatively, led upward by color, form, and the destabilizing sense that reality has briefly lost its footing.

Known for transforming objects, animals, and spatial arrangements through paradox and scale shifts, Paola Pivi’s work challenges conventional meaning by subtly subverting context. Her interventions often draw from the everyday, ladders, animals, airplanes, then twist them into new dimensions where their usual roles no longer apply. This act of displacement gives her work a dreamlike, often humorous intensity. In the case of Untitled (project for Echigo-Tsumari), the artist abandons functionality in favor of wonder, projecting visitors into a temporary, emotionally resonant world governed less by gravity and more by possibility.

Untitled (project for Echigo-Tsumari) by Paola Pivi leans against the Grand Palais

Balloon Museum brings ‘Euphoria: Art is in the Air’ in paris

Following the success of Pop Air in 2022, the Balloon Museum returns to Paris with a new exhibition and a renewed sense of scale. Curated by Valentino Catricalà in collaboration with Antonella Di Lullo, Euphoria: Art is in the Air brings together 20 inflatable and immersive artworks by a range of international artists, including Philippe Parreno, Camille Walala, Ryan Gander, Martin Creed, alongside Paola Pivi. While continuing the Balloon Museum’s playful and participatory approach, the exhibition introduces an entirely different body of work from its previous edition, transforming the freshly renovated Grand Palais into a space for visual experimentation and public engagement. Two additional works by globally recognized artists will be revealed later in the show’s run, contributing to the evolving nature of this large-scale installation program.

the inflatable artwork is part of the Euphoria: Art is in the Air exhibition

Paola Pivi’s work challenges conventional meaning by subtly subverting context | image courtesy of Balloon Museum

Pivi’s intervention, playful and jarring, interrupts the classical symmetry of the space

the structure appears as an object entirely out of place

Paola Pivi reimagines the familiar form of the ladder

transforming the freshly renovated Grand Palais into a space for visual experimentation 

project info:

name: Untitled (project for Echigo-Tsumari)

artist: Paola Pivi | @paolapivi

location: Grand Palais | @le_grand_palais, Paris, France

exhibition: Euphoria: Art is in the Air

curators: Valentino Catricalà with Antonella Di Lullo

dates: June 6th – September 7th, 2025

organizer: Balloon Museum | @balloon_museum

The post paola pivi leans 20-meter technicolor ladder against the grand palais in paris appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

Paola Pivi returns with a large-scale intervention, turning an Agusta 109 helicopter upside down inside the deconsecrated Church of San Carlo in Cremona. The site-specific installation, titled A Helicopter Upside Down, transforms the 17th-century nave into an uncanny scene where motion meets stillness, and the familiar is rendered surreal. By inverting the aircraft—an object synonymous with flight and function—Pivi challenges the expectations of the viewers, creating visual tension between its imposing material presence and its newfound stillness. On view by appointment at San Carlo until June 2025, the installation continues Pivi’s exploration of the unexpected and the extraordinary in contemporary art.

all images by Attilio Maranzano

the setting highlights the disorienting effect of the intervention

The Italian artist has long experimented with subverting recognizable objects through inversion and displacement. A helicopter upside down follows in the lineage of Pivi’s previous works, including Camion (1997), a lorry flipped onto its side; Untitled (airplane) (1999), a fighter jet turned upside down for the Venice Biennale; and How I Roll (2012), a Piper Seneca rotating mid-air in a Public Art Fund installation in New York. Each piece plays with perception, humor, and scale, prompting a reconsideration of the ordinary.

In the case of A Helicopter Upside Down, the setting amplifies the disorienting effect. The baroque interiors of San Carlo—a space once imbued with ritual and transcendence—now house a machine suspended in an unfamiliar state of inertia. The dialogue between architecture and object fosters a paradox: a helicopter at rest, yet poised for movement, rendered at once tangible and surreal. Visitors navigate around the inverted aircraft, engaging with the piece in a way that shifts perspectives, inviting reflection on control, gravity, and expectation.

Paola Pivi returns with a new large-scale intervention

the artist turns an Agusta 109 helicopter upside down inside the deconsecrated Church of San Carlo in Cremona

the site-specific installation transforms the 17th century nave into an uncanny scene

the familiar is rendered surreal

by inverting the aircraft Pivi challenges the expectations of the viewers

creating visual tension between its imposing material presence and its newfound stillness

the baroque interiors of San Carlo house a machine suspended in an unfamiliar state of inertia

project info:

name: A helicopter upside down

artist: Paola Pivi | @paolapivi

location: Church of San Carlo in Cremona, Italy

dates: March 1st – June 2025

photographer: Attilio Maranzano

The post paola pivi flips helicopter upside down inside 17th-century church in cremona, italy appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

High Line Art, the art program of the nonprofit organization the High Line, introduced its first commission of the season in April; ‘You know who I am,’ by Paola Pivi. On view in the High Line park on the West Side of Manhattan, until March 2023, the public artwork presents itself as a large-scale bronze replica of the Statue of Liberty wearing various emoji-inspired masks. The masks serve as symbols of individuals whose personal experiences of freedom are inextricably linked to the United States, and they will change every two months, representing six different people over the course of the exhibition. The video above takes viewers inside the making of ‘You know who I am’, showcasing the process behind the sculpture’s creation at Fonderia Artistica Battaglia in Milan.

image courtesy of Paola Pivi

video by Roberto Graziano Moro

a scale model replica of the statue of liberty 

‘You know who I am’ by Paola Pivi (see more here) is formed as a scale model replica of the Statue of Liberty, standing 23 ft (7 m) above the High Line (see more here). The piece was manufactured at Milan-based bronze casting foundry Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, and it follows a direct line to the original sculpture by Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi. To create the copy, Pivi worked from a historic plaster cast of the original model created by Bartholdi himself, which is currently on view at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France.

image by Timothy Schenck

playful cartoonish masks with strong symbolism 

The six cartoonish masks serve as a playful and colorful representation of several individuals whose experience of freedom is linked to the United States. The emoji-inspired aesthetics generate a strong contrast to the otherwise monumental sculpture, while their presence offers the sentiment that anyone could be represented within the symbol of the statue.

For this piece, Paola Pivi drew inspiration from her own experience: Her son had been living stateless in India when he was adopted by the artist and her husband, and the three of them had to go through a lengthy legal battle in order to bring the boy home. Fortunately, the family’s journey ended with her son gaining a pathway to citizenship in the US. During this struggle, the Statue of Liberty became an invaluable beacon for Pivi and her family.

For ‘You know who I am’, the artist expands on her experience, while also presenting the story of five additional individuals through a series of masks. In this way, the playful masks become a narrative medium, engaging in conversations about freedom in the US. For some, their story may be about having gained or hoping to gain greater freedoms upon entering the US; for others, the US may represent a denied dream of freedom.

image by Timothy Schenck 

the second mask of Paola Pivi’s ‘You know who I am’ commission is inspired by Marco Saavedra, an artist, poet, restaurateur, longtime immigrant rights activist, and community organizer based in South Bronx, New York | image by Timothy Schenck

project info: 

name: You know who I am
artist: Paola Pivi
organized by: Cecilia Alemani, Donald R. Mullen, Melanie Kress of High Line

The post statue of liberty with emoji-inspired mask by paola pivi rises at the high line, NYC appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

all images courtesy of massimo de carlo

‘why not?’ at massimo de carlo hong kong invites the viewer to a joyful, positive exhibition where paola pivi’s universe unfolds. among the works on view are two hanging sculptures, ‘lightening ball’ and ‘my little ball’, which are constructed by the entire current vitra collection of miniature chairs. when lit, the sculptures, which double as lamps, project mesmerizing shadows, the silhouettes of the chairs, all over the walls, allowing the viewer to experience the history of design from an unexpected perspective. the last artwork displayed is ‘I don’t need a title’ from 2008, a wall sculpture made of thousands of plexiglas pearls in different colors inspired by joseph albers. the work is part of the artist’s series made with pearls, and it is characterized by a concentric and geometric design.

designboom spoke with paola pivi to learn more about the artworks on display, the ephemeral nature of art made of feathers, as well as how the ongoing pandemic has affected her view of the world. read the interview in full below.

designboom (DB): is there a common thread that underpins the works of ‘why not’?

paola pivi (PP): it looks to me they are artworks with a positive, fun attitude to life, very approachable as well. human size in these times of human hardship.

DB: ‘bear foot’, the new body of work on display, marks the most recent development in your colorful, feathered polar bear series. why did you decide to focus on the bear’s feet this time?

sculptural, fetishist, funny and fun, ticklish, colorful, rainbow-y. art made of feathers is already conceptual art by its matter because it is ephemeral.

DB: among the new works on view are the two hanging sculptures, composed of miniatures chairs by vitra that cast immersive shadows when lit. what are these ‘universes’?

PP: they are sculptures as well as lamps. let’s play with our life. I like the burden/weight of many chairs on the thin, hand-made aluminum fragile frame underneath. I like the puzzle made by composing together the chairs’ feet/legs/extremities when they match and when they do not.

DB: where did your fascination with chair design come from?

PP: vitra miniatures sparked it. I also like designer furniture very much. since we need these items in our homes, why not have the extra research in them?

DB: how did you plan the configuration of each piece?

PP: it is like a drawing/composition accurately made by me using the chairs I have available, the vitra collection changes every now and then. I started making these artworks a few years ago, the first was ‘nice ball’ in 2010 for the show ‘WYSTAWA’ at museum of modern art, warsaw, 2010, curated by susanne pfeffer.

DB: your work often revolves around miniaturized objects, as in the case of the vitra chair sculptures or the baby polar bear gang, or around oversized ones, like the technicolor ladder at palazzo strozzi. how has your personal narrative informed this play with scale?

PP: the planet is small.

DB: your work conveys a sense of optimism to us.

PP: very good.

DB: during the ongoing pandemic, did you change your approach to reality? a slightly different view through ‘a different lens’ that adapts to new scenarios?

PP: yes, I lost hope in human kind. now I know why we have so many wars, disparities, lack of food/waste of food…in my opinion, with this COVID, human beings and countries demonstrated that they cannot cooperate, function and approach a common problem effectively. in this mess I was lucky to be able to carve for myself a way to make a good enough use of the new, hopefully temporary, system, so I myself am suffering less than many others probably. but the system in itself –at least perceiving it from where I am spending these COVID times, in italy, and looking mainly at the western world– appears messed up (besides the highly praised fast result of the vaccines achieved, which seem to be only motivated by business).

it looks like most business owners / business leaders could manage to organize themselves and survive or even thrive (like it happened for the vaccine or those COVID test facilities which seem to be working like a clockwork). except of course for those businesses lynched by the system, like for example skiing resorts or restaurants or spectacle workers in italy, to whom oxygen was closed, no life support was given, they are in apnea. all the rest of the society (organization, planning, helping, sorting, health, school, survival of society, prevention, transportation, instructions, even ‘what to do if you have COVID’) seems to me to be in a mess, proceeding slower than what must be possible.paola pivi, ‘lightening ball’, 2021, aluminium, mini chairs vitra, light bulb, electric cable, ø 92 cm / diameter (36 1/4 inches) irregular ball shape

PP (continued): the situation of COVID sheds light on other situations of society which are also in a mess, but it has been so for so long that we do not bother investigating into them, we just accept them. I am not saying that all is in a mess in every society everywhere, certain things in certain places work well, often what works here does not work there, but not all things are well arranged. can you imagine the mess if aliens were to come to the planet?

more than a slightly different view, a really strong light lit onto society.paola pivi, ‘I don’t need a title’, 2008, clear and cut plexiglas pearls, 110 × 110 × 25 cm / 43 1/4 × 43 1/4 × 9 3/4 inches approx. overall dimensions: 130 x 123 x 25 cm (51 1/4 × 48 3/8 × 9 3/4 inches)

paola pivi, ‘bear foot’, 2021, urethane foam, plastic, feathers, 25 × 49 × 20 cm (9 3/4 × 19 1/4 × 8 inches)

paola pivi, ‘bear foot’, 2021, urethane foam, plastic, feathers, 25 × 49 × 20 cm (9 3/4 × 19 1/4 × 8 inches) paola pivi, ‘bear foot’, 2021, urethane foam, plastic, feathers, 25 × 49 × 20 cm (9 3/4 × 19 1/4 × 8 inches)

another work from the artist’s series made with pearls

paola pivi, untitled (pearls)(beautiful day), 2015

exhibition info:

name: why not?

artist: paola pivi

gallery: massimo de carlo hong kong

duration: march 25 – may 7, 2021

location: 12 pedder street – 3F pedder building central, hong kong

The post paola pivi on the ephemeral nature of her feathered bear feet rainbow at massimo de carlo appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

italian artist paola pivi now dedicates the following message, and images of her signature bears in black. ‘as these new sudden laws and rules really affect our private amounts of freedom and the life or death of those around us, it really gives us an option to open our eyes and see how the rules of the governing bodies always really affect our freedoms and life or death situations,’ paola pivi shares. ‘keep your eyes and ears open, keep them open always in the future too.’

the black bears form part of ‘we are the alaskan tourists’ — an exhibition at the ARKEN museum in denmark currently closed due to coronavirus, which has been unable to go on view.

‘we are the alaskan tourists‘ at the ARKEN comprises a cast of fifteen polar bears covered in brightly colored feathers that cavort inside the museum’s 150-meter long exhibition space. as visitors approach the bears, their animal features become clearer – pitch-black oval eyes, long sharp claws and pointed white teeth. with her rendition of the polar bear, pivi challenges usual views on the arctic predator. how do we perceive the polar bear when its thick white fur has been replaced by light feathers in gaudy colors – and what new meanings does this add to such a well-known animal?

all images: we are the alaskan tourists at ARKEN
photos by david stjernholm, courtesy the artist & perrotin

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installation view | photo by attilio maranzano
all images courtesy of paola pivi and perrotin

this isn’t paola pivi’s first multi-colored, feather-covered bear installation. she’s made much larger, full-scaled bears plenty of times before, taking one-parts inspiration from india — where she lived and breathed in the kaleidoscopic visual-diet that drifts brightly through every street corner of the country — and one-parts inspiration from her previous home, alaska. alaska’s color palette is not india’s. unless staring directly into the aura lights, the land is single-toned and minimal, but its also home to a host of extraordinary, if not mythical creatures. combine that mystery with a vibrant, indian palette and we can begin to see the world this baby gang rolls around in. 

installation view | photo by attilio maranzano

this baby gang lives in a world that rejects geospecificity. the tenacious, mystical beings even evolved feathers to fight for survival against melting polar ice caps. but these bears aren’t even bears yet. they’re still just babies. ‘like the majority of her work,’ says curator and writer justine ludwig, ‘we are the baby gang also draws from pivi’s personal narrative. specifically, the aesthetics of parenthood. she is inspired by miniaturized objects that began to populate her surroundings when her son came into her life— shoes fit in the palm of one’s hand, toys are the world made small and reimagined in electric tonalities. when pivi became a mother the objects around her began to shrink in size to fit to needs of her son. she came to occupy the world in miniature. everything is made cute and precious. it is a constant reminder of precariousness and responsibility. like a human child, the baby bears, even in their ferocity, need protection.’

installation view | photo by attilio maranzano

together, the baby bears at perrotin play a role they are seemingly unaware of. with every yoga pose they nail and every cartwheel they fail, their innocent, gallery-penthouse-playtime reminds us of the interconnectedness of all things, and the responsibility we have to protect that which needs protecting. 

installation view | photo by attilio maranzano

installation view | photo by attilio maranzano

installation view | photo by attilio maranzano

installation view | photo by attilio maranzano

installation view | photo by attilio maranzano

oh oh, 2019 | photo by guillaume ziccarelli

bear like me, 2019 | photo by guillaume ziccarelli

long time no see, 2019 | photo by guillaume ziccarelli

you drive me crazy, 2019 | photo by guillaume ziccarelli

 
I was born this way, 2019 | photo by guillaume ziccarelli

I just miss my mom, 2019 | photo by guillaume ziccarelli

we like to fight, 2019 | photo by guillaume ziccarelli

exhibition info:

gallery: perrotin
location: 130 orchard street new york, NY
duration: now through june 8, 2019

The post ‘we are the baby gang,’ playful polar bears that grew feathers to beat climate change appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

installation view of pivi’s spinning, feathered bike wheels
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

inside the bass museum are a multitude of paola pivi’s kinetic works. made of constantly rotating bicycle wheels adorned with bird feathers, these spinning wheels evoke dream catchers and provide a somewhat hypnotic experience. the ten pieces are installed on the museum’s white walls, allowing the bold plumes and mesmerizing rotations to take center stage.

bold plumes and mesmerizing rotations to take center stage
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

the circular works, which vary in both scale and materiality, have been given names such as: ‘people tell me I look like a jellyfish’, ‘this is as close as you can get to the peacock eyes’, and ‘it was falling from the birds’. the kinetic pieces employ the bright colors associated with pivi’s work, as well as the feathered materiality found in her whimsical polar bears elsewhere in the exhibition.

as the wheels spin, they evoke the image of a dream catcher
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

it was my choice, 2017
aluminum, engine, pavo cristatus (peacock) feathers
gif © designboom

I don’t have a name, 2016
aluminum, engine, struthio camelus (ostrich) feathers
gif © designboom

in the next room, pivi has installed an exhibition titled ‘lies’. the work is comprised of 92 television screens, 40,000 images of reality, and over 200 recorded lies played through a sound system. pivi conceived the piece in 2013 while entangled in a court case surrounding the custody of her adopted son. during this period, she experienced the opposition using inflammatory lies in order to paint her and her family in a negative light.

watch ‘lies’, a room-sized installation of 92 televisions and pre-recorded statements without truth  
video © designboom

since this incident, she has become more and more aware of the prevalence of lies in politics, the media, and quotidian experience; stating that lies are a powerful tool of manipulation. pivi brings attention our complicated relationship with perception, control, and truth as well as the glut of information we engage with on a daily basis.

lies, 2018
92 televisions displaying 40,000 images of reality, recorded lies played through a sound system, steel, acrylic
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

the immersive room infills visitors ears with ‘lies’ 
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

the images on the screens are in constant flux as the pre-recorded ‘lies’ resound throughout the space
gif © designboom

‘world record’ is a new installation created specially for the exhibition. comprising two horizontal planes, each made of 40 white mattresses, the piece encourages guests to enter and explore the work as a way to investigate the ‘space in between’. open on all sides, the interactive sculpture allows participants to make their way from one end of the room to the other.

world record, 2018
mattresses, wood, steel, denim
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

exhibition-goers are invited to climb inside the giant, double-sided mattress 
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

the installation explores the notion of ‘the space in-between’
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

open on all sides, the sculpture allows participants to make their way from one end of the gallery to the other
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

visitors take off their shoes and must put on booties before entering ‘world record’
image © designboom

‘I wish I am fish’ is a film created during a 2009 performance commissioned by one day sculpture in new zealand. for the performance a plane was flown to auckland international airport and, in each seat, sat a fish in a bowl. the work captures the journey of the 84 flying fish and speaks to the fantasy of travel and exchange.

I wish I am fish, 2009
video projection with sound | duration: 4 minutes, 35 seconds
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

paola pivi, untitled (donkey), 2003
photographic print, aluminum, frame | 71 x 88 inches / 180 x 224 cm
image courtesy the artist and dallas contemporary

elsewhere, pivi brings her globally recognized feather-covered polar bears to the bass museum, climbing up the walls and hanging from the ceiling. last year, in celebration of milan design week 2017, pivi infilled the window displays at la rinascente department store with a colorful and playful scenography.

‘art with a view’ remains on display at miami’s bass museum until march 10, 2019.

‘art with a view’ presents both new and past work by the artist
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

installation view of pivi’s feather-covered polar bears at the bass museum in miami
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

why am I climbing anyway?, 2016
urethane foam, plastic, red feathers
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

I am vitamin C, 2018
urethane foam, plastic, orange feathers
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and the bass

detail of ‘here comes the hunter’, 2013
urethane foam, plastic, green feathers
image © designboom

The post paola pivi’s ‘lies’, feathered bike wheels, and double-sided beds at the bass museum in miami appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

in celebration of milan design week 2017, artist paola pivi has infilled the window displays at la rinascente department in store with a colorful and playful scenography filled with feathered polar bears. ‘I am tired of eating fish’ — curated by cloe piccoli — has been conceived especially for the vitrines of the milanese landmark, and sees eight artistic displays overlook piazza duomo. looking into the storefront scenes, viewers enter pivi’s surreal world and dreamlike universe governed by laws of the absurd — where anything is possible.

watch the interview with paola pivi

in this historic and symbolic space for the city of milan, pivi adds her famous feathered bears — a motif which she has been working with for many years. each of the creatures enact a variety of positions, postures and playful poses within the windows at la rinascente. one all-white bear lounges at a workspace, feet propped up on a desk; another pink critter placed on a pedestal spins like ballerina. references to lifestyle and leisure, and nature and work are evident in the project, hovering between reality and hallucination and beckoning the question — is the world of paola pivi upside down, or are we?

all images by marco beck peccoz

The post paola pivi’s feathered bears frolic in the windows at la rinascente in milan appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

paola pivi
palazzo strozzi, florence
now through february 28, 2016

within the courtyard of florence’s historic palazzo strozzi, italian artist paola pivi has inflated an oversized, colorful ladder that extends from the ground floor to the upper levels of the renaissance palace. the untitled project, on view from now until february 28, 2016, invades the architecture of the building, climbing more than 20 meters above visitors to the space. emphasizing the contrast between classic and contemporary, the technicolor steps alter the audience’s perception of reality by exhibiting an object that is distinctly out of place. 

the installation climbs more than 20 meters above visitors to the space
image courtesy of palazzo strozzi

the entire palace becomes part of the bizarre and outlandish world pivi crafts, where the inflated ladder, devoid of all practical function, clashes with the controlled perspective of the palazzo’s renaissance architecture. over-scale, unstable, ephemeral and out of context, pivi’s vibrant installation delivers a reactionary shock, producing a surreal event that interrupts the traditional conventions of space to generate new and unexpected meanings.

an oversized, colorful ladder extends from the ground floor to the upper levels of the renaissance palace
image courtesy of palazzo strozzi

the entire palace becomes part of the bizarre and outlandish world pivi crafts
image courtesy of palazzo strozzi

the ladder emphasizes the contrast between classic and contemporary
image courtesy of palazzo strozzi

the object produes a surreal event that interrupts the traditional conventions of space 
image courtesy of galerie perrotin 

the technicolor steps alter the audience’s perception of reality
image courtesy of galerie perrotin

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