The Needleworks of Francesco Vezzoli

Next to his film and video works, the needleworks of the Milan-based artist Francesco Vezzoli constitute a second important group of works in which the artist deals with stars and divas from film, advertising, fashions and TV. He explores both the glamour surrounding them and the loneliness and transience of fame. In the portraits, artfully embroidered with needle and thread, two opposite worlds meet: domestic, private handicrafts and the aural glamour of those portrayed. The act of embroidering itself becomes a metaphor for obsession. Vezzoli more often than not takes recourse to culturally standardized contents as well as medial, social and formal elements which are then used as a reservoir of reality fragments from which he creates his own mythologies.