Gathering found visual material, this publication retraces the story
of an artistic failure: that of a joint project by Federico Pepe and his
father Antonio, a cabinet of curiosities featuring latex sculptures of
fetuses looking like Mickey Mouse.
Federico Pepe found in an old hard drive a file of images documenting a
project initially planned for an exhibition, which he never concluded. The
artist had asked his father, the advertising artist Antonio Pepe, to
produce latex sculptures representing fetuses looking like Mickey Mouse
and his lover Minnie. Federico took daily photographs of the ongoing
process. The figurines were then placed in jars filled with Vaseline oil,
accidentally causing the destruction of the sculptures, Vaseline being a
dissolving agent of latex. The visual documentation of this artistic
breakdown is supplemented by a text on failure in art history, written by
art critic and curator Marco Tagliafierro.
Artist, graphic designer, publisher, Federico Pepe (born 1976 in Omegna, Italy, lives and works in Milano) is a singular figure in the
Italian cultural and artistic landscape. He runs
Le Dictateur project, an editorial platform and independent exhibition space in Milan. He exhibited at
MoMA Library and Family Business, New York, Tate Modern, London,
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Triennale Milano... He collaborates regularly with artists such as
Maurizio Cattelan,
Pierpaolo Ferrari (
Toilet Paper),
Nico Vascellari,
Jacopo Benassi, etc.
