Thomas schütte. Genealogies

Date: 6 April 2025 - 23 November 2025

The Pinault Collection presents the first major exhibition of Thomas Schütte (b. 1954, Oldenburg, Germany) in Italy, hosted at Punta della Dogana. Curated by independent curator Camille Morineau and Jean-Marie Gallais, curator at the Pinault Collection, the exhibition highlights the artist’s unique approach to contemporary art.

Unclassifiable and multifaceted, Thomas Schütte's work offers an unsettling yet ironic exploration of the human condition, blending various techniques and artistic genres. Since the late 1970s, his sculptures, architectural models, photographs, drawings, and prints have evolved into a diverse body of work that, in the artist's own words, seeks to "introduce a distorted question mark into the world."

This exhibition delves into the recurring motifs found in Schütte’s major works, spanning from the 1970s to the present. It is centered around the exceptional group of almost fifty sculptures from the Pinault Collection, supplemented by loans from the artist and around one hundred works on paper, many of which are being exhibited for the first time. The exhibition explores, in a non-chronological manner, the development of Schütte’s forms and their variations, while also examining his practice of drawing, watercolor, and printmaking.

Schütte's figures, often caricatured, occasionally mishandled, but always poignant, come to life in materials such as clay, wax, ceramics, glass, steel, and bronze. These figures appear as full-length portraits or as character heads, yet always retain a connection to his drawing practice. Balancing violence and creativity, intimacy and theatricality, seriousness and humor, Schütte's distinctive universe has cemented his significant place in contemporary art.

more information about the exhibition

 

Cover image: Thomas Schütte, "Innocenti", 1994.