The Feeling of Things

“The Feeling of Things” is the most extensive exhibition in Italy by Matt Mullican (born in 1951 in Santa Monica, California) and his major retrospective ever. In a continuous attempt to explain and structure what is around him, Mullican has been working since the early 1970s to develop a complex system of models and vocabulary that he calls the “five worlds,” corresponding to different levels of perception and represented by five colors: green for physical, material elements; blue for everyday life (the “world unframed”); yellow where objects become valuable, as in art (the “world framed”); black and white for language and symbols; and red for subjectivity and ideas.

For Pirelli HangarBicocca the artist has designed a massive sculptural structure that takes its shape from his most iconic five-color-cosmologies, occupying nearly the entire 5,000 square meter exhibition space. Visitors are invited to enter the structure to discover thousands of meticulously arranged works and objects. Representing an extremely rich selection of Mullican’s seminal works from the 1970s as well as more recent times, they include paintings, rubbings, banners, glass sculptures, works on paper, videos, lightboxes, floor pieces and bigger installations and explore the most hermetic aspects of human life.
The exhibition is curated by Roberta Tenconi and is accompanied by a publication focused on Mullican’s photographic works, encompassing all his analogical photos from the 1970s and 1980s until the most recent digital single shots and series, including installation views of the Milan show, exceptionally taken by the artist himself.