A new site-specific installation designed for the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi in Florence will be on view from October 29, 2025 to January 25, 2026. Curated by Arturo Galansino, director general of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, promoted by the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the Hillary Merkus Recordati Foundation, and created by the American artist KAWS, the new work bears the title THE MESSAGE, establishing a visual and conceptual dialogue with the Renaissance architecture of the palace and with the exhibition dedicated to Beato Angelico (open until Jan. 25, 2026) and reinterpreting the theme of theAnnunciation, among the friar painter’s best-known subjects. Through a monumental installation, KAWS intends to compare different eras, forms and sensibilities, interweaving references to traditional iconography and the reality of the contemporary world.
Born in 1974 in the United States, KAWS often draws inspiration from animation and contemporary visual imagery. From his early experiences as a writer to the creation of his well-known X-eyed characters, the artist has developed an instantly recognizable, ironic and provocative aesthetic. Through the use of universal symbols and hybrid figures, the artist explores emotions and themes capable of speaking to a broad, cross-cultural audience. His figures, bearers of universal emotions such as melancholy, fragility and solidarity, take on a new valence on this occasion: KAWS reinterprets one of the most emblematic scenes of Western culture by recalling the hyperconnectedness that characterizes our age. In THE MESSAGE, the cell phone becomes a central element of the composition, an everyday symbol that in today’s world is charged with an almost sacred meaning.
The public and accessible dimension of the work is a key aspect of the project. The installation, which can be freely viewed in the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi, strengthens the dialogue with visitors and is part of the mission of the Palazzo Strozzi Future Art program, which aims to promote interventions by contemporary artists capable of creating unprecedented connections between past and future.
The project KAWS: THE MESSAGE is promoted and organized by Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Fondazione Hillary Merkus Recordati. Public supporters Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi: City of Florence, Region of Tuscany, Metropolitan City of Florence, Chamber of Commerce of Florence. Private supporters Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi: Fondazione CR Firenze, Intesa Sanpaolo, Committee of Partners of Palazzo Strozzi.
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| A new site-specific installation by KAWS will be placed in the courtyard of Palazzo Strozzi. |
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