Tatiana Trouvé
I bring fragments of the outside world into Palazzo Grassi
“I’m intrigued by the accidents that occur during moments of transition—just like in life, where paths shift in unexpected ways”
Over the years, Tatiana Trouvé has built a poetic and avant-gardist universe where time and space intertwine closely. With her oneiric vision, she turns everyday life into a surreal and sensory dimension. Her work focuses on memories, which she represents in the form of sculptures, drawings and installations. Visitors are invited to explore both inner and outer worlds in a continuous interplay between past and future.
From April 6th to January 4th, Palazzo Grassi is hosting one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the season, organised by the Pinault Collection. Titled “The Strange Life of Things”, it is the biggest retrospective of Tatiana Trouvé to date, and her first major solo show in Italy. A temporal and mental maze engaging both body and mind, this unique space transforms thought into a sculptural creature, a living work of art. Conceived in close collaboration with the artist, the show takes over every available corner of the exhibition space. Among newly created sculptures, monumental drawings, and site-specific installations, visitors will have the opportunity to engage with Trouvé’s singular language. Illusion and reality are intertwining, objects and images keep appearing and vanishing at once, revealing themselves from ever-shifting perspectives.
At the occasion of her Venetian exhibition, Say Who met Tatiana to learn more about the evolution of her artistic journey, from her earliest experiments to her rise as one of the most original voices in contemporary art.
Palazzo Grassi is a space steeped in history. How has it influenced the conception of your exhibition?
Palazzo Grassi was reimagined architecturally for this installation. I closed off some walls to redirect the flow, and opened up others to create new vantage points—especially those facing the canal. I wanted to embrace the architecture of the building, to establish a real dialogue with it.
Can you give an example?
Of course. In the central atrium, I created a large-scale intervention with asphalt, manhole covers, and crosswalk lines made of bronze and aluminum—to bring a fragment of the outside world into the heart of the palazzo. It’s almost as if all the waters of the world converge in Venice. Then, as you move to the upper floors, this piece of earth gradually transforms into something cosmic, like a starry black sky.
The exhibition is an imaginary labyrinth where physical and imagined spaces converge. What kind of emotions do you hope to evoke in visitors?
It’s hard to say precisely, because each viewer comes with their own personal baggage and connects what they see to their own experiences. That said, from the early feedback, it seems that the exhibition path is perceived as fluid and intuitive. On the first floor, visitors step into the three-dimensional worlds of my drawings; then, on the second floor, they come face to face with the drawings themselves. This creates a constant shifting of perspectives and perception.
Your work often explores the shift between solidity and impermanence. Why is that?
I think it’s simply the life of things. I’m intrigued by the accidents that can happen in this transitional phase. For example, once a massive wax piece collapsed during production—I decided to leave it just as it was, because the final result revealed something unexpected. That element of unpredictability really fascinates me. It’s a bit like life itself, where paths can change in unforeseen ways.
Did you have a dream as a child?
I would have loved to become a dancer, but I wasn’t very good at it…
Interview: Germano D’Acquisto
Portraits: Niccolò Campita
