caricatured sculptures of human figures lead thomas schütte's major retrospective in venice

Business Mayor

22-04-2025

At Punta della Dogana in Venice, the Pinault Collection presents 'Thomas Schütte. Genealogies', the artist's first major exhibition in Italy. The curators of the exhibition, which runs between April 6th and November 23rd, 2025, are Camille Morineau, an independent curator, and Jean-Marie Gallais, curator at the Pinault Collection. They are both present during the preview designboom attends at Punta della Dogana – Palazzo Grassi . Thomas Schütte is nowhere to be found yet, but upon entering, his sculptures of human figures greet the visitors for him. Three towering sculptures in bronze set the tone of the visit. They're all part of the series titled Mann im Wind (2018).
These caricatures of men have their feet stuck under a pool of mud. Their faces express woes, melting and in distress, and their bodies sag as they keep on walking. The tempests of life have caught up to them. They wear soldier-like uniforms. Although they falter in their steps, they don't completely surrender. These themes of figures and human conditions run throughout Thomas Schütte's exhibition in Venice. The artist has incorporated them into his bodies of work since 1982. For his major retrospective in Italy, he brings those motifs through 50 sculptures from the Pinault Collection, surrounded by 150 drawings, mainly watercolor, most of which have never been exhibited until today.
Thomas Schütte, Mann im Wind II, 2018 | image © designboom, unless stated otherwise human figures remain a focal point in the show
Thomas Schütte's Genealogies exhibition in Venice has no chronological order. Instead, the curators attempt to trace the birth of the artist's repertoire and its variations. Room after room, the artworks shift, but the caricatured sculptures of human figures remain a focal point. Their grotesque faces, nudged and overly shaped, gaze at an emotional fixture men bear on their faces over time. In the next hall past Mann im Wind (2018), visitors see Fratelli (2012), a series of caricature male busts facing each other.
They remind the artist of his time in Rome during the upheaval in Italian politics back in 1992, the time he was in residence at the Villa Massimo German Academy. At the same time, these caricatures at Thomas Schütte's exhibition in Venice recall the elderly men in public transport and the corrupt politicians trying to cover up their wrongdoings on national TV. They're emotional: furrowed eyebrows, puckered lips, scrunched-up foreheads, lines all over their faces. The artist captures typologies and human representations, steeped in satire, imprisoned by some swept-under emotions that have finally come through.
Thomas Schütte, Mann im Wind series, 2018 | exhibition photos by Marco Cappelletti, unless stated otherwise, courtesy of Palazzo Grassi – Pinault Collection and Thomas Schütte, by SIAE 2025 difference between the male and female sculptures
There's a noticeable difference between the male and female sculptures. While the former seems to portray suffering, the latter looks serene, composed, and away from life's pitfalls. In Glaskopf A, Nr. 10 (2013) and Aluminiumfrau Nr.17 (2009), the women figures have their eyes closed, and their heads either look straight or tilt to the side. There's a gentleness in their features and stillness, and the artist shaped them without smudges, only with flecks and intentional forming. These are some of the figures and themes that Thomas Schütte exhibition in Venice highlights. Even the exhibition layout emphasizes the experimental take of the artist on his practice.
The artworks on display vary in scale and materials, an approach to explore form and subject in line with the artist's vision. The works also introduce the main types of Thomas Schütte's representations, including sculptures of individual, paired, or conjoined heads; standing figures that appear trapped within the material; large busts referencing Roman portraiture; sculptures of reclining female figures that draw from art history; and faces without clear gender markers. His work also addresses the challenges of creating monumental forms. The exhibition shows how the artist's work moves between violence and invention, private reflection and theatrical presentation.
Thomas Schütte, Mann im Wind II, 2018; Mann im Wind I, 2018, Pinault Collection
Thomas Schütte, Fratelli, 2012, Pinault Collection; Criminali, 1992
Thomas Schütte, Fratelli, 2012; Criminali, 1992 | image © designboom
Thomas Schütte, Untitled Enemy (Udo), 1992 (detail), Pinault Collection, Untitled (United Enemies), 1995 (detail), Pinault Collection