Michèle Lamy is no stranger to the Venice Biennale. In 2015, the mythic polymath, wife and business partner of Rick Owens created Bargenale, a scaffolding-clad barge docked at Certosa, close to the main exhibitions in the Giardini and Arsenale. Over her 50-year career, Lamy has been a designer, producer, performer and restaurateur (not to mention an attorney and cabaret dancer), and the barge proved to be the perfect stage for her myriad talents, holding among other things a floating restaurant, recording studio and installation artwork. It hosted A$AP Rocky and UNKLE frontman James Lavelle, but Lamy herself, instantly recognisable with her gold-flecked teeth and dyed fingertips, remained the star attraction. It was such a hit that she provided a sequel, Bargenale 2, in 2017. This year, however, she returns to the prestigious citywide showcase with an entirely new proposition.[#image: /photos/5d544dc4eabedb00089df31a]Read more: This Year's Turner Prize Shortlist Is Urgently, Brilliantly Political
“This time, we’ve created something a little more contained and intimate,” Lamy tells Vogue ahead of the opening of What Are We Fighting For?, an immersive boxing installation she has curated as part of the Carpenters Workshop Gallery exhibition Dysfunctional. The title of her project was also the question at the heart of Lamy’s pop-up at London’s Selfridges last year, which featured a boxing ring complete with artist-designed punching bags and merchandise. Both projects sit under the umbrella of Lamyland, an ongoing series that debuted during Frieze London in 2014 with a barge on the Regent’s Canal and has since grown into numerous installations and happenings.
“It’s called Lamyland because that’s how Rick would refer to the projects I was working on for the Rick Owens brand – the name stuck, et voilà,” says Lamy with a characteristic flourish. “But it’s called ‘Lamyland’ and not ‘Lamy’ because it’s always been about creating a space and platform for other people.” This spirit of collaboration is crucial to her latest project at Venice, for which she has invited artists to create boxing bags that address a wide range of sociopolitical and cultural issues.[#image: /photos/5d544dc422090e0008a3df64]
Among the participants are South African conceptual artist Kendell Geers, Dutch design collective Studio Job and Rotterdam-based Atelier Van Lieshout, and the pieces on show are eclectic to say the least. Brazilian design duo Humberto and Fernando Campana, for instance, have focused on sustainability and the need to preserve indigenous techniques. Their punch bag, made of sisal rope, raffia and natural wicker, references Brazilian ocas (indigenous houses constructed from wood and bamboo) to highlight the importance of eco-friendly traditional practices. Meanwhile, Dutch artist Frederik Molenschot’s contribution is made of stacked blue discs in the shape of Parmesan cheese wheels – a love letter to one of Italy’s most treasured exports and a byword for its heritage, which he believes is worth fighting for.
“I wanted there to be a mix,” explains Lamy. “At Venice, there is always this sense of the world coming together for art. When Carpenters Workshop Gallery asked me to do this, I thought it would be a great way of celebrating the work of these artists, and also giving back to the city.” During the Biennale, her installation will inhabit the inner courtyard of Venice’s Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, a historic palazzo overlooking the Grand Canal. “It feels good to be here,” she adds. “It’s such an important part of Venice and creates an interesting backdrop for the work.”[#image: /photos/5d544dc4ea07410008b931aa]
The venue is key to the Dysfunctional exhibition as a whole, which seeks to juxtapose contemporary collectible design with the ancient space it occupies. Lamy’s installation will sit alongside the work of 20 other creatives on the Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s roster, from Lamy’s husband Owens and frequent collaborator Virgil Abloh, to furniture maker Maarten Baas and sculptor Ingrid Donat. The Spanish designer Nacho Carbonell, commissioned to create a site-specific piece for the building’s 15th-century courtyard, has made a series of shimmering, tree-like sculptures that flood the space with light, while Dutch duo the Verhoeven Twins have transformed the first-floor lodge with a constellation of iridescent glass bubbles. Read more: The Exhibitions Worth Travelling For In 2019
Despite the scale of these works, few pack the visual punch of Lamy’s forest of boxing bags. “I love boxing as a sport and this idea is something I’ve been developing for a long time,” she says of the concept. “Boxing is a great metaphor for life and I wanted to ask people what they were fighting for. For me, fighting is not a bad word. It’s about believing in something and making it happen.” The title for her exhibit is adapted from the slogan of New York’s legendary Overthrow Boxing Club, which Lamy describes as “the CBGB of our time”, referring to the famed punk rock venue. “It all started with Overthrow. It’s so much more than a boxing gym. It’s a community of people and they are all about action. They help sign people up during elections. They donate to good causes. They have a purpose, and that is something we all need to find, both in and out of the ring.”[#image: /photos/5d544dc4df3584000807c5ae]
So, what should the art world be fighting for and what does Lamy hope attendees will take away from the exhibit? “I hope they are seduced,” she replies. “I hope it makes them think. You have to be in there, in the room with those objects, to really feel the power of it.” The Biennale, she believes, is the ideal platform for this project. “With Venice, there is a thrill that comes with the week of the opening, but also the thing that lasts. It’s open for much longer and so people visit during the Venice Film Festival and months after that. I hope more and more people will discover it in time and I’m interested to see how it evolves.”
Although this project is now complete, Lamy views everything as a work in progress. “I’m always thinking about what’s next and how things can be adapted,” she admits. “More people might see the installation and want to be part of it, or they might even want us to take it on the road!” Fittingly for a woman who has mastered so many art forms, she is open to all possibilities. “I don’t really have an end date in mind for this Lamyland series. You never know what might come next. For me, a project like this is more like an invitation. You create it and then you send it out and ask the world to participate.” And who could say no to that?[#image: /photos/5d544dc412e31a000848029d]
Michèle Lamy’s “What Are We Fighting For?” will be on show from 8 May to 24 November 2019 at Venice’s Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro as part of the Carpenters Workshop Gallery’s new exhibition “Dysfunctional” in partnership with Lombard Odier
