Duchamp and Sturtevant: Art Beyond the Original

There are artists who change the way we see; others, the way we think. The encounter between Marcel Duchamp and Sturtevant belongs to both categories, and the Milan exhibition stages a dialogue that feels strikingly relevant today. Duchamp, a pivotal figure of the twentieth century, revolutionized art with his readymades: ordinary objects elevated to artworks through a conceptual act of choice. With this gesture, he shifted attention from the image to the idea, opening up a new possibility for art.
Decades later, Sturtevant revisits and radicalizes that gesture. Her “repetitions” of iconic works, including Fountain, are not copies, but critical tools: they question what originality truly means and how an artwork becomes an icon. The exhibition unfolds as a dynamic exchange between objects and ideas, where each work seems to respond to the other. From optical devices to erotic references, to pieces that challenge authorship itself, a shared ground emerges: art as a space for thought. In an age shaped by digital reproducibility and artificial intelligence, this dialogue appears more relevant than ever. Not a lesson in history, but an invitation to look beyond the image and to question what truly makes a work of art.