Francesco De Prezzo
Substitution
14.03.25-15.04.25
FORM is pleased to present
Substitution
, a solo exhibition by Francesco De Prezzo, which takes shape through a film projected in the very spaces where it was shot.
Structured in chapters, the documentary reveals all the behind-the-scenes stages, from the conception to the setup of the exhibition. Here, "building the exhibition" becomes a performative act—one that oscillates between creation and erasure, movement and substitution of works—highlighting the artist’s ongoing investigation into the limits of the image and the perceptual gap between what appears and what remains when the material substance of a work is removed or erased.
Known for his paintings where broad fields of white veil the underlying image, as well as installations composed of temporary placeholders, De Prezzo’s practice finds a further evolution in this project. The film created for the occasion does not simply document a process; rather, it subverts the very notion of exhibition-making. What would traditionally be the final step—the documentation—becomes the only trace of the exhibition’s entire formation.
In this way, this film challenges the mechanisms of artistic experience, questioning how art is perceived and negotiated.
It deepens the relationship with the artist’s creative thought process, where the image of the artwork and its narrative merge into an act of substitution. The exhibition depicted in the film—completely dismantled before the audience's arrival—survives entirely within the cinematic dimension.