Vezzoli’s art practice is rooted in his interest in the interplay between cultural heritage and modern life which he explores through a rich subtext of personal and cultural references. Working across a diverse range of mediums, from video installations and live performances, to photography and classical sculpture, Vezzoli has nevertheless consistently turned to needlepoint embroidery throughout his career. An intimately private and profoundly contemplative activity that challenges normative notions of masculinity and femininity, embroidery allows the artist to tap into a “world of feelings, crises, obsessions and depressions”.

The artist most often uses the technique to embroider tears onto reproductions of canonical paintings. “Tears are remarkably absent from the visual universe of art”, the artist explains, as “they are a sign of weakness”. From cartoonish, balloon-shaped tear drops, to decorative, jewellery-like formations, the embroidered tears that Vezzoli’s whimsical cast of characters shed in the Musei delle Lacrime urge viewers to look behind the grandiosity of the public image of Classical Art to discover the intimate, personal ways that it can change our lives.

Curated by Donatien Grau, the exhibition begins with Casino (Giotto, Wynn And Warhol Were Gamblers) (2024), where Steve Wynn's portrait of Andy Warhol is intertwined with a detail from Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel, inviting reflections on the artist-patron relationship and connecting Venetian art to its regional heritage. The concept of sacredness and veneration in Classical Art is explored in a series of updated Madonna-and-Child paintings by artists such as Cima da Conegliano and Giovanni Bellini where the role of the Madonna is taken on by supermodels like Claudia Schiffer, Tatjana Patitz and Paulina Porizkov or pop culture personas such as Kim Kardashian. Adorned with embroidered tears inspired by artists such as Picasso and Roy Lichtenstein, Vezzoli’s reinterpretations point to the societal worship of figures from the fashion and celebrity industries, as well as underscores the allegorical nature of his work.

Iconic works like La nascita di American Gigolò (After Sandro Botticelli) (2014), where Richard Gere is seen replacing Venus in Botticelli’s iconic The Birth of Venus, showcase the artist’s use of film culture references to reflect on the relationship between the past and present, while cheeky self-portraits such as Selfie Sebastian (Self-portrait as Saint Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna), (2009-2014), where the artist takes the place of Saint Sebastian, tied to an ancient ruin and pierced by arrows in Mantegna’s masterpiece, underscore Vezzoli’s belief that art can speak to us on a personal level.

Mounted on pink and metallic-grey wall panels and free-standing stands or featuring ‘melting’ picture frames, Vezzoli’s irreverent reproductions are playfully demarcated, encouraging visitors to view them in juxtaposition with the Renaissance masterpieces showcased alongside them. The playful set up, whose geometric design echoes Carlo Scarpa’s modernist exhibition staging, forms a museum within a museum amid the stately rooms of the museum’s 16th century Procuratie Nuove building.

Vezzoli’s Museum of Tears not only amplifies the artistic dialogue between both the canonical and contemporary art on display but goes so far as to underscore how Venice manages to stage an enduring interplay between the ancient and the modern, ingeniously placing the city’s ongoing cultural dialogue centre stage.