Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince: Helter Skelter

Fondazione Prada presents “Helter Skelter: Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince”, curated by Nancy Spector, an exhibition that examines a previously unexplored dialogue between the work of two American artists, Arthur Jafa and Richard Prince. Born a decade apart, both engage in the appropriation and manipulation of images drawn from films, pulp novels, comic books, YouTube videos, sci-fi stories, album covers, record sleeves, rock ’n’ roll posters, first-edition Beat volumes, newsreels, celebrity memorabilia and social media posts. Working through the materials of American popular culture, they expose its contradictions while also engaging with its myths and distortions.

The exhibition brings together more than fifty works, including photographs, videos, installations, sculptures and paintings, alongside new work by each artist and a collaboratively conceived zine incorporating images exchanged during the making of the exhibition. Across a series of thematic and conceptual juxtapositions, the presentation highlights affinities and tensions between the two practices, addressing questions of race, masculinity, representation and the cultural vernacular of the United States.