Text/Context

Joseph Kosuth’s work has long explored the shifting relationship between signifier and meaning, transforming language itself into visual art. The exhibition The-exchange-value-of-language-has-fallen-to-zero, presented by Berggruen Arts & Culture and the Berggruen Institute Europe at the Casa dei Tre Oci, examines how meaning is shaped by context. A neon installation, A Chain of Resemblance, inspired by Michel Foucault, highlights how an artwork becomes inseparable from its environment.
Curated by Mario Codognato and Adriana Rispoli, the first floor presents historic works from the 1960s, when the artwork emerged as a synthesis of object, image and text. Among them, One and Three Mirrors (1965) turns the viewer’s reflection into part of the piece itself, echoing Ludwig Wittgenstein’s theories on perception and use.

The adjoining rooms explore another recurring theme in Kosuth’s practice: the questioning of authorship and the redefinition of the relationship between artist, audience and collective practice. Works such as Fifth Investigations, Text/Context and a poster created for the 1976 Venice Biennale testify to this radical rethinking. A 1970 manifesto, The Seventh Investigation, will also appear in the city’s public space.
Long connected to Venice – where he lived between 2021 and 2025 and where he participated in the Biennale several times – Kosuth has created several site-specific works, from the permanent installation on the façade of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia to To Invent Relations (For Carlo Scarpa) at Ca’ Foscari.
Today, his work continues to reflect on the role of language, reaffirming art as a form of communication capable of bridging misunderstanding.

Featured image: Joseph Kosuth, A Chain of Resemblance, 2025, Collection of the Artist. Photo (rendering): Joseph Kosuth Studio