"Fata Morgana," an exhibition organized by the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi at Palazzo Morando in Milan, presents works by 78 artists past and present who embody Marcel Duchamp's idea of the artist as a "mediumistic being." The show includes nuns, mediums, psychiatric patients, and contemporary stars like Marianna Simnett and Rosemarie Trockel, alongside avant-garde icons such as Man Ray and Duchamp himself. Curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Daniel Birnbaum, and Martha Papini, the exhibition explores creativity as compulsion, featuring drawings by James Tilly Matthews, séance photographs by Stanisława Popielska, and works by Madge Gill and Emma Jung, among others.
The exhibition matters because it takes Duchamp's mediumistic proposition to its logical conclusion, blurring distinctions between pathology, spirituality, and creativity. By including self-taught artists and those once institutionalized, it challenges ableist frameworks like Art Brut and raises enduring questions about artistic intention and authorship. The show also highlights the growing art-world interest in occult and spiritualist traditions, as seen in the recent attention to Hilma af Klint and the Aby Warburg Institute's holdings.