Casa Sanlorenzo, a new cultural space in Venice established by yacht builder Sanlorenzo, has opened its inaugural exhibition titled "Breathtaking." The installation by Italian artist and photographer Fabrizio Ferri addresses ocean plastic and microplastic pollution, featuring large-scale portraits of celebrities including Sting, Helena Christensen, Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rossellini, Susan Sarandon, and Naomi Watts, all depicted covered in plastic and debris. At the center of the installation is a glass coffin filled with seawater, symbolizing the fragility of marine ecosystems. The exhibition was previously shown at the Museo di Storia Naturale in Milan, where it attracted over 40,000 visitors in four days.
The opening matters because it marks the launch of a new cultural venue in Venice that merges art with environmental activism, coinciding with the Venice International Film Festival and the 2025 Architecture Biennale. The exhibition underscores the growing trend of luxury brands using art to address urgent ecological issues, while also highlighting the direct link between marine pollution and human health. Casa Sanlorenzo, housed in a restored 1940s villa, aims to become a platform for cross-disciplinary projects focusing on design, environmental awareness, and cultural programming.