Artist Lotus L Kang has created a new installation titled 'The Face of Desire is Loss' for the inaugural Bulgari Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale. The pavilion, located at the Giardini entrance, features Kang's signature use of light-sensitive photographic film that reacts to the environment, suspended from steel joists with large holes inspired by the lotus root motif. The work draws on a line by poet Lara Mimosa Montes and explores themes of absence, loss, and the void, with the film changing color over time from deep purple to hues resembling bruise, blood, and bile.
This commission marks the first time Bulgari has served as exclusive partner of the Venice Biennale, signaling a growing trend of luxury brands directly sponsoring major art world events. Kang's work matters because it pushes the boundaries of photographic practice by using unstable, reactive film in a greenhouse-like glass pavilion, creating a living artwork that captures cycles of time, growth, and decay. The collaboration with curator Matthew Hyland, continuing from her acclaimed 2023 Chisenhale Gallery show, further establishes Kang as a significant contemporary artist exploring the intersection of materiality, environment, and the body.