The gallery Thaddaeus Ropac in Milan is hosting the exhibition "Dialogues are mostly fried snowballs," which examines the relationship between Marcel Duchamp and Elaine Sturtevant. The show features Duchamp's iconic ready-mades such as *Scolabottiglie* (1914/64) and *Fountain* (1917), alongside Sturtevant's reinterpretations of these works, including her versions of *Fountain* and the *Rotoreliefs*. The exhibition runs until July 27, 2026, and explores themes of gesture, memory, and critical vision, highlighting how context and time reshape artistic meaning.
This exhibition matters because it reframes Sturtevant's practice not as mere copying but as a critical tool that challenges notions of originality and authorship in art. By juxtaposing Duchamp's revolutionary ready-mades with Sturtevant's conceptual repetitions, the show invites viewers to reconsider the boundaries between creation and reproduction, past and present. It also underscores the ongoing relevance of both artists in contemporary discourse about appropriation, institutional critique, and the fluidity of artistic meaning.