Leandro Erlich’s sculptures in Scarpa’s Olivetti Showroom, one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the 2026 Biennale

The opening of the 61st International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia is approaching, and the program of side events and must-see exhibitions outside the Giardini and Arsenale is beginning to take shape. Among the city's iconic venues, the Olivetti Shop overlooking St. Mark's Square is a must-see for any art and architecture enthusiast, and this year Carlo Scarpa's masterpiece welcomes the fabulous metamorphic world of Argentine artist Leandro Erlich.

After the exhibition in Milan in 2023, his first solo show in Europe, Erlich returns to Italy with "Hybrids. Leandro Erlich at the Negozio Olivetti", curated by Marcello Dantas. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano ETS and with the support of Galleria Continua, presents from May 9 to Nov. 22, 2026 about 20 sculptures, some of them previously unseen. The project is part of the "Arte all'Arte" program, promoted by Associazione Arte Continua, conceived with the aim of creating new connections between art, architecture and landscape, restoring art’s central role in the shaping of urban space.

This idea of focusing on the beauty of urban spaces finds a significant example in the Olivetti Store, as it was already part of Adriano Olivetti’s vision when, in 1957, he commissioned Carlo Scarpa to design the store – which was indeed intended to be an exhibition space for the presentation and launch of the company’s office products – but also to capture the interest of an audience attuned to the aesthetic dimension of technology and design.

In the January 1960 issue of Domus (No. 362), Scarpa’s new project was described as follows: “The store is situated in a rare location: its main entrance faces St. Mark’s Square, beneath the portico of the Procuratie Vecchie, while its side facade overlooks the Corte del Cavalletto—a passageway that was once dark and anonymous, though extremely busy, and which the new space has now brought to life spatially and integrated into the square from an urban planning perspective. This is the first successful outcome of this project. For here Scarpa has transformed a shop into a work of architecture of the highest interest: Venetian in that it is entirely and solely architecture, with almost no distinction between interior and exterior; classical in that it is fully and clearly executed, with a unity of design”.

It is precisely within this sophisticated spatial framework that Leandro Erlich’s project “Hybrids” finds its place today. The Argentine artist’s sculptures engage with Scarpa’s rigorous architectural language, introducing a world of imagination built on transformations, fantasies, and ever-evolving forms.

The approximately twenty sculptures on display construct a universe populated by hybrid beings, ambiguous organisms that defy immediate classification. A brain transforms into a snail to depict evolution as a slow, nonlinear process in “Caracol – The Pace of Evolution” (2021); in “Pies Tronco” (2021), human feet wearing shoes sprout from a tree trunk, creating a link between nature and human beings; there is also a butterfly whose wings are shaped like ears, “Papillon” (2021), a bronze sculpture that invites reflection on communication as a biological phenomenon even before a technological one. Alongside the sculptures, a large textile work and a series of photographs further expand the discourse, shifting the focus to surface, texture, and the hybridizations between space, perception, and the construction of reality.

Ultimately, the exhibition unfolds as a sequence of unexpected encounters, with familiar objects that seem to come to life, solid architectural forms that appear to melt away, and natural organisms that fragment into almost digital units. As Emanuele Coccia’s text emphasizes, art acts upon the essence of things by blending different identities and allowing each form to inhabit the other in an open and sensitive way. Within the context of the Olivetti Store – with its staggered levels, reflective surfaces, and calibrated alternation between compression and openness – these elements resonate with the narrative dimension already embedded in Scarpa’s design. The result is an ecosystem in constant flux, where irony and lightness coexist with a deeper reflection on the way we inhabit the present.

Opening image: Leandro Erlich, The Cloud - Bell , 2024, Digital ceramic ink printed on ultra clear glass, wooden case and LED lights , 68.8 x 35.8 x 19.6 in.  175 x 91 x 50 cm   Photo: Duccio Benvenuti - Art Store Courtesy of Galleria Continua