A “market” for the debut of the new UltraFiorucci space in Milan

Fiorucci inaugurates a new cultural space: the first exhibition is by Paris-based artist Thomas Jeppe, who combines painting, video, and photography to raise critical questions about our present.

After the exhibition at the Triennale and the recent fashion show, Fiorucci adds a new chapter to its revival with UltraFiorucci, a cultural space in Milan located near Chinatown. This space is designed to reaffirm the deep connection between the brand and art. It won’t be a place to tell the brand’s story but rather to host the works of artists who share its values. “It’s the most Fiorucci thing we can do,” Alessandro Pisani, the brand’s CEO, tells Domus. He also announces that Fiorucci is not stopping here: initiatives related to music and nightlife are on the way.

UltraFiorucci debuts with Market, an exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Thomas Jeppe, who hails from Australia but is based in Paris. The show is curated by the French collective The Community, known for their eclectic and street-inspired approach. “We are in a moment of great cultural change,” Jeppe tells Domus. His art is deeply rooted in reflections on the present and the belief that an engaged artist can play an active role. “What is capital?” Jeppe asks in Market. And, more broadly, what is capitalism? “It’s complex, ambiguous, and ambivalent,” he observes, adding that he expects “something very different from what we know to emerge sooner or later.” His work carries a strong political undertone.

Thomas Jeppe, Market. Courtesy Fiorucci

Market is an installation presented as an actual market, with clear references to the traditional souks. The work strikes a balance between conflict and harmony, Jeppe explains, and has a significant connection to architecture. “Every exhibition is an intervention in space, a dialogue between structure and history,” says the artist, adding that the gallery becomes “a living organism, with light, sound, and shapes that mold the experience.” With Market, Jeppe seeks to question what still holds value in this era of cultural transformation.

At lunchtime, Jeppe and I walk barefoot on the black-and-white stripes of the installation, made from materials commonly used for dance school floors. Sunlight streams through the large windows of this space, once part of Milan’s largest steam mill, now renovated. Everything is ready for the evening’s opening, when the UltraFiorucci Circle will officially debut. Jeppe plays the soundscape, specially composed by Low Jack (Philippe Hallais), from his phone and shows me photos of the installation with the smoke machine that will be activated during the opening. “The soundtrack is not just an accompaniment; it’s an active protagonist of the exhibition,” he explains.

Thomas Jeppe, Market. Courtesy Fiorucci

Three main elements define the installation along the nave of the UltraFiorucci space, culminating in a white wall displaying a single painting. The first element consists of the paintings from the Tumult series, depicting portions of the sky inspired by news images. “All the news happens under the same sky,” Jeppe explains. These works represent a path to abstraction: “They are timeless, yet at the same time very concrete.”

Every exhibition is an intervention in space, a dialogue between structure and history. The gallery becomes a living organism, with light, sound, and shapes that mold the experience.

Thomas Jeppe

The second element is large posters, enlargements of photos taken at night in Paris with a phone. Jeppe points to an image he considers particularly significant: a protest, with people taking pictures surrounded by the colored smoke of a flare. Some details, such as the logo of a well-known fast-food chain, have been deliberately obscured.

Thomas Jeppe, Market. Courtesy Fiorucci

The third element is located under four white-and-blue market tents, where monitors play 2am Runway on loop. These videos depict a hallucinatory, dreamlike vision of the fashion world. “I’d come home at 2 a.m., completely stoned,” Jeppe recounts, “and turn on Fashion TV.” This ritual inspired a piece reflecting on how fashion shows “represent an order and performative structure alien to everyday life, yet at the same time so ordinary.” Next to the monitors, a small Swiss clock stopped at 2 a.m. symbolizes, according to Jeppe, “the end of neutral time.”
 


I was born in Milan in the late ’70s, a child in the ’80s and a teenager in the ’90s. For me, Fiorucci has always been part of the city’s landscape—my mother even knew him personally. Talking with Jeppe gives me a sense of a brand that has had a global cultural impact, different from the local perception rooted in the city where Elio Fiorucci opened his iconic store in the late ’60s. Jeppe references the video Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore by Mark Leckey, inspired by a negative by Andy Warhol that depicted a graffiti in New York. “I think this is a crucial aspect of our cultural production,” Jeppe explains. “When brands create something, and then it is reinterpreted by others, beyond the brand’s control.” A concept that, I’m certain, Elio Fiorucci would have appreciated.

Latest News

Latest on Domus

Read more
China Germany India Mexico, Central America and Caribbean Sri Lanka Korea icon-camera close icon-comments icon-down-sm icon-download icon-facebook icon-heart icon-heart icon-next-sm icon-next icon-pinterest icon-play icon-plus icon-prev-sm icon-prev Search icon-twitter icon-views icon-instagram