The Astronaut, The Princess and The Wise Guy

AVL Sculpture Park – Palazzo Mocenigo Nero, Venice, Italy

May-August 2026

 

The Astronaut, The Princess and The Wise Guy takes place within a hidden paradise nestled inside one of the busiest cities on earth—a secret oasis suspended somewhere between reality and fantasy, contemplation and fever dream. The sculptures by Joep van Lieshout unfold throughout the garden as both a poetic journey and a space of reflection: on nature and our own nature, on the systems that guide us, and on humanity’s endless desire to transcend limitation.

 

 

Within this sacred, secluded landscape, the Astronaut, the Petite Princesse, the Wise Guy, heraldic birds, and symbolic beings emerge like fragments of another world—archetypes reflecting instinct, aspiration, survival, innocence, and transformation. Long regarded throughout history as spiritual messengers, birds occupy a special place within the exhibition. Defying gravity as they move between earth and sky, they symbolize freedom, transcendence, intuition, and humanity’s enduring dream of surpassing reality itself.

 

 

At the center of much of Atelier Van Lieshout’s work lies a deeper question about humanity itself. Works such as The Burghers become portraits of human behavior under pressure, asking what role we assume in moments of crisis or transformation: hero, helper, healer, opportunist, saint, sinner, or survivor. Like much of AVL’s universe — from SlaveCity and AVL-Ville to The Voyage: A March to Utopia and Sanitas Futurum — the works reflect on the systems we construct around ourselves and ultimately ask not only who we are, but who we may become.

 

 

Surrounded by trees, gardens, and sculptural forms, visitors are invited into a sacred space of possibility — a place to wander, fantasize, and imagine another future. Like the birds soaring overhead, the exhibition ultimately gestures toward our own capacity to rise beyond limitation, reinvent ourselves, and envision new worlds.