CHICAGO, IL.- Diego Marcon, an artist known for his radical rethinking of cinema, sound, and space, makes his U.S. debut at the Renaissance Society this fall, presenting the newly commissioned musical dance film, Krapfen. Celebrated for exploring the formal and emotional architecture of cinema through meticulously constructed short films, Marcon’s practice resists traditional storytelling in favor of experimental forms that examine the mechanics of filmmaking itself and challenge the hierarchy between subject and image, narrative and abstraction.
Curated by Myriam Ben Salah, Krapfen makes its debut at the Renaissance Society in Chicago as a site-specific installation dedicated to the space. The film stages an uncanny encounter between a young boy, performed by Violet Savage, and five disembodied characters, each represented by a single article of clothing: gloves, foulard, trousers, and pullover. These garments move and dance independently, animated through a mix of digital effects and physical performance. The choreography—drawing from contemporary dance, classical ballet, and popular entertainment—mirrors Marcon’s distinctive blend of analog and digital techniques. An unexpected meeting point between the golden age of American animation and the grandeur of Italian opera, Krapfen’s playful yet unsettling tone reveals Marcon’s fascination with the emotional charge of sound and movement, filtered through the lens of historical genre and technical craft.
Over the past decade, Marcon has exhibited in major institutions widely across Europe, most recently at Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna and Kunstverein in Hamburg. Following its presentation in Chicago, the film will be included in solo presentations at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, Lafayette Anticipations in Paris, New Museum in New York, and Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, presented with The Vega Foundation.
Krapfen was co-commissioned and made possible by Fondazione Sandretto ReRebaudengo, Lafayette Anticipations, New Museum, The Renaissance Society, and The Vega Foundation.
Diego Marcon (b. 1985, Busto Arsizio, Italy) graduated from IUAV University of Arts of Venice (2012). Marcon has exhibited internationally with solo presentations including ToonsTunes (Four Pathetic Movements), The Shop at Sadie Coles HQ, London (2025); La Gola, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna(2024); La Gola, Kunstverein in Hamburg (2024); Dolle, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2023); Have You Checked the Children, Kunsthalle Basel (2023); Glassa, Centro Pecci, Prato (2023); Dramoletti, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Teatro Gerolamo, Milan (2023); Monelle, Sadie Coles HQ, London (2023); The Parents' Room, Museo Madre, Naples (2021); and Ludwig, Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore/LASALLE, Singapore (2019). He has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions including Collection Exhibition of Saastamoinen Foundation, EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland (2025);Just Kids, Gammel Strand, Copenhagen (2025); Flowers of Romance Part II, Lodovico Corsini, Brussels (2024); Artificial Optimism, Den Frie, Copenhagen (2024); Retrofuture. Notes for a Collection, MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (2024); Nebula, Fondazione In Between Art Film, Complesso dell’Ospedaletto, Venice (2024); Biennale de I’Image en Mouvement 24: A Cosmic Movie Camera, Centre d’Art Contemporian, Genève (2024); After Laughter Comes Tears, MUDAM The Contemporary Art Museum of Luxembourg (2023); The Milk of Dreams, 59th Biennale Arte, Venice (2022); andSanguine. Luc Tuymans on Baroque, Fondazione Prada, Milan (2018). Marcon’s films have featured in festivals including Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight; International Film Festival Rotterdam; Vienna International Film Festival; Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montreal; and BFI London Film Festival, among others. Marcon currently lives and works in Italy.
