Location: Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
CO₂ Emissions: Approximately 75,000 tons over the past 10 years
Focus: Overconsumption and Systemic Change
Counterpart: Adrian Villar Rojas – The Last Supper
Context & Connection
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper (1495-1498) captures one of the most iconic moments in art history: the final meal shared by Christ and his disciples. Painted on the walls of a Milanese convent, this masterpiece symbolizes human connection, ritual, and sacrifice. However, its immense popularity in the modern era has a dual legacy: a masterpiece to preserve and celebrate, but one that also symbolizes the environmental cost of overconsumption—travel emissions, preservation efforts, and systemic demands placed on cultural heritage.
Adrian Villar Rojas’ contemporary reinterpretation, also titled The Last Supper, offers a stark counterpoint. His monumental sculptures, often made from fragile, ephemeral materials, address themes of impermanence and environmental decay. By allowing his works to weather, erode, or disappear over time, Villar Rojas critiques the systems of excess and consumption that dominate our world. His Last Supper reflects a broken cycle—what we consume, we ultimately destroy.
Statement
"Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper celebrates tradition, human connection, and the rituals that define us. Yet its preservation and popularity today highlight an uncomfortable truth: modern systems of overconsumption and excess come at an environmental cost.
Adrian Villar Rojas’ The Last Supper challenges us to rethink this legacy. His eroding, monumental sculptures remind us of the fragility of art, life, and the natural systems we rely on. Where Leonardo’s work immortalizes a shared moment, Villar Rojas forces us to confront the consequences of what we take and consume without thought for what we leave behind.
Chosen in alignment with Greta Thunberg’s call to address overconsumption and systemic change, this pairing highlights a critical message: preservation and sustainability require us to rethink not only individual habits, but the systems of excess that harm both cultural heritage and our planet."
Why This Works
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Overconsumption and Decay
- The Last Supper: A symbol of tradition, preservation, and human ritual.
- Villar Rojas’ Work: A meditation on decay, fragility, and the impermanence caused by human systems of consumption.
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Visual and Thematic Contrast
- Leonardo’s fresco immortalizes a singular moment of connection and sacrifice.
- Villar Rojas’ ephemeral sculptures emphasize impermanence, reflecting the environmental and cultural loss caused by neglect and excess.
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Greta’s Vision
- Greta Thunberg calls for systemic change to address the root causes of overconsumption. Villar Rojas’ work aligns with this vision by forcing us to confront the unsustainability of current systems.
Exhibition Context
- The Last Supper: A masterpiece celebrating tradition and connection, but preserved within systems of excess and consumption.
- Adrian Villar Rojas’ The Last Supper: A contemporary critique of impermanence, decay, and the environmental costs of human overconsumption.
- Greta’s Message: True sustainability requires systemic change—not only to preserve cultural heritage, but to protect the planet that sustains it.