On May 6, 2026, on the occasion of the 61st Biennale Arte in Venice, Stitched Cosmos, a solo exhibition by Jennifer West (Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow 2025-2026) curated by the duo Francesco Urbano Ragazzi, will open its doors.

The exhibition will run from May 7 to July 6 at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in the Dorsoduro district, integrating with the institution’s daily activities. The ground floor of the city’s oldest university will be transformed into a psychedelic device for contemplating the cosmos, thanks to the work the artist has carried out on the invaluable collection of the Harvard Plate Stacks at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Through a new environmental installation, Jennifer West celebrates the often overlooked yet fundamental work of a group of women scientists known as the Harvard Astronomical Computers, reclaiming the role of scientific research at a time when it appears to be defunded and under attack.

Like an alien object, Stitched Cosmos inhabits the ground floor of Ca’ Foscari University’s headquarters, intertwining with student life while transforming the institution into a psychedelic environment for observing the cosmos.

Jennifer West’s exhibition forms part of an ongoing series curated by the duo Francesco Urbano Ragazzi on the occasion of the Biennale Arte in Venice since 2015. Each iteration unfolds within historically significant sites across the city, where cultural memory intersects with the structures and uses of contemporary life. The series includes The Internet Saga by Jonas Mekas at Palazzo Foscari Contarini, now a fast-food restaurant (2015); Hillary: The Hillary Clinton Emails by Kenneth Goldsmith at the Cinema Teatro Italia, now a supermarket (2019); and Adoration by Pauline Curnier Jardin at the Convent of the Convertite, currently home to the Giudecca women’s prison (2022). The series positions Venice as a paradigmatic case through which to examine the global dynamics of touristification and gentrification, while advancing more sustainable models of cultural production. 

If earlier chapters brought into focus spaces shaped by consumption and control, this iteration marks a shift toward an institution devoted to the production and transmission of knowledge. In this context, Francesco Urbano Ragazzi identifies research centers such as Ca’ Foscari University of Venice as catalysts for ongoing generational renewal—sites where critical thought is cultivated and where cities and territories can reimagine the terms of their own future.

During the opening event, it will be possible to listen to the cosmic soundtrack composed for the occasion by Open Reel Ensemble, a cult Japanese band known for their use of open-reel recordings to create music. During the evening, there will also be a book signing for the stellar monograph Jennifer West: Media Archaeology, published by Radius Books.

On June 29, Stitched Cosmos hosts a roundtable organized by Roberta Dreon, Full Professor of Aesthetics. The event will take place in Aula Berengo at the Ca’ Foscari headquarters and will bring together the artist and the curators alongside scholars from a range of disciplines, offering an opportunity to further explore the themes connected to the exhibition and the representation of the cosmos across art, science, and philosophy.

PRESS PACK

Stitched Cosmos is supported by Hyphen-Group and the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation, with the generous contribution of Justine Alexandria Tek on behalf of Yuz Foundation, the Kira A. Princess of Prussia Foundation, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, and the Jenni Crain Foundation, an initiative dedicated to preserving the legacy of the esteemed artist and curator. The research has been funded by the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship 2025–2026 and the University of Southern California’s Advancing Scholarship in the Humanities and Social Sciences Research and Creative Project Grant 2025–2026. Media partner: Radius Books.