Image: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Italian artist Diego Marcon’s first Canadian exhibition, ‘The Bubble Boy’, is now on view at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, bringing together his uncanny moving-image practice and a new film centred on a child confronted by animated clothing. The exhibition runs through October 4, 2026, in the AGO’s Philip B. Lind Gallery on Level 1.
Marcon’s cinematic work draws on Hollywood musicals, horror films, melodrama and slapstick. At the AGO, those references converge in films that the institution describes as both unsettling and tender. His images incorporate CGI, prosthetics and robotics, creating figures and environments that appear artificial while retaining an unusual sense of life.
The centrepiece is ‘Krapfen’ (2025), a digital video featuring CGI animation, colour and sound. Set in a bedroom, the film follows a child tormented by four characters: a pair of gloves, a foulard, a pair of trousers and a pullover. The objects pressure the child to eat an apricot-jam krapfen, or German doughnut, while circling in a choreographed dance accompanied by music composed by Federico Chiari. The AGO characterizes the work as part musical and part “neurotic carousel.”
‘Krapfen’ was co-commissioned and made possible by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Lafayette Anticipations, the New Museum, the Renaissance Society and The Vega Foundation. Additional support came from Sadie Coles HQ in London and Galerie Buchholz, which has locations in Berlin, Cologne and New York. The work was produced by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Lafayette Anticipations, the New Museum, the Renaissance Society and The Vega Foundation.
‘The Bubble Boy’ is organized by the AGO and The Vega Foundation. It is curated by John Zeppetelli, guest curator; Julia Paoli, director and curator at The Vega Foundation; and Kate Whiteway, assistant curator. The presentation follows Marcon’s international exhibitions, including presentations of ‘Krapfen’ at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, the Renaissance Society in Chicago and Lafayette Anticipations in Paris, as well as earlier projects at Kunsthalle Basel, Centro Pecci in Prato and Fondazione Nicola Trussardi in Milan.
Born in 1985 in Busto Arsizio, Italy, Marcon graduated from the IUAV University of Arts of Venice in 2012. His films have been shown at festivals including the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight, the International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Vienna International Film Festival, Festival du nouveau cinéma in Montreal and the BFI London Film Festival. He lives and works in Italy. ‘The Bubble Boy’ remains on view at the AGO through October 4, 2026.
