If denunciation is transgressive, the same can be said of happiness. In these two exhibitions, Franz West expressed a desire for happiness that has seemingly been forgotten in our era. At the Pieroni gallery this feature seemed explicit in the large sofa upon which an old carpet was spread out, hiding the usual metal structure with which West creates his “functional objects.” The work evoked memories of the “western-eastern divan” of Goethe, or Freud’s sofa at Berggasse 19, along with the feeling of the East elicited by antique Russian carpets. This emphasis is connected to contemporary political

Daniel Buren’s work emphasizes the dialectic between object, sign, and place. Through modularity, he creates a virtual space that takes shape in the relationships among volume, color, and viewer. In this show, this relationship was shown through a play between visibility and invisibility, between the design of the object and the multiplication of colors reflected in it. Buren alternated bands of mirror and white laminated wood, constructing a series of ten large square frames—a direct symbol for painting. But unlike a painting, here everything took place outside the frame. At its center, the