The Museu de Mallorca will host Digital Splash from 16 September to 25 October 2026, the last project Italian artist Fabrizio Plessi worked on before his death last August. The exhibition brings together a large-scale video installation created specifically for the space and a selection of drawings.
The Fabrizio Plessi exhibition in Mallorca forms part of Biennal B and joins the cultural programme for the Diada de Mallorca and Nit de l’Art. Curated by David Barro and Jackie Herbst, the exhibition explores the relationship between nature, technology and perception.
Rocco Plessi, son of the Italian artist, alongside Llorenç Galmés, president of the Consell de Mallorca, and Antònia Roca, councillor for Culture and Heritage, during their visit to the Digital Splash exhibition. Photo: Consell de Mallorca.
Water, one of the fundamental elements throughout Plessi’s career, takes centre stage in the project. In Digital Splash, it is transformed into a digital image and takes on a physical dimension. The work thus plays with the boundaries between the real and the virtual.
Technology and artificial intelligence in Digital Splash
The installation uses digital technologies and artificial intelligence to create a space in constant transformation. Movement, repetition, matter and image allow the artist to delve deeper into the connections between nature and technology.
The video installation is accompanied by a selection of drawings that offer an insight into Plessi’s creative process. The works on paper provide another perspective on the project and show how ideas are drawn, erased and transformed before taking on other forms.
The director of Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma and curator of the exhibition, David Barro, explained that the project encapsulates the artist’s ability to turn water into “image, matter and thought”. Barro had one of his final meetings with Plessi at his studio, when Digital Splash was still evolving.
Fabrizio Plessi’s final project, by a pioneer of video art
Fabrizio Plessi (Reggio Emilia, 1940-Venice, 2026) was one of the pioneering figures of video art and installation. From the late 1960s onwards, his career was marked by an exploration of the relationship between nature and technology. Water and fire were two recurring motifs in his work.
The artist took part in numerous editions of the Venice Biennale and in documenta 8 in Kassel. His work was also shown at institutions including the Centre Pompidou, the Guggenheim in New York, the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin and Palazzo Reale in Milan.
His accolades included the UNESCO Miró Medal and the Kunstpreis der Norddeutschen Landesbank. His teaching career also played an important role in introducing new technologies into audiovisual languages. At the Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln, he founded the Chair of Electronic Scenography.
Digital Splash also continues the collaboration between the Consell de Mallorca and Es Baluard Museu d’Art Contemporani de Palma. This partnership began in 2025 with the exhibition Hem arribat a l’infern! (We Have Arrived in Hell!), by Bernardí Roig.
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