A view of John Baldessari's new show, "The Giacometti Variations," at Milan's Prada Foundation

Fresh from the opening of his new retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the critically praised "Pure Beauty," artist John Baldessari has unveiled yet another new show at the Prada Foundation in Milan. Titled the "Giacometti Variations," the exhibition consists of nine resin-and-steel sculptures inspired by the attenuated imagery of the Swiss sculptor's work, with the figures then attired by the artist to surrealistically lend the display the air of a fashion show. (Thin is in, here, one might say.)

Curated by the revered curator Germano Celant — whose coinage of "Arte Povera" and championing of its artists has made him a prime mover in the direction of recent Italian art — the show debuted with a party that drew a coterie of Baldessari's fellow art-world veterans (Joseph Kosuth), admiring younger artists (Francesco Vezzoli, Juergen Teller), gallerists (Philomene Mager, Giò Marconi), and of course that icon of the Milan cultural scene, Miuccia Prada.