At A plus A Gallery in Venice, through works that intertwine painting and sculpture, Mattia Sinigaglia offered a deeply personal interpretation of the relationship between humans and animals. Starting from a glance.
It was nighttime when Mattia Sinigaglia (b. 1989, Sirmione) came face to face with the fox that would inspire his exhibition The Animal That Therefore I Am. While driving, the animal darted across the road in front of him. A sudden stop. A fleeting encounter ‒ an unexpected, rapid exchange of glances. This form of connection, although silent, has something intense and primordial in it. The title of the exhibition is drawn from a text by philosopher Jacques Derrida, who recounted a similar moment: stepping out of the shower, he found himself being watched by his cat, and was overcome by a sense of shame.
MATTIA SINIGAGLIA ON SHOW IN VENICE
At the dawn of time, the relationship between humans and animals was more immediate and frequent. Animals were central to mythology, revered as deities. The very origins of art, in the caves of Lascaux, are rooted in this primordial encounter between human and animal. Today, that connection is more mediated. Derrida argues that humanity is now clothed in technique ‒ that is, in culture. In Sinigaglia’s canvases, it is the symbolic elements inherited from Western cultural history, from art to science, that stand between the depicted animal’s gaze and the human eye of the viewer. On view at A plus A Gallery in Venice through March 21, 2025, The Animal That Therefore I Am is Sinigaglia’s first solo show composed of his whole artistic production developed over four years. Ti vede ‒ the painting that captures the fox encounter ‒marked the beginning of this journey. The exhibition included two types of works: large-scale paintings and sculptural paintings. Entirely new and never before exhibited, the pieces are composed of a variety of materials, including hand-carved wooden frames, ceramic elements and metal leaf. The narrative unfolds through the interplay of these diverse media ‒ through their dialogue.
SINIGAGLIA’S EXHIBITION AT A PLUS A GALLERY
Sinigaglia’s process is never the same. Sometimes it begins with a lived experience, as in FlyDance, inspired by a sweltering summer afternoon when a buzzing fly disrupted the stillness of his studio. The abstract painting captures the rhythm and movement of his attempt to shoo the insect away. At other times, inspiration comes from the intricate grain of fine woods ‒ plane tree or chestnut ‒ sourced from carpenters in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, where Sinigaglia lives and works. The creative process is not linear. Though he may begin with a sketch or concept, the material itself often reshapes the idea. The artist starts with the search for an image; then comes the frame, followed by a sculptural element to fill a void ‒ or vice versa. Media shift fluidly, with no clear hierarchy. Mattia Sinigaglia shows the ancestral bond between humanity and animality. He does so by disrupting traditional structures of dominance ‒ both among the subjects of his works and within the materials themselves. The result is a dynamic interchange of narrative and compositional planes that is never predictable, never the same.
Mattia Sinigaglia, L’animale che dunque sono, exhibition view, A plus A Gallery, 2025, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, Ti vede, olio, gold-silver-multicolor leaf on canvas, 200 x 300 cm
Mattia Sinigaglia, L’animale che dunque sono, exhibition view, A plus A Gallery, 2025, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, L’animale che dunque sono, exhibition view, A plus A Gallery, 2025, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, Love is a garden, 2025, oil on linen, glazed ceramic centuries-old chestnut wood artist frame, 71,5 x 58,5 cm, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, not cip, 2025, glazed ceramic, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, Datura, 2025, oil on linen, centuries-old chestnut wood artist frame, 46 x 60,5 cm, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, Bones and tears of color, 2024, oil ceramic, wood and linen, 60×50 cm, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, Natural Mania, 2024, oil, ceramic, wood and linen, 50 x 40 cm, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Mattia Sinigaglia, Never ending flower, 2024, oil, ceramic, wood and linen, 50 x 40 cm, photo Clelia Cadamuro
Until 6 January 2026, Palazzo Grassi in Venice will host “La strana vita delle cose”, the first major monographic exhibition in Italy by Tatiana Trouvé. An immersive journey through drawings, installations and objects that retraces over twenty years of research by the artist born in Cosenza.
There is a silent life in the objects that accompany our existence. They are silent witnesses of our daily lives, custodians of time and our memories. It is to this life imbued with memory that Tatiana Trouvé (Cosenza, 1968) gives shape in her personal exhibition La strana vita delle cose, displayed at Palazzo Grassi in Venice. The artist builds environments that oscillate between reality and fiction, where every element that is sculpted, drawn or created in scale seems to hold an invisible event, a lost gesture. Her research is characterized by a meticulous attention to detail: objects replicated with hyperrealistic precision but moved out of context, drawings that seem to emerge from sleep, materials that simulate what are not ‒ bronze that gets the softness of fabric, marble that imitates the lightness of book paper.
THE EXHIBITION BY TATIANA TROUVÉ AT PALAZZO GRASSI
The exhibition, curated by Caroline Bourgeois and James Lingwood, builds a real mental maze that unfolds in thirty rooms, alternating recent works with historical sculptures, new site-specific installations and unpublished drawings. The exhibition draws inspiration from the invitation carte blanche addressed by the Pinault Collection to artists, guaranteeing them full freedom of action within the space. The exhibition does not imply a hierarchical order, but develops as an open ecosystem where materials, techniques and languages are interwoven in a continuous dialogue. Hors-sol is the monumental intervention that opens the exhibition on the lower floor of Palazzo Grassi. It is a large floor installation consisting of a layer of asphalt dotted with drains collected from different cities. The title means “out of the ground” or “without roots”, thus evoking a shift both temporal and physical. In the lower rooms of the building, you will find some sculptures that belong to the series Notes on Sculpture. Sculptures born in the artist’s studio from aggregations of marginal objects. Starting from the title, each work alludes to a moment dear to the artist, a sort of biographical fragment suspended in time. They are three-dimensional still lifes, but with an almost affective inner tension. In each room of Palazzo Grassi are placed some elements of the series The Guardians. Sentinel figures composed of clothes, shoes, blankets, some carved in different stones such as marble, and objects cast in bronze and brass. They act as surrogates for the museum’s guardians who watch over the exhibition and keep their own thoughts to themselves. The titles of the stone “books” ‒ often texts written by women ‒ reveal the artist’s inner trajectories and her attention to alternative knowledge.
THE CURATORSHIP OF TATIANA TROUVÉ’S EXHIBITION
The upper floor is dedicated to drawing, which occupies a central place in the work of Tatiana Trouvé. Many of the drawings exhibited here echo the constellations of sculptures on the upper floor. During the Art Conversations organized on the sidelines of the exhibition, the curators and the artist discussed the role of drawing as an extension of the sculptures on the lower floor, and setting up as a narrative gesture. The curatorial work, built in dialogue with the artist, has led to the realization of an immersive exhibition project that rejects linearity and pushes the viewers to create their own emotional map within space. It is not about illustrating a work, but creating an experience. La strana vita delle cose is more than a retrospective; it is a reflection on time and care. On the time it takes for an object to become a memory, and on the care needed not to lose it.
The exhibition by Carlo Negro, Diego De Marco, and Pierluigi Scandiuzzi, held at Spiazzi in Venice, sparked a bold reflection on the art system and the superficiality of contemporary society.
Taking its cue from the challenge to aesthetic and social conventions posed by Arte Povera in the 1960s, and evolving into what the artists ‒ Carlo Negro (Treviso, 1994), Diego De Marco (Venice, 1992), and Pierluigi Scandiuzzi (Padua, 1993) ‒ define as Arte Poverissima, the group exhibition, which blended common materials with pop culture imagery, offered a satirical take on the paradoxes of our times. Curated by Gabriele Ferrario and on display until 4 March 2025 at Spiazzi ‒ an independent Venetian entity ‒, the exhibition presented itself as a provocative and irreverent act.
THE EXHIBITION ARTE POVERISSIMA IN VENICE
The works on display are marked by the use of humble materials, chosen for their simplicity and symbolic potential. Art becomes a means to question our relationship with reality. In an era where consumerism seems to have reduced every value to its exchange function, the three artists subvert this logic with irony and irreverence, unmasking the illusions of the world around us. Their works play on the boundary between the sacred and the profane, between seriousness and parody, creating paradoxes that prompt reflection on how we see and live. Each piece draws inspiration from pop culture icons and the visual language of the Internet. For instance, Negro explores the phenomenon of memes ‒ not just as entertainment, but as communicative tools that shape and reflect our digital and social reality ‒ through the figure of the controversial McDonald’s clown, a symbol of rampant consumerism. De Marco juxtaposes classic piggy-bank shapes with law enforcement references, nodding to the tradition of the readymade. Meanwhile, Scandiuzzi moves away from painting to explore new media with a surreal, messianic apparition on a potato chip.
THE MEANING OF ARTE POVERISSIMA
Arte Poverissima is not merely a return to material simplicity, but an act of resistance against the homogenization of the art market. Works like A tribute to art collectors and gallerists by Scandiuzzi openly criticize galleries driven solely by profit. These artists don’t just embrace an aesthetic of austerity; they transform their art into an opportunity to challenge the inertia of the art world. The experience extended beyond the works themselves. The captions, written in pencil in elementary handwriting, made explicit the desire to deconstruct the idea of art as sophisticated and elitist. The works were periodically repositioned within the space, reinforcing a sense of dynamism and creative freedom ‒ a stark contrast to traditional exhibition venues. Indeed, the choice to exhibit in a place like Spiazzi, which has been a venue for experimentation and research in the contemporary sphere for more than two decades, was not accidental.
The exhibition “Perpetuate the Dreams” at 193 Gallery in Venice explored the pictorial language of the New Zealand artist Rob Tucker through neat shapes, vivid colours and a look at the 20th century.
Founded in Paris in 2018 by César Levy, the 193 Gallery promotes emerging and established artists from all over the world, with a focus on the southern scene of the globe. The venetian headquarters of the gallery, in the Dorsoduro district, hosted the solo exhibition of New Zealand artist Rob Tucker (b. 1987, Auckland) until 27 April 2025. Perpetuate the Dreams explores the pictorial language of Tucker who, for the realisation of his works, draws inspiration from great masters such as David Hockney, Henri Matisse and Giorgio Morandi. The artist has established himself on the contemporary scene due to his representations of still life subjects, architectures and landscapes, characterised by geometric shapes and a vivid colour palette. His canvases have been shown in group and solo exhibitions in Sydney, Paris, London and New York.
ROB TUCKER’S EXHIBITION IN VENICE
As he said: “Over time, I have refined my style and technique ‒ still lifes and figurative landscapes made with geometric shapes, simplified forms and a colorful palette. Oversized, textured and graphic, my work is an exploration of color and composition. I like to approach my subjects in a playful way, trying to achieve a whimsical, harmonious and light result”. The main subjects of Tucker’s works are bottles, flowers pots and the iconic Bialetti coffee makers, which are present in works such One Confortable Cupa and An Ambiguous Breakfast, both dated 2024, but also industrial and architectonic elements, protagonists in Banana cake inside and The bridge before the hills, also executed in 2024 and exhibited in the spaces of 193 Gallery. In Tucker’s works the everyday objects become symbols of a hidden beauty that is waiting to be discovered by the viewer.
ROB TUCKER AT 193 GALLERY
The paintings, all large in size, invite viewers to dive in a suggestive and colourful world, interpreting still life in an unconventional way, like a lively scene. The attention is caught by a subtle detail, recurring in each canvas: a small comic strip, in which Tucker writes the title of the work. The exhibition presented for the first time sculptures made of polyurethane foam and covered with resin, depicting coffee makers and vases. These three-dimensional works clearly echo the subjects of the canvases on display in the gallery and, as pointed out by the gallery owner Clémence Pons during our visit, Tucker himself refers to them as three-dimensional paintings and not sculptures.
Perpetuate the Dreams, 193 Gallery, Venezia, 2025. In primo piano: Rob Tucker, A Dark and Gloomy Nightcap, 2024. Installation view. Photo Credit: Elena Andreato / Courtesy: Rob Tucker
Rob Tucker, An Ambiguous Breakfast, 2024. Acrylic painting, oil pastel and stick, oil varnish, diluted dye, and water pencil with an epoxy resin finish, 90 x 100 cm. Photo Credit: Elena Andreato / Courtesy: Rob Tucker
Perpetuate the Dreams, 193 Gallery, Venice, 2025. In the foreground: Rob Tucker, The bridge before the hills, 2024. Installation view. Photo Credit: Elena Andreato / Courtesy: Rob Tucker
Rob Tucker, One Comfortable Cupa, 2024. Acrylic paint, oil pastel and stick, oil glaze, diluted dye and watercolour pencil with epoxy resin finish, 90 × 100 cm. Photo credit: Elena Andreato / Courtesy: Rob Tucker
On 15 February 2025, the installation “Manifestica” at terzospazio in Venice, curated by three students from the Master of Visual Arts and Fashion degree course at the Iuav University of Venice, evoked the dynamics of desire.
The artist-run studio zolforosso born in Venice in 2017 by the will of six former students of the city’s Academy of Fine Arts, is the result of a process of expansion, which has seen it grow and extend its roots towards the mainland. After the opening of the first laboratory space in the Santa Croce district and the victory of a municipal call in 2019, the association, already active in the creation of open studios and artist residences, inaugurated a second headquarters modeled on the idea of white cubes and intended to host exhibition events. In February 2020, shortly before the lockdown, zolforosso chose Mestre as a place to expand its range of action, in response to the Venetian high rents and structural difficulties. Today zolforosso brings together eighteen artists and has three spaces: one in Venice, in Ramo Secondo Carminati, the other in Mestre, in Viale San Marco, and terzospazio, in the Santa Croce area, also in Venice.
MANIFESTICA IN VENICE
Right here, on 15 February 2025, was held the opening of Manifestica, the installation by Anna Zecchetto, Arianna Boffa and Costanza Mancuso, students from the Master of Visual Arts and Fashion degree course at the Iuav University of Venice. Manifestica offered the public the opportunity to take part in the installation-performance, evoking the dynamics of desire and putting in place the technique of the manifestation as a spiritual practice. The installation explored contemporary rituals as real tools of self-determination and resistance to the logics of capitalism. But what does manifestation mean today?
THE EXHIBITION INSPIRED BY THE PRACTICE OF MANIFESTATION
Rooted in the theory that inspired the law of attraction, the practice of manifestation is based on the assumption that our thoughts can influence the reality in which we live and consequently our most authentic selves. From Instagram to TikTok, this spiritual world, so dear to Gen Z, is beginning to make its way into today’s society, as evidenced by the Venetian installation-performance. Candles, incense, tarot cards, palo santo, laurel leaves, red sage, crystals and even sunset lamps, mirrors, candelabra enhanced the sense of intimacy and the spiritual component of Manifestica. A series of hanging silver threads indicated access to the room dedicated to the act of manifestation. A true contact between the human and the divine, between earth and sky. Entering, the audience experienced the sensation, increased by the presence of a TikTok audio montage, of immersing themselves in a magical dimension. On a table, like a sort of banquet, a few laurel leaves became the vehicle for new wishes, ready to be welcomed and fulfilled. During the performance of the ritual by the public, the presence of performer Chiara De Benedetti, engaged in tarot card reading and manifestation practices, made the aggregative dynamics activated by the installation even more explicit. Manifestica gave shape to an altar of possibility, a place of self-determination and resistance characterized by a kitsch and maximalist aesthetic based on the comparison between sacredness and belief, irony and power, human and divine. An invitation to ask oneself: what does it mean to desire, today?
What happens when contemporary art dialogues with the physics and architecture of the past? The Venetian exhibition “Leaps, gaps and overlapping diagrams” by Loris Cecchini at Ca’ Rezzonico was not just an exhibition of sculptures and installations, but a visual laboratory in which complex scientific concepts take shape through matter.
Loris Cecchini (Milan, 1969) is an artist recognized on the international scene for his ability to combine art, science and architecture. His installations explore the organic growth, modularity and vibration of matter. His works have been exhibited in museum contexts such as the Palais de Tokyo in Paris and the MoMA in New York. He also participated in the Venice and Shanghai Biennales.
LORIS CECCHINI’S EXHIBITION IN VENICE
Leaps, gaps and overlapping diagrams, curated by Luca Berta and Francesca Giubilei, was on display until 31 March 2025 at Ca’ Rezzonico – Museo del Settecento Veneziano. The permanent collection tells a fragment of an era in which art and science were closely linked, albeit with different languages. Cecchini’s works fit in as organic presences, structures that intertwine with Baroque frescoes and furnishings. If in the eighteenth-century art was a means to amaze, persuade and tell mythological or allegorical stories, today it can be a vehicle to explore the invisible connections that regulate the universe. The exhibition unfolded in several rooms of the museum, starting from the external portego, where two large installations welcomed the visitor. Waterbones and Arborexence are composed of metal modules that aggregate into fluid shapes, as if they were growing spontaneously on the façade of the building. The reference to crystal lattices and molecular structures is clear: Cecchini builds a bridge between the microscopic world and the macroscopic experience of urban space.
LORIS CECCHINI AT CA’ REZZONICO
Continuing inside, on the second floor, Cecchini has installed Wallwave Vibration (Chorus Transition Probabilities), a modular sculpture that develops like a wave on the wall surface. The title itself refers to the concept of transition probabilities, a key element in quantum physics to describe how a system can change state over time. On the third floor, in front of Giandomenico Tiepolo’s fresco, Il Mondo Novo, was Zigzags Particles (Telescope I), a telescope alluding to scientific observation and the revelation of new perspectives. In the eighteenth century, the new world was a metaphor for the geographical discoveries and optical illusions that fascinated the Venetian aristocracy. Now, Cecchini’s work invites us to explore the fundamental structures of reality through the gaze of contemporary science. Leaps, gaps and overlapping diagrams was not just an art exhibition, but a journey through the constituent elements of matter. An opportunity to reaffirm that the boundary between disciplines is increasingly blurred and that art, when well-conceived, can be an extraordinary tool to make the invisible visible.
In anticipation of the new edition, kicking off on 6 August 2025, the Locarno Residency found in Venice a showcase for emerging filmmakers with the screening at Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi of a number of short films made by the three finalists selected from a shortlist of ten. Memory, society and the environment are the common themes of the film works presented during the exhibition.
On 16 January 2025, the Locarno Residency in Venice ended with the screening, curated by Daniela Persico, at Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, home of the Swiss consulate, of three short films made by the winners of the 2024 edition. The works projected during the event were NSFW by Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi, Tunggang Langgang (Afterlives) by Timoteus Anggawan Kusno e Piazzale d’Italia by Enea Zucchetti. The winning projects of the edition are still in production: the feature films All Is in Order by Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi, Nest for the Wind by Timoteus Anggawan Kusno and I sogni degli animali (After Lions) by Enea Zucchetti. Part of the Locarno Film Festival, the Locarno Residency allows selected emerging filmmakers to make their own feature films with constant creative and professional support. Nolitha Refilwe Mkulisi focuses on directing and screenwriting after having tried her hand at production and casting. The work shown during the event at Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi, NSFW, dated 2022, is a short film included in a larger project, consisting of four sections that make up the collective film Hyperlink, inspired by the risks and complexity of the digital world.
THE PROTAGONISTS OF THE LOCARNO RESIDENCY
The short film Tunggang Langgang (Afterlives) was made by Timoteus Anggawan Kusno in 2024. The Indonesian director, in his works, explores the themes of colonization and dictatorship in his country of origin, as demonstrated by the work staged at Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi. The short film delves into the Indonesian ritual of Kuda Lumping, during which young Indonesians dance using entangled horses and sometimes fall into a trance-like state, documented by the director himself. The work also evokes the colonial events that affected Indonesia through the history of some Dutch portraits, symbol of a conflict-ridden past. The last winner of the Locarno Residency, the Swiss director Enea Zucchetti, visually explores contemporary urban landscapes by looking at the relationship between the natural and the artificial environment. The short film screened in Venice, Piazzale d’Italia (2021), explores the fate of the Casino di Campione d’Italia using time jumps between the past and the present. The building, declared bankrupt in 2018, is now abandoned and stands as a ghost monument in an evocative but contradictory place.
The two-year program by GAMeC – Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Bergamo offers a vision of curatorship as a widespread and participatory event on the territory, involving local communities and international artists during the biennium 2024-25.
The Orobie Biennal – Thinking like a mountain develops in the years 2024-2025, bringing together local and international artists, from different backgrounds, called to conceive site-specific works, performances and laboratories in relation to the territory. More than just a distributed event, the Biennale reflects a dynamic curatorial vision that bridges the museum and its landscape. The project is curated by Lorenzo Giusti, head of GAMeC in Bergamo, with the support of associate curators Sara Fumagalli and Marta Papini and editorial coordinator Valentina Gervasoni. The title takes inspiration from a phrase coined by American ecologist and environmentalist Aldo Leopold in his book – A Sand County Almanac (1949) –, with some reflections related to the observation of the earth around his home. For Leopold, “thinking like a mountain” means recognizing the deep interconnectedness of natural elements – seeing nature as a living system on which our health and very survival depend. For GAMeC, it’s a call for awareness and a prompt to reconnect humanity with nature through collective engagement. The Biennale unfolds across a wide range of ecosystems, from the green spaces of the Province of Bergamo to the pre-Alpine ridges, the woods of the Parco dei Colli, and the plains of the Bassa Bergamasca.
GAMEC’S CURATORIAL VISION
Driven by the desire to bring art into dialogue with nature, the exhibition is an important milestone in both curatorial and environmental practice. Participation here isn’t just about ephemeral, collective gestures, it’s about creating long-lasting, locally embedded interventions. Over the course of the project, the team has been thinking about words that could clarify Thinking like a mountain’s intentions. Sara Fumagalli wrote: “Many African societies consider Ubuntu as a way of life that can be summed up by the phrase, ‘I am because we are; and since we are, therefore I am’”. This philosophy of placing the individual in relation to the community is at the heart of the Biennale’s commitment to participation, sustainability, rootedness, and creativity. A rich program of events – including open studio, free guided tours, shared experiences on the territory, workshops – further strengthens the curatorial framework of Thinking Like a Mountain. Artists known for their sensitivity to environmental and social issues have been invited to lead long-term, community-focused projects. Highlights from 2024 include Sonia Boyce’s site-specific work Benevolence, Mercedes Azpilicueta’s performance Que este mundo permanezca, and Agostino Iacurci’s installation Dry Days, Tropical Nights, each contributing to the Biennale’s layered and expansive narrative. The initiative is also accompanied by a specially created magazine featuring critical essays and reportage by researchers, journalists, and writers. The content spans disciplines from art and design to agriculture and anthropology, with a special focus on local craft and manufacturing traditions.
THE FOURTH CYCLE OF THE OROBIE BIENNIAL
On 7 June 2025, the fourth cycle of the Orobie Biennial opened with the performance Spin and Break Free by Cecilia Bengolea at the headquarters of the Linificio e Canapificio Nazionale in Villa d’Almè. Running through 14 September 2025, the program features Landscape Painting (Mine), a site-specific work by German artist Julius von Bismarck at the historic mining site in Dossena. This powerful intervention reimagines the geological heritage of the area, inviting the public to engage with the mine through a newly conscious perspective – transforming stone into a canvas that reclaims collective memory. Also part of this cycle is Magnitudo, an installation by Bergamo-born artist Francesco Pedrini in the town of Roncobello. Consisting of three wooden structures positioned at the Passo del Vendulo, the work provides new vantage points for stargazing, drawing on research in archeoastronomy and other disciplines to prompt reflection on our origins and our relationship to time and the natural world. In Bergamo’s city center, visitors can explore Seasons, a city-wide exhibition by Maurizio Cattelan running until 26 October 2025. Featuring five works – some newly created, others previously exhibited –, the project strengthens the connection between the artworks and the urban fabric that surrounds them.
A HIGH-ALTITUDE PROJECT: EX. – MOUNTAIN FORGETS YOU
As a part of Thinking like a mountain, thanks to the collaboration between GAMeC and the Bergamo section of the Italian Alpine Club, was developed EX.: a project led by Andrea Cassi and Michele Versaci aimed at reconstructing the historic Aldo Frattini bivouac in Valbondione. Envisioned as an off-site, high-altitude extension of the museum, the bivouac will serve as a base for environmental monitoring, data collection, and ecosystem preservation. Beyond its functional role as a shelter, the bivouac is designed as an immersive aesthetic and sensory space – one that enables visitors to truly perceive and appreciate the natural world, echoing Aldo Leopold’s philosophy. From 7 June to 14 September 2025, GAMeC’s Spazio Zero will host Mountain Forgets You, an exhibition introducing the EX. project through research materials, documents, sketches, and models of the future structure. The show also features Thermocene (2025), a sound and visual installation created by Giorgio Ferrero, Rodolfo Mongitore (Mybosswas), and EX., further expanding the dialogue between art, science, and landscape.
The archive of Bruno Alfieri’s publishing work ‒ free, innovative, and truly independent ‒ is being exhibited for the first time at the Venetian gallery Mare Karina. The exhibition, curated by Chiara Carrera and Mario Lupano, will be open until 12 July 2025.
The exhibition, open until 12 July 2025 at Mare Karina gallery in Venice, could be described as an “open archive”: dedicated to the publishing legacy of Bruno Alfieri (Naples, 1927 – Milan, 2008), it focuses on the period between 1948 and 1973, the year Alfieri Edizioni d’Arte was acquired by Electa. The exhibition presents a collection of books, magazines, and documents from a previously non-existent archive, made possible by the curators’ extensive research and loans from various institutions, including the Giuseppe Marchiori Archive, the Centre for the Study of Visual Arts (CASVA) in Milan, the MART Library, and the Giancarlo Iliprandi Archive. A critic, curator, and gallerist in the fields of art and architecture, Alfieri was above all a pioneering publisher whose approach to publishing anticipated what we now regard as contemporary: vibrant, communicative, cross-disciplinary, and dynamic. Even advertisements and the colophon were not seen as intrusive elements, but rather as opportunities to reinforce the concept of a hybrid and contemporary magazine ‒ one that could speak to a broader audience by breaking down the rigid separation between “content” and “container” seen in the outdated publications written by intellectuals for other intellectuals. For Alfieri, text, graphic design, and photography were of equal importance, forming a unified whole ‒ a creative, authorial vision behind the editorial project. Through the interplay of visual and textual material, these publications formed conceptual and visual constellations via what he called “the game of juxtaposition”, as explained in the exhibition text. Alfieri’s artistic approach saw publishing as an active agent in the contemporary landscape, capable of proposing ideas, actions, and new relationships ‒ not just as a passive container reacting to what already exists.
PUBLISHING ACCORDING TO BRUNO ALFIERI
In today’s “image society” ‒ where an obsession with “aesthetic” in the growing world of independent magazines, both digital and print, often masks a lack of content ‒, Alfieri’s attention to form might seem obvious. But in 1948, at the start of his career, this was far from the norm. With the first Italian monograph on Paul Klee, followed by his editorial work for the Venice Biennale catalogues (1951-58) and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Alfieri encountered a rigid, elitist editorial landscape. In a 1949 letter to art historian Giuseppe Marchiori ‒ who would become a close friend and collaborator ‒ he criticised contemporary publishing as “the usual anthology, more or less poorly thrown together, of pompous and inconclusive articles tenuously linked together”. That same letter is now visualised in the exhibition as a “manifesto” of the editor-author’s thinking. From this frustration, Arte d’Oggi (1949-52) emerged ‒ not as a premeditated project, but as a response to a clear need for renewal. It was, in Alfieri’s words, a beautiful magazine “truly refined, but neither snobbish nor mad”, with an “airy and elegant” design, enjoyable to browse, and offering “a balanced mix of critical essays and informational content”. It was perhaps his background as a bookseller ‒ developed at the Serenissima bookshop founded by his father in 1938 ‒ that shaped his open and dynamic mindset, combining an aesthetic sensibility (viewing the book as a work of art) with a pragmatic understanding of publishing as a business. His books had to be widely distributed and at least bilingual to be commercially viable. This international vision characterised projects such as Zodiac (1957-63), a renowned trilingual architecture magazine, followed by Lotus (1963-70), now under the Electa group. Alfieri anticipated, by decades, the now essential trend of choosing contributors based not on language but on conceptual and artistic merit. This philosophy also guided the creation of Quadrum (1956-66), a four-language contemporary art journal founded with Belgian publisher Ernst Goldschmidt, which included major figures from various countries on its editorial board. With Metro (1960-70), his avant-garde magazine largely independent from the art market, Alfieri explored the relationship between text and image, always granting photographers full creative freedom, recognising them as integral to the artistic project. His other magazines ‒ Marmo (1962), Pagina, and Pacco (both 1962) ‒ represented further experiments in form, most notably through the introduction of the “imperfect square” format, which would go on to become highly influential in the field of art and architecture publishing.
THE EXHIBITION ABOUT BRUNO ALFIERI AT MARE KARINA IN VENICE
This vision of a “super-magazine” ‒ a constellation of interlinked elements unified by visual and conceptual coherence ‒ is reflected in the exhibition’s design. Standard metal structures frame the chronological narrative of Alfieri’s work, while still allowing for an open, spontaneous experience. Open magazines, suspended documents, and graphic and textual elements are arranged to evoke the very connections and relationships Alfieri sought to create through his publishing practice. The art of displaying, as realised by curators Carrera and Lupano, resolves the central paradox of exhibiting archival material: how to present objects that were made to be touched and browsed, yet must now be preserved. By blending the aesthetics of a bookshop with the performative nature of reading, the display itself “leafs through” the archive on behalf of the viewer. This temporary archive, housed at Mare Karina, is presented with the hope that it may one day become a permanent resource.
Vittoria Morpurgo
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Bruno Alfieri. Publishing and magazines for contemporary art and architecture, exhibition view, Mare Karina, Venice 2025. Photo Tiziano Ercoli. Courtesy Mare Karina
Flavia Spasari explores the potential of artistic practice through intermedial research. Favoring fluidity over the categorization of art forms, Spasari conducts her research consciously, despite her young age.
Flavia Spasari, born in Calabria in 2000, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara in visual arts and sculpture and is currently attending the Master in Visual Arts course at the IUAV in Venice. Her interest in the realm of the sensible is reflected in the fluidity of her artistic practice. From sound to staging, Spasari touches on personal themes that open up to well-orchestrated critical insights.
AN INTERVIEW WITH FLAVIA SPASARI
What name would you give to your artistic practice? Thanks to this question, I overcome the use of a single medium in my practice. I have embraced other languages, among which sound is now the most identifiable. I approached it in an experimental way, asking myself in what other way I could reach the physicality of a material. Furthermore, through sound, I could try to investigate various levels of reality, especially what is not understood among them, and it is this inaccessibility that guides me. For me, the model to emulate is that of children putting together as many pieces of plasticine as possible: reality is a piece of plasticine.
Is research central to your practice? I always start from theoretical research, which I let guide me, leaving the choice of medium to it. The visual and sound parts complete the theory of the previous analysis, restoring its final meaning. My way of doing research is my way of understanding myself.
Looking at your work fix it till you make it, shown in the Venetian exhibition Overlapping Heads at Palazzetto Tito, you gave voice to the “thin” patina of anti-Southernism in Italy. Is it a work that conveys a clear position? Do you often make political choices for your works? When I started working with sound, this more social component also arrived, becoming an anthropological tool. Leandro Pisano was a founding figure in my research, who states that sound has a verticality such as to allow it to penetrate reality, managing to eviscerate the levels of the sensitive. Recently, sound has become a way of discovering, aided by decolonial studies, of my internalized anti-Southernism. From listening to my sister’s accent, I realized that I was losing mine too, rejecting a part of my identity. I find it a political work, especially for the conscious introspection that the sound dimension can make us reach. From this moment of analysis onwards, I began to introduce parts of my culture both in my compositional and performative practice, inserting file recordings of Calabrian folk songs. A culture that I have systematically rejected because it is considered the bearer of the atavistic traits described by Lombroso. Using these sound materials is a way to penetrate society in a more functional way.
FLAVIA SPASARI AND VENICE
Is the city of Venice providing you with creative impulses and particular food for thought? I felt a great sense of distrust towards myself and the art world. Venice as a city helped me to reset. I went from the phase of falling in love with art to a more disillusioned phase similar to the one you experience towards your parents when you grow up. You see them for who they are, that is, people with their flaws. But, through workshops such as that by Professor Filippo Maggia, I had the opportunity to rediscover a theoretical approach to my practice that helped me a lot. I think that many like me have come to IUAV precisely because of a great sense of discouragement towards the academic system. There is a strong crisis in art in Italy and the entire educational system is affected by this. The only positive note is that, in decadence, rules and structures are deprived of their meaning and you can effectively create what you want. But I would advise anyone who wants to embark on the artistic path to do so despite all the adversities, because I am trying and, even if I tried to do something else, I would always come back here.
What lesson have you learned from this moment of crisis and rediscovery? I learned that the moment of awareness can coincide with a happy moment. You experience things with awareness, you know that you will toughen up to face reality and that acceptance is the key. It helped me so much to be in an environment where people fervently believe in art, where you get your hands dirty and feel you can count on a collective vision.
What is your relationship with the figure of the curator? It is not easy to define what a curator is or is not, in fact to do so I think of the relationship with the curator Marco Augusto Basso. For the exhibition Tre Canti at Spazio TORRSO in Pesaro, in a very authorial way Basso curated and commented on the exhibition through assemblages. We did a sort of residency in the gallery and, with the pre-existing objects in the archive, we gave life to the exhibition. For me, this is a symptom of a true curator-artist relationship, where the boundaries exist and are rewritten.
Maria Rosaria Santosuosso
Flavia Spasari, fix it till you make it, 2025, installation of various dimensions. Archival materials, fax, ultrasound and X-ray images, engraving, laryngeal polyp forceps, walkman. Installation view from Overlapping Heads at Palazzetto Tito, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice. Courtesy of the artist
Flavia Spasari, fix it till you make it, 2025, installation of various dimensions. Archival materials, fax, ultrasound and X-ray images, engraving, laryngeal polyp forceps, walkman. Installation view from Overlapping Heads at Palazzetto Tito, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice. Courtesy of the artist
Flavia Spasari, fix it till you make it, 2025, installation of various dimensions. Archival materials, fax, ultrasound and X-ray images, engraving, laryngeal polyp forceps, walkman. Installation view from Overlapping Heads at Palazzetto Tito, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice. Courtesy of the artist
Flavia Spasari, fix it till you make it, 2025, installation of various dimensions. Archival materials, fax, ultrasound and X-ray images, engraving, laryngeal polyp forceps, walkman. Installation view from Overlapping Heads at Palazzetto Tito, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice. Courtesy of the artist
Flavia Spasari, fix it till you make it, 2025, installation of various dimensions. Archival materials, fax, ultrasound and X-ray images, engraving, laryngeal polyp forceps, walkman. Installation view from Overlapping Heads at Palazzetto Tito, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice. Courtesy of the artist
The Brolo, Center of Art and Culture of the city of Mogliano Veneto, inaugurated its exhibition season with the anthological exhibition of the Bosnian artist Safet Zec, open until 18 May 2025. A pictorial exploration of the themes of exodus, abandonment and hope.
Included among the artists of the Venice Pavilion at 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2024, Safet Zec arrived at the Brolo Center of Art and Culture in Mogliano Veneto with twenty-four works that retrace the stages of his life and career. The artist’s story begins in Rogatica (Bosnia and Herzegovina), where he was born in 1943. After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, he began his career in the former Yugoslavia, establishing himself as a painter and engraver. However, because of the war that broke out in 1992, he was forced to leave his homeland and flee to Italy, first to Udine and then, in 1998, to Venice, a city which marked his artistic rebirth, as can be seen from the more than one hundred exhibitions held so far between Europe and the United States.
SAFET ZEC’S EXHIBITION IN MOGLIANO VENETO
The exhibition, curated by Angelo Zennaro and entitled Le anime e i corpi (The souls and the bodies), reflects the artistic and personal journey of Zec: large canvases, mixed techniques collages and engravings are articulated along the two floors of the exhibition space of the Municipality of Mogliano Veneto. The central theme around which the exhibition is developed is that of the artist’s escape from his native country, a gesture that from personal becomes universal, bearing witness to the pain and brutality caused by wars. Zec himself, in a sentence in the exhibition catalogue, recalls: “I would like to remember that I was a refugee, a man who had to leave the country he loved, the country where he was born, where he lived, where he was educated, where he studied… a country torn apart by war and nationalism”. A painful reflection present in his works in the form of tangles of intertwined hands that touch souls and bodies that embrace and abandon themselves to each other, becoming the tale of a current tragedy. A leading exponent of Poetic realism, Zec creates secular representations imbued with spirituality, silent but radical denunciations that show the fragility of those who are forced to leave everything they know and love to go ff into the unknown. The work Abbraccio (Hug)(2000) synthesizes these aspects, having as protagonists two subjects that, dressed in white and stained with red, with their heads bowed, embrace and merge in an embrace that encompasses pain but infuses hope. The poetics of abandonment is connected to that of escape: clothes hanging in the closet, doors closed with bolts and uneaten food are signs left by those who are no longer there, pieces of life lived by invisible souls who, with a bit of luck, seek refuge elsewhere, sowing memories.
THE WORKS BY SAFET ZEC AT BROLO
Like so many fragments of life, the exhibition highlighted the subjects dear to the artist, articulated in works that tell of landscapes seen outside the window, objects of daily use, work tables in the various studios, angelic female figures. As proof that life begins again even after the exodus and abandonment, Zec dedicates some works to a place to which he is very attached, his Venetian studio, which portrays in works such as Tavolo con colori (Table with colors) (2009), in which brushes, jars, colors, bottles and other objects of the craft are characterized by a dense and full-bodied painting, that defines the detail wrapping the forms and charging them with matter. The island that will see him reassert as an internationally renowned artist would thus become his second homeland, to which he would dedicate works such as Porta veneziana con numero (Venetian door with number) (2018). “Deeply ethical and prophetic, because it is absolutely secular and yet intensely religious”, as the art historian Giandomenico Romanelli defines it in the pages of the catalogue, the art of Safet Zec is able to translate every moment of his life, especially the most painful, into shapes, colors and compositions that invite us to look at today’s world with new eyes, finding hope even in adversity.
Laura Ferrone
Safet Zec, Abbraccio, 2000, oil and collage on canvas, 100×80 cm
Safet Zec, Porta veneziana con numero, 2018, tempera, collage on paper and canvas, 70×50 cm
Safet Zec, Tavolo con colori, 2009, tempera, collage on paper and canvas, 120×160 cm
Safet Zec, Porta di legno, 2012, tempera and collage on paper, canvas on wooden stretcher, 200×160 cm
From Late Gothic to queer art, Riccardo Albiero’s painting is rich in historical references, yet marked by a strong personal identity and distinctive style.
Riccardo Albiero was born in 1996 in Chioggia. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and is currently enrolled at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in the program for Economics and Management of Arts and Cultural Activities. The young artist is represented by two galleries: Candy Snake in Milan and Double Double in Beijing, the latter of which hosted his solo show in March 2025. We met him in his studio on Giudecca Island, during his residency at the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation in Venice.
THE INTERVIEW WITH RICCARDO ALBIERO
Your painting features recurring elements: the greyhound, the thistle, the stars. When did you start choosing these symbols and shaping your style through them? About three years ago, I began selecting recurring subjects ‒ some drawn from art history, particularly from the Italian and Flemish Late Gothic, so more traditional and codified, and others more cryptic, rooted in personal biography.
Which artists or aspects of the Late Gothic period fascinated you and made their way into your painting? Certainly, the most influential artists for me have been Gentile da Fabriano, Pisanello, and Botticelli. Formally, I feel very connected to the encyclopedic tendency and the organization of the image within the painting, where highly realistic elements are juxtaposed with particularly abstract or stylized symbols. As for content, the fantastic and magical imagery captivated me since childhood ‒ but so did the idea of spirituality, which for me doesn’t mean faith in God, but in a primordial Chaos.
One of your iconic figures, the greyhound, has moved from an immaterial realm into a room interior. Does this reflect an evolution in your poetics? It reflects more the increasing complexity of spatial representation. I paint interiors and gardens with hedges that symbolize an inner, introspective space ‒ one where even imprecisions and perspective errors are allowed.
THE SUBJECTS PAINTED BY RICCARDO ALBIERO
Male figures, already central in your earlier works, now resemble saints. Can you tell us more about them? I’ve noticed the resemblance too, but there’s no idealization or salvific connotation to them. Rather, they’re a visual phenomenon hovering between man and idea ‒ there’s no intent toward realism. I think of the Fayum funerary portraits, of Botticelli, but also of queer art, to show the many forms virility can take.
What kind of relationship do you hope viewers will have with your work? I hope the natural-world subjects evoke delight, pleasure, and a sense of fulfillment, while I’d like the portraits to spark a kind of sentimental education. In general, I never see art as an isolated expressive act ‒ it’s always an offering to the public.
RICCARDO ALBIERO AND THE ART MARKET
You’re young but already well positioned in the art market. Was this always your goal? Actually, no. I’ve been represented by two galleries for about two years ‒ since I graduated with my MFA in Painting in Bologna. That’s when I realized that, if I wanted to make a living from my art, I had to commit to it seriously. Then luck played its part too.
How do you imagine your art will evolve in the future? As far as painting goes, I think my subjects still have a lot to offer ‒ though physiognomies and faces may change. I’m also interested in the world of metals and installations. Plus, I feel the need to deepen my knowledge of art history, including other cultures, and that might influence my work as well.
You once said: “My research is based on introspection in search of a truth”. What kind of awareness do you feel you’ve reached today? I believe I’ve developed spiritual convictions that form the foundation of my value system ‒ and, consequently, my representational system. Still, I think I’ll always keep questioning what new things I have to offer.
For the first time in Italy, Georgian artist Nino Kapanadze celebrates the Scrovegni Chapel frescoed by Giotto in a contemporary way. The theme of encounter and union are central to the exhibition curated by Marta Papini at the Bonollo Foundation in Thiene, open until 24 May 2025.
Established in Thiene, in the province of Vicenza, in 2023, the Sandra and Giancarlo Bonollo Foundation promotes international contemporary art and emerging artists. The Foundation hosts two parallel projects: exhibitions curated by Chiara Nuzzi ‒ bringing together works donated from the private collection of the Bonollo family ‒ and the exhibitions curated by Marta Papini ‒ solo exhibitions of contemporary artists and new talents. Curated precisely by Marta Papini is Rendezvous, the first solo exhibition in Italy of Nino Kapanadze, open until 24 May 2025. The Georgian artist, born in 1990, works in Paris, where she earned a Master’s degree in Fine Arts at the Beaux-Arts de Paris. Her pictorial technique explores the abstract and the figurative through the use of soft colours obtained from natural pigments. In her depictions, she evokes Christian symbolism and sacred art, representing her own perception of the divine. Rendezvous in French means appointment, meeting: starting from this word, the curator has articulated the exhibition around the concept of the union of lovers, nature and the divine.
NINO KAPANADZE ON SHOW IN THIENE
The exhibition was inspired by the Georgian artist’s visit to the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, where she was able to admire the frescoes painted by Giotto. In the first space of the Bonollo Foundation, the former Chiesa delle Dimesse, Kapanadze wanted to pay tribute to the so-called first kiss in art history, that between Joachim and Anne, depicted by Giotto in the Paduan chapel. The theme of union has been taken up by the Georgian artist through the site-specific installation Tanto gentile e tanto onesta. The work, composed of two chiffon sheets coloured by hand with natural pigments, symbolizes the clothes worn by Mary’s parents in the medieval representation of Padua. The two sheets, placed opposite each other, descended lightly until they met gently on the floor in front of the altar, inviting one to cross the threshold of the Foundation to look at the work more closely. In the middle of the room, in place of the altarpiece, a blue tondo, Incontro, celebrated the figure of Giotto. In the room next to the Chiesa delle Dimesse, twenty-six sheets of paper, each coloured entirely with a natural pigment, offered a taste of the palette used by the artist for the creation of the works placed in the following rooms.
NINO KAPANADZE AT THE FONDAZIONE BONOLLO
The spaces of the Foundation also hosted three large-scale works, opposed to a smaller work, which explores the theme of the encounter through different languages: in Rendezvous 27, a raptor inspired by the angels painted in the Scrovegni Chapel symbolizes the point of contact between the divine and human worlds. In Rendezvous 28 and Rendezvous 31, on the other hand, the protagonist is nature, the place where, according to Kapanadze, the perception of the divine occurs. The artist’s aim is to offer her vision of purity and sacredness, focusing on the solemnity of Creation. In the last rooms of the Foundation dedicated to the exhibition were Rendezvous 29 and Rendezvous 30, produced by the artist in a site-specific way to dialogue with each other. In them, two opposing elements such as fire and water came into communication, as proof of the indissoluble bond that unites them. Within the same space, several lithographs with floral subjects were placed, representing the union that gives life: the cohesion of nature described throughout the exhibition by Nino Kapanadze.
Rendezvous, Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo, Thiene, 2025. In the foreground: Nino Kapanadze, Rendezvous 30, 2025. Installation view. Photo credit: Giovanni Canova / Courtesy: Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo
Rendezvous, Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo, Thiene, 2025. From left to right: Nino Kapanadze, Rendezvous 28, Rendezvous 31 and Rendezvous 27, 2025. Installation view. Photo credit: Giovanni Canova / Courtesy: Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo
Rendezvous, Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo, Thiene, 2025. In the foreground: Nino Kapanadze, Tanto gentile e tanto onesta, 2025; in the background: Nino Kapanadze, Incontro, 2025. Installation view. Photo credit: Giovanni Canova / Courtesy: Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo
Rendezvous, Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo, Thiene, 2025. In the foreground: Nino Kapanadze, Rendezvous 29, 2024–2025. Installation view. Photo credit: Giovanni Canova / Courtesy: Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo
Rendezvous, Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo, Thiene, 2025. In the foreground: Nino Kapanadze, Rendezvous 1 to Rendezvous 26, 2024–2025. Installation view. Photo credit: Giovanni Canova / Courtesy: Fondazione Sandra e Giancarlo Bonollo
In the work of Gražina Subelytė, curating becomes an instrument of discovery, an act of care and, above all, an exercise of active memory. Among forgotten archives and works capable of speaking to the present, her gaze moves carefully between the stories and contexts that have generated them, restoring a living and questioning dimension to art.
Originally from Lithuania and trained between Germany and the United Kingdom, Gražina Subelytė has worked for over seventeen years at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, where she built a strong and passionate curatorial career. After completing her PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, she signed exhibition projects that have renewed the reading of twentieth-century art from Surrealism to esoteric practices, contributing in an original way to restore centrality figures and movements often forgotten. Exhibitions such as Peggy Guggenheim. The Last Dogaressa (2019-2020) and Surrealism and Magic. Enchanted Modernity (2022) highlight her interest in the complexity of the role of curator, understood as a mediation between public and narrative aspect. This interview comes from an intimate and generous meeting, in which Gražina Subelytė talks about her working method, the formative references and the urgency of rewriting a broader, open and conscious art history.
How did your journey in the art world begin and what led you to work at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice? I attended the Bachelor’s degree course in Germany, at Jacobs University in Bremen, with a double major in Social and Political Sciences and in History and Theory of Art and Literature. I then obtained a Master’s degree in Modern and Contemporary Art from Christie’s Education in London, in collaboration with the University of Glasgow. I did several internships: from Christie’s in Berlin to the ZKM in Karlsruhe, in a private gallery in London and at a research company on stolen art. I came to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection about seventeen and a half years ago for an internship and, basically, never left. During my experience here, I completed a PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. I must say that I have always been attracted by museum contexts, where art meets the public. I find Peggy Guggenheim a truly inspiring and courageous collector and patron. It is a privilege to work in this museum, which represents an extraordinary crossroads of modern art, research and storytelling.
Are there figures ‒ masters, curators or even artists ‒ that you consider fundamental in what has been your training, even indirectly? First of all, my art teacher, Povilas Spurgevičius. When I or other students drew and painted in more traditional ways, he always encouraged us to free our imagination and not limit ourselves to what is visible and obvious. He was the one who taught me to create with unlimited imagination. Thanks to him I understood the importance of imagination and later decided to study art history. Indeed, the 20th-century artists represented in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection have really broken with tradition, looking for new ways ‒ often unconventional ‒ to represent not only the outside world, but also their own inner dimension. We always try to emphasize the revolutionary spirit of this collection. Another important figure for me is Professor Ursula Frohne, who was my art history teacher at the university in Germany. She inspired me deeply and taught me a fundamental lesson: all art is political. Speaking of historical figures, I am inspired by the work of legendary avant-garde curators such as Katharine Kuh and Palma Bucarelli, who was director of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome.
THE CURATOR ACCORDING TO GRAŽINA SUBELYTĖ
How has your vision of the role of curator changed over time? What are, in your opinion, today’s responsibilities that this figure should have? I believe that a curator is a storyteller, a figure who mediates between the work and the audience, but who today also becomes an agent of cultural change. The responsibility of telling plural stories, recovering forgotten voices and offering new looks is central. In addition, especially in an institution like the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, it is essential to show how truly revolutionary was the art that Peggy Guggenheim collected. It is important to maintain a continuous dialogue between past and present.
How do you balance your curatorial vision with the institutional context in which you work and with the public to whom the exhibitions are addressed? In our exhibition program we always try to find a balance between known names and less known artists, so that the public can also discover new artistic visions. In everything we do, it is fundamental for us to show how the art of the period in which Peggy Guggenheim lived continues to be incredibly current even today, as it presents many similarities with the contemporary world. Now, as in the course of history, humanity is experiencing a period of transformation, driven by social and political developments, technological advances, wars, climate change and other factors that directly or indirectly affect our state of being. This influence is also deeply reflected in art, with works that become real documents capable of telling these revolutionary changes. The 20th century was a time of profound political, social and artistic change. What today, in an apparently paradoxical way, we call classical modernity has advanced thanks to the experimentation and revolution of the very idea of what art can be, finding radical and new ways to represent the inner and outer reality. The artists represented at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection have broken with tradition and challenged the artistic legacies of the past. They have invented new expressive languages, reflecting changing values and conventions. In my work as curator of both the permanent collection and the exhibitions I curate, I always emphasize these aspects.
How do you come up with the idea for an exhibition? What is your approach to research and selection of themes and artists to be presented? Inspiration for an exhibition can come from many sources, but it’s always about finding something original, something that has never been done before. Each exhibition is born from a question, a curiosity or a void that I feel in the museum story. I study in depth the movements and artists of the twentieth century, but also the exhibitions that Peggy Guggenheim organized during her life, both in her first gallery, the Guggenheim Jeune (1938-1939) in London, and in her museum-gallery Art of This Century in New York (1942-1947). I am always impressed by how much more is to be found out about her support for artists! For example, she has organized truly avant-garde exhibitions, both collective and numerous personal, dedicated to women artists such as Janet Sobel, Irene Rice Pereira, Sonja Sekula and Virginia Admiral, just to name a few. Most of the artists represented in our collection are unfortunately no longer alive and, in these cases, I read as much as possible, I update on academic research and the latest exhibitions (I talk with colleagues and scholars), always looking for new points of view to get closer to their art. I spend a lot of time researching the works and their presentation ‒ for example, how the artist would like a particular work to be exhibited. However, it is not only about the objects, but also the relationships that surround them: those between artists themselves, with history, with other disciplines… There is always a continuous shift between micro and macro perspectives. Some of my exhibitions are thematic, others chronological, or a mix of both. The selection of artists or themes is organic. For me, exhibitions are a form of narration: as a curator, I build a story, similar to reading a book. However, if on the one hand the exhibitions must teach and offer answers, on the other they must also test us and make us ask questions.
EXHIBITIONS CURATED BY GRAŽINA SUBELYTĖ
What led you to specialise in an artistic movement such as Surrealism? What do you still find relevant or fascinating in this movement? Peggy Guggenheim was one of the most important patrons and collectors of Surrealism worldwide. She understood that Surrealism was an extremely current movement, and I fully share this vision. I remember the words of the artist Remedios Varo. When asked if Surrealism was in decline, she replied:“I don’t think it can ever disappear in its essence, because it is inseparable from humanity”. The surrealists undoubtedly predicted the times we are living in: they were pacifists, anti-capitalists, anti-colonialists, promoting love for nature and ecology, and the surrealist artists were strong and conscious proto-feminists. Faced with the absurdity of the reality of the two world conflicts, the surrealists turned to dreams, the unconscious and magic to look for alternative ways of understanding the universe. One hundred years later, we find many similarities with our present ‒ from pandemic anxiety to climate catastrophes, and of course wars. I believe that society has begun to recognise the importance of this movement, which is often misunderstood. The surrealists believed deeply ‒ albeit idealistically ‒ that they could influence the world, to “enchant it again” in a moment of collective trauma. Surrealism is a philosophy of life that chooses a positive look on the world to renew it through self-knowledge. I believe that each of us can draw inspiration.
During your lecture at the School for Curatorial Studies Venice, you told us about the exhibition dedicated to Peggy Guggenheim’s first gallery, the Guggenheim Jeune, which will be presented in Venice and later at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. What challenges do you encounter in telling a figure like Peggy Guggenheim in a British context, compared to Venice and New York? The main challenge is to contextualize Peggy Guggenheim, always keeping intact her uniqueness and complexity. In each context, we present to the public the many roles that she has held: collector and patron of the arts, promoter of avant-gardes, cosmopolitan figure. For us, this exhibition is an opportunity to explore a lesser-known phase of her life.
In your exhibitions there is often a special focus on female artists, especially those who are forgotten and marginalized. How do you carry out your research work in this case? What is the criterion for selecting artists? A fundamental criterion in the selection of artists was not that they were women, but that they were great artists, capable of producing works of high quality and deserving to be better known by society.
CURATORSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY
Do you think that the curator’s role can have a real impact in rewriting more inclusive art history? And how do you try to do this in your daily work? Yes, I believe that the curator has a concrete responsibility in this regard. The way we tell art ‒who we include, what works we value ‒ builds imaginaries. In my daily work I always try to ask myself what is missing, who has been excluded and why. Inclusiveness is not only a matter of representation, but also of critical perspective.
What advice would you give to young curators trying to make their way in this working environment? I would suggest to be curious, rigorous, devoted and patient. I believe this is true in any field: it is essential to really commit to the chosen path. If you are passionate about what you do, don’t be afraid to show it. Be patient: things take time and nothing significant comes immediately. It is important to study a lot, visit exhibitions, read, but also know how to listen and talk with others. Finding your own voice, an authentic point of view that guides the work, is essential. And finally: do not be discouraged. There is no shortage of difficulties, but passion and dedication really make the difference.
Bombs, containers, flags and debris – these are the key elements of the first major European exhibition dedicated to Japanese artist Yukinori Yanagi. His work tackles the devastating consequences of war and the urgent need for remembrance. “Icarus” is on view at Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan until 27 July, 2025.
Icarus is the title of the first large-scale European exhibition dedicated to Japanese artist Yukinori Yanagi (Fukuoka, 1959), on display in the Navate and Cubo spaces of Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan until 27 July 2025. Curated by Vicente Todolí with Fiammetta Griccioli, the show features monumental works, some site-specific, tracing the artist’s practice from the 1990s to the present. Widely considered one of Japan’s most influential contemporary artists, Yanagi explores urgent and complex themes such as nationalism, borders, identity, and conflict, aiming to raise awareness and reflect on how human arrogance can lead to ruin.
YUKINORI YANAGI’S EXHIBITION IN MILAN
The installation, conceived as a monumental narrative with a strong impact, consists of new and existing works placed in relation to each other to suggest new meanings. The result is a balanced dialogue of solids and voids that unfolds in the Hangar’ Navate. The monumentality of the place is mirrored in that of the works, which catapult the visitor into a space where it is easy to feel disoriented and helpless. The gaze is lost and the pace slows among Yanagi’s interventions, in which the desire for power and war echo. The centerpiece of the exhibition is the work from which the show takes its name: Icarus Container 2025. It is a meandering, labyrinthine installation consisting of sixteen containers, inside which visitors can wander. Space is dilated, perception is altered by the presence of mirrors on which excerpts from Yukio Mishima’s poem Icarus are displayed. Following the verses, the audience is led on a journey that is as real as it is metaphorical, in search of light, attempting to escape the arrogance and desires that often cloud the mind of human beings, leading them to their downfall. The atmosphere is charged with tension: there persists a strong sense of inadequacy given by the dimness, the first deafening and then low and threatening sounds, the debris and the imposing bomb suspended above the heads of the visitors.
YANAGI’S WORKS IN THE NAVATE OF PIRELLI HANGARBICOCCA
At the entrance, a large animal eye flickers with haunting images of atomic mushroom clouds, including Hiroshima’s. Project God-zilla 2025 – The Revenant from “El Mare Pacificum” (2025) is a towering heap of wreckage – broken machinery, toxic canisters, and metal bars – watched over by the menacing gaze of the Godzilla monster. The scene evokes a post-apocalyptic landscape, where Godzilla’s eye symbolizes the fear surrounding nuclear fallout in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It’s a stark warning of the suffering that could still lie ahead, affecting both humanity and the natural world. For Icarus, the piece is paired with Article 9 (1994), made from flashing red neon tubes forming fragments of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution – a passage that renounces war and aspires to global peace. By setting the brutal force of Project God-zilla 2025 against the soft glow of Article 9, Yanagi constructs a stark dualism: a critique of a democracy that, in his words, “It’s like democracy came to Japan like a gift from above” in the form of a constitution written in 1946 by U.S. General Douglas MacArthur. One of the most striking pieces is Absolute Dud (2007), a full-scale iron replica of “Little Boy,” the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. By freezing the moment just before detonation, Yanagi reflects on how conflict always looms nearby. As long as humanity places its faith in technological power – the atomic bomb –, it remains trapped in a state of restless vigilance. The exhibition concludes in the Cubo, the only naturally lit space, with The World Flag Ant Farm 2025. This work consists of two hundred plexiglass boxes representing both recognized and unrecognized nations, all connected by narrow tunnels and filled with colored sand. Live ants move through the structure, constantly shifting the sand and transforming the flags. The piece becomes a living performance – a metaphor for interconnectedness beyond borders or national identities. The decision to end in a bright, open space symbolizes a potential path forward: a hopeful exit from a future that otherwise seems bleakly predetermined.
