Tragicomica. Perspectives on Italian art from the mid-20th century to today

Works by over 130 artists telling the story of contemporary art in Italy from the post-war period to the present day. In collaboration with the Centre d’Art Contemporain Genève and under the curatorship of Andrea Bellini and Francesco Stocchi, the MAXXI museum is dedicating a major exhibition project to a broad and crucial period of Italian cultural production, exploring the critical thinking and creativity expressed over the last eighty years through the lens of the tragicomic and irreverent irony.

The approximately 300 works on display to the public in Galleries 2 and 3 of the museum exemplify a particular perspective on the world: that distinctly Italian approach to tackling the most complex issues or adversity through humor, irony and paradox, using a tone rooted in everyday life and interweaving “high” culture with popular culture. What emerges is an alternative narrative of Italian art, one that disrupts the canon, expanding it and offering a multi-layered and alternative interpretation. The exhibition explores these themes across cultural production in the broadest sense, incorporating cinema, theatre, architecture, literature and philosophy into a rich public program.

The works on display are not presented in chronological order but engage in dialogue with one another in a continuous and unprecedented juxtaposition of iconic works and less frequently explored ones. Artists featured include: Gianfranco Baruchello, Elena Bellantoni, Mirella Bentivoglio, Tomaso Binga, Alighiero Boetti, Monica Bonvicini, Maurizio Cattelan, Adelaide Cioni, Roberto Cuoghi, Gino De Dominicis, Luciano Fabro, Lucio Fontana, Chiara Fumai, Silvia Giambrone, Nicole Gravier, Piero Golia, Piero Manzoni, Liliana Moro, Valerio Nicolai, Paola Pivi, Giuseppe Penone, Carol Rama, Lorenzo Scotto Di Luzio and Gilberto Zorio.

Image: Maurizio Cattelan, Comedian, 2019, photo Zeno Zotti, Courtesy Maurizio Cattelan’s Archive and Galleria Perrotin