Art Exhibitions

The aim of the exhibition is to offer the Italian public a close encounter with contemporary Chinese art through recent works by some exceptional contemporary artists: Cao Fei, Chen Chieh-Jen, Fang Lijun, Liu Xiaodong, Qiu Anxiong, Sun Yuan + Peng Yu, Wang Du, Wang Qingsong, Weng Fen, Yang Fudong, Yang Yong, Yang Zhenzhong, Yan Lei, Yin Zhaoyang, Zeng Fanzhi and Zheng Guogu, which is to say leading exponents of the latest generations who have all achieved important international acknowledgement.

For over a century, National Geographic's photographers have depicted the world and nature with their extraordinary images, a selection of which will be on public display in the group exhibition "acqua aria fuoco terra", at Palazzo delle Esposizioni from February 16 to March 30. The exhibition presents a collection of photos, most of which have never been on public display before, selected from the most significant shots taken for National Geographic.

Speed is the focal point of this fascinating and scenically spectacular exhibition produced by Contemporanea Progetti and Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, a theme developed in all its forms through a chronological overview of the 20th century that goes on to explore a range of entrancing future scenarios. Engines and their inseparable links with art will constitute the primary basis for exploration and interpretation of other key strands such as design, cinema and fashion in a trajectory encapsulating a century of Italian life. Automobiles of various periods, motorcycles, aeroplanes, period photographs and videos will accompany the visitors on a journey of mind and body, both cultural and sensory, through the history of Italy as seen through the eyes of those who conceived, wrote and experienced it in a state of constant acceleration.

The Painting of Modern Life explores the relationship that exists between painting and photography today. The exhibition brings together the paintings by twenty-two artists from the early 1960s onwards. All of the paintings exhibited here were inspired by photography and explore themes of contemporary existence – politics and history, work, leisure and everyday life, social space, family and friends, and modern individuals.

The thought and the work by Pietro Consagra, born in 1920 and died in 2005, have a very special role in the aesthetic debate of the second half of the twentieth century for the complexity of the themes dealt with, the search for a new relationship between man, space, and sculpture, and for his proposed solutions to a concept of three-dimensionality defined by him as "the monumental matrix of a dead language".

Installed at the Musei San Domenico in Forlì, the exhibition presents more than 40 works by Guido Cagnacci and as many paintings by Caravaggio and Reni. This is Italy’s biggest monographic exhibition ever dedicated to the artist, who was able to affectively combine inputs from his knowledge of Caravaggio’s naturalism and Reni’s realism. The location is easily reachable by car, plane or train. Visiting hours are Tuesday to Friday, 9:30 am - 7:00 pm; Saturday, Sunday and holidays 9:30 am – 8:00 pm.

Through May 11, 2008 GNAM, the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, hosts an exhibition entirely dedicated to the works of sculptor Lucio Fontana. The project draws inspiration from the exhibit held at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantova from September to January 2007 and sets out to expand its success and interest.

550 years since the birth of Pintoricchio, Perugia honors the artist with an exhibition held at Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria. Here visitors will be able to admire most of the artist’s works and drawings, shown for the first time in one monographic exhibition. The journey of discovery of the works of this sophisticated master from the Renaissance continues along the places that hold his frescoes, starting from the Baglioni Chapel in the Duomo in Spello, and on to Spoleto, Orvieto, Trevi, Città di Castello and Perugia.

The first monographic exhibition dedicated to Sebastiano del Piombo, the painter born in Venice in 1485, takes place in Palazzo Venezia in Rome, the city where the artist reached his artistic top. On display 37 paintings and 18 drawings, as well as 3 by Michelangelo, in a retrospective that details the stylistic evolution of del Piombo, a contemporary of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giorgione and Titian. This is a very evocative installation, one in which each artwork is lighted individually, to highlight the grandiosity of this often forgotten master.

The Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum, in collaboration with the Venetian cultural activity agency, has undertaken several research projects to determine the characteristics of the modality adopted by Titian in his last period, known as “pittura a macchia”. The Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice pay homage to this research by showcasing invaluable works attributed to Titian. Thanks to exceptional loans, art lovers will have a chance to enjoy a superb collection from the world’s most important museums. The exhibition is divided into three sections, dedicated to portraits, and the subjects of the sacred and the profane.