The best art exhibitions to visit this spring in Italy

The exhibition “Reaching for the Stars. From Maurizio Cattelan to Lynette Yiadom-Boakye” – curated by Arturo Galansino, General Director of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi – is on view until June 18, 2023 at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. Promoted by Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, this project celebrates 30 years of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection with more than 70 art works by the most important contemporary Italian and international artists. Including Maurizio Cattelan, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Lara Favaretto, William Kentridge, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Sarah Lucas, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. The exhibition involves every space of Palazzo Strozzi, from the Piano Nobile to the Strozzina, and a new installation for the Renaissance courtyard. 

From February 23 to July 30, 2023 Pirelli HangarBicocca presents “NOw/here” – Gian Maria Tosatti’s solo exhibition (Rome, 1980. He lives and works in Naples). Among the most popular contemporary Italian artists, he has recently made headlines as the only artist selected to represent Italy at the Art Biennale 2022. There he presented “History of Night and Destiny of Comets” – metaphor of the economic boom (History of Night), and hope in a cathartic future (Destiny of Comets). A criticized and praised work at the same time. It is no coincidence that the contradiction carries within itself a dualism that has always characterized Tosatti’s career and works, including his latest project “NOw/here.” The exhibition is curated by Vicente Todolì and consists of two cycles of paintings presented for the first time at Pirelli HangarBicocca – “Portraits” (2022), and “NOw/here” (2023). 

“Bob Dylan: Retrospectrum” is presented at MAXXI in Rome until April 30, 2023. It is a tribute to his “multifaceted nature”, with a focus on his contribution in the visual arts. On display: oil paintings; acrylic paints; watercolors; ink drawings; pastel, charcoal and iron sculptures. They are organized into 8 different sections: Early Works; The Beaten Path; Mondo Scripto; Revisionist; The Drawn Blank; New Orleans; Deep Focus and Ironworks. A real “visual diary” to reconstruct Dylan’s artistic and personal evolution over the years. 

On the occasion of Milan Fashion Week, Giorgio Armani inaugurated the exhibition “Guy Bourdin: Storyteller” in the spaces of Armani/Silos. On view until August 31, 2023, the exhibition displays 100 photographs and pays homage to the work of the French photographer. The project explores the compositional and narrative intent of his practice beyond the provocation that has always been associated with his work. In the wake of Alfred Hitchcock and Edward Hopper, Guy Bourdin was essentially a storyteller, capable of enclosing entire novels – preferably mystery or noir ones – in a single shot. 

The exhibition “Sebastião Salgado. Amazônia” opens to the public on May 12, 2023 at the Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan. On view until November 19, 2023. It is promoted and produced by Comune di Milano|Cultura, by Fabbrica del Vapore and Contrasto in collaboration with Civita Mostre e Musei and General Service Security. The exhibition is curated by Lélia Wanick Salgado – travel and life companion of the great photographer. The photo project lasted seven years and captures the incredible richness and variety of the Amazon rainforest which occupies a third of the South American continent, an area larger than the entire European Union. Zurich is the global partner of the entire international tour of the exhibition Amazônia. 

The Castello di Rivoli – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea presents the exhibition “Olafur Eliasson: Trembling Horizons” – curated by Marcella Beccaria – from November 3, 2022 to July 2, 2023. The exhibition presents a new series of 6 immersive artworks similar to wedge-shaped optical devices. The project plays on the construction of forms through optical illusions produced from mirror and light projections, works that call for the active participation of those who meet them. The works have been produced over the past year and explore the relationship between body and mind, under the lens of subjective and sensory experience. 

Among the world’s most acclaimed and popular living artists, Hockney presents an immersive show that marks the debut of Lightroom. It is an extraordinary 4-floor space in King’s Cross equipped with sophisticated digital projection and audio technologies. Hockney used the space to take the audience on a journey between his eyes and his art by presenting iconic paintings along with rare pieces and new works. The exhibition is open to the public until June 4, 2023.