Exhibitions to See in Milan: Our Recommendations

Are you planning a trip to Milan or are you already in the city? Do you want to visit an exhibition but don’t know which one? We’ve got you covered: here are five must-see exhibitions.

Marc Chagall. A Tale of Two Worlds at MUDEC – Museum of Cultures in Milan until July 31, 2022

At the Mudec – Museum of Cultures in Milan until July 31, 2022, the exhibition Marc Chagall. A Tale of Two Worlds. is on display.

Chagall is one of the most renowned and appreciated artists of the last century. 

Born in Lesna, now Belarus, on July 7, 1887, he moved to Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century. Here he fully unleashed his art, thanks in part to encounters with other intellectuals and artists of the time such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, and Eugeniusz Zak.

Marc Chagall. A Tale of Two Worlds is curated by the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and presents the artist in a different, new light.

With particular attention to Chagall‘s work as a book illustrator, the exhibition analyzes themes that were particularly dear to him, such as the affection and nostalgia for his hometown, the meeting with his beloved wife, Bella Rosenfeld, and her memories of life in the Jewish community that Chagall illustrated in the two books by the woman, Burning Lights and First Encounter. 

The exhibition features all the original drawings, including the etchings dedicated to Gogol’s work “Dead Souls,” which Ambroise Vollard, a French publisher, commissioned from Chagall. 

But that’s not all: Marc Chagall. A Story of Two Worlds also includes objects used for religious purposes, utilized in Jewish ceremonies and depicted in Chagall’s works. 

David LaChapelle. I Believe in Miracles at MUDEC – Museum of Cultures in Milan until September 11, 2022

We remain at the Mudec in Milan with another exhibition running until September 11, 2022: David LaChapelle. I Believe in Miracles. 

An ambitious solo exhibition on the American artist, born in 1963, who at the beginning of his career debuted, moreover at a very young age, under the guidance of Andy Warhol.

The exhibition, produced by 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE and promoted by Comune di Milano-Cultura, presents a David LaChapelle that is in some ways unprecedented.

On display are over 90 works, diverse in nature – large formats, site-specific shots, new productions, and a video installation – that showcase the distinctive style of the American artist’s photography.

At the heart of the exhibition David LaChapelle. I believe in miracles is the human soul and its myriad facets: joys, sorrows, solitude, passions, insecurities, and ideals.

Each photograph displayed in the exhibition was born – according to LaChapelle himself – from a genuine urgency to leave a mark within an existence constantly threatened, for example, by illness or the thought of death.

Here are then apocalyptic photographs featuring beautiful women in front of crumbling houses, elderly couples kissing passionately against a backdrop of desolate abandonment, and girls lying on sun loungers wearing gas masks.

Mattioli/Caravaggio. The lightful fruit at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana until July 3, 2022

Mattioli/Caravaggio. The lightful fruit is at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan until July 3, 2022.

Carlo Mattioli was an Italian painter. 

He was born in Modena on May 8, 1911, but soon moved to Parma, where he would reside for his entire life. His works, characterized by a suggestive figurative tonalism, are rich in references to literature and poetry. His painting evolved over time, settling midway between formal and informal. 

Mattioli passed away in 1994, and in 1996 the Archivio Carlo Mattioli was established in Parma, curated by his niece Anna Zaniboni Mattioli. 

The exhibition Mattioli/Caravaggio. The lightful fruit explores, through an unprecedented comparison, the painting of the Parmese artist alongside La Canestra di Frutta by Caravaggio. 

The juxtaposition between Mattioli and Caravaggio has its roots in the Biennale where the Emilian artist participated in 1948 with a series of paintings and drawings titled Cestini del Caravaggio.

However, due to the climate of social upheaval at the time, they were only on display for one day.

The exhibition path is divided into three areas that range from the creative process to the materials used by the painter. In the third room, with the Canestra di Caravaggio, the focus is on the stripping suspended in the dim light of the room. Moving towards the fourth room, the vision of the last works related to the Canestra and the evolution of Mattioli’s exploratory process is presented.

Miriam Cahn. Gezeichnet at the ICA Foundation until May 28, 2022

ICA Foundation hosts in its spaces, until May 28, 2022, the exhibition Miriam Cahn. Gezeichnet. 

Miriam Cahn, a Swiss artist, was born in Basel in 1949. Her works particularly address themes such as feminism and all related aspects, such as childbirth. 

The artistic research of Cahn draws inspiration from performance art and the feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, placing the body at the center. In the 1980s, she achieved success and established herself on the international scene, participating in various art fairs (Documenta 7, Kunsthalle Basel) and the Venice Biennale in 1984, representing Switzerland. 

Miriam Cahn in Gezeichnet showcases evocative works that disregard the distinction between human and non-human, addressing urgent contemporary themes such as helplessness in the face of trauma and violence, the origin of new life, and the search for coexistence among humans, animals, and nature. 

Steve McQueen. Sunshine State at Pirelli Hangar Bicocca until July 31, 2022

Pirelli Hangar Bicocca hosts, until July 31, 2022, Steve McQueen with Sunshine State. 

The exhibition, which occupies one of the external walls of the Hangar and its Nave, is curated by Vincente Todolì and is realized in collaboration with Tate Modern in London. Here, in 2020, an initial version of the exhibition was presented, curated by Clara Kim. 

Sunshine State at Pirelli Hangar Bicocca aims to be an immersive experience with six film works and a sculpture, representing some of the most evident and representative results in Steve McQueen’s artistic research related to the nuances existing in various historical and contemporary social contexts, as well as equally current themes such as the racial and post-colonial question that has led McQueen to broader reflections on human existence and identity.