In the gilded halls of Palazzo Reale, where history meets imagination, Milan is hosting a striking exploration of contemporary identity and aesthetic disruption. The exhibition From Cindy Sherman to Francesco Vezzoli: 80 Contemporary Artists draws from the private collection of the Milanese lawyer and philanthropist Giuseppe Iannaccone, unveiling for the first time its contemporary core: over 140 works by 80 artists from around the globe.
The collection, built patiently over decades, had initially focused on Italian Expressionism of the 1930s and ’40s, before expanding to embrace global contemporary art from the 1980s onwards. From early on, Iannaccone demonstrated an uncanny ability to acquire works by emerging artists who would go on to shape the international art scene — often long before they gained institutional or commercial recognition.
Curated by Daniele Fenaroli with academic support of Vincenzo de Bellis, this exhibition doesn’t simply display a collection — it proposes a kaleidoscopic narrative, one where gender, memory, the body, and cultural identity unfold across media and continents. Each room acts as a chapter in a story that deliberately blurs the lines between dream and reality, myth and modernity.
Divided into eleven thematic rooms, the exhibition opens with a striking monographic space devoted to Cindy Sherman, where iconic works from her Untitled Film Stills and Clown series set the tone: a space where artifice and authenticity blur, and where constructed identity becomes a stage for cultural critique.
© Photo courtesy of Press Office
© Photo courtesy of Press Office
© Photo courtesy of Press Office
From there, a cascade of compelling juxtapositions unfolds. Nan Goldin’s raw diaristic photography resonates alongside Lisa Yuskavage’s provocative nudes and Francesco Vezzoli’s seductive deconstructions of celebrity and gender. An early, large-scale painting by Hernan Bas — Ubu Roi (The War March), 2009 — stands out as my personal highlight in the exhibition. Inspired by Alfred Jarry’s absurdist theatrical figure, Bas depicts a clownish king leading a blindly following bourgeoisie into the abyss — a brilliantly satirical and politically resonant work that Iannaccone acquired early in the artist’s career. It’s a powerful reminder of the collector’s foresight in identifying artists whose work probes the complexities of our time.
© Photo courtesy of Press Office
The exhibition also brings forward works by artists such as Kehinde Wiley, Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu, and Os Gêmeos — artists who reinvent and reassert cultural heritage and representation through their distinct aesthetic vocabularies. Kiki Smith’s Woman with Wolf and Guardian offer mythic meditations on nature and femininity, while Hiba Schahbaz and Shadi Ghadirian offer intimate portrayals of women negotiating identity across tradition and transgression.
But what holds the exhibition together is not only its curatorial logic — it’s the sensitivity with which the collection has been assembled. “It’s wonderful to look at the history of art and see,” says Giuseppe Iannaccone, “how artists have always explored feelings, emotions, pleasures, and the torments of human beings. Epochs follow one another, and artists adapt to the shifting social and economic context, inventing new forms of poetry; but the human heart remains the same, and I can see a common essence, a shared poetic component, in every period of art.” This sentiment throbs through the entire exhibition like a pulse, reminding visitors that at the core of all art is the persistent drive to understand, reflect, and transcend the self.
© Photo courtesy of Press Office
© Photo courtesy of Press Office
Founded in 2023 by Giuseppe Iannaccone and his spouse Alessia, the Fondazione Giuseppe Iannaccone was created to go beyond traditional cultural initiatives. It sees art as a powerful way to understand the present and promote diversity, while offering support to people in vulnerable social situations. The foundation focuses on education, cultural heritage, and community projects, with the aim of making a positive impact both culturally and socially.
In a time when contemporary art often slips into spectacle or becomes ensnared by the market, From Cindy Sherman to Francesco Vezzoli feels refreshing. It dares to be introspective. It offers no grand thesis but invites visitors — gently, insistently — to confront themselves in the shifting surfaces of others.
From Cindy Sherman to Francesco Vezzoli: 80 Contemporary Artists
Palazzo Reale, Milan | 7 March — 4 May 2025
