Fondazione Giuseppe Iannaccone
presents

From 7 Marchto 4 May 2025, the exhibition “FROM CINDY SHERMAN TO FRANCESCO VEZZOLI: 80Contemporary Artists” was on view at Palazzo Reale in Milan, featuring over 140 works by 80 internationally renowned contemporary artists.

Promoted bythe City of Milan - Cultura, Palazzo Reale, and the Giuseppe Iannaccone Foundation, with executive production by Arthemisia, the exhibition was curated by Daniele Fenaroli with scientific consultancy from Vincenzo de Bellis. It offered a unique opportunity to explore contemporary themes through the perspectives of some of the most prominent international artists.

The exhibition examined contemporary art through explorations of identity, the body, sexuality, and marginality, highlighting a diverse group of artists.

For example, Wangechi Mutu, Raqib Shaw, and Luigi Ontani address themes of identity and cultural belonging, often blending tradition and modernity in their works. Others, such as Roberto Cuoghi and Tammy Nguyen, investigate concepts of metamorphosis, while Hayv Kahraman and Hiba Schahbaz reflect on diaspora and the body as a space of memory. Imran Qureshi and Kiki Smith explore the human condition through symbolism and visceral imagery.

The second part of the exhibition featured artists like Tracy Emin and Lisa Yuskavage, who engage with themes of female sexuality and vulnerability, while Shadi Ghadirian reflects on cultural restrictions and gender tensions within the Islamic world. Artists such as Muntean/Rosenblum, Martin Maloney, and Katja Seib employpopular iconography to explore visual language and narrative. Francis Alÿs, Pietro Roccasalva, and Andro Wekua address themes of travel and transformation, whereas Giangiacomo Rossetti and Karen Kilimnik consider notions of space andreality. The exhibition continued with Hernan Bas, Nicole Eisenman, and PaolaPivi, who create a dialogue around the body, desire, and fluidity, concluding with Adrian Paci, Marinella Senatore, Massimo Bartolini, and Hannah Quinlan, who explore collective experiences and the evolution of social roles.

These recurring themes were tied together by a dual register of reality and imagination that ran throughout the exhibition: a journey between dream and reality where allegory, mythology, and legend intersected with history, politics, and society.

“It is wonderful to look at the history of art and see,” said Giuseppe Iannaccone, President of the Giuseppe Iannaccone Foundation, “how artists have always explored the feelings, emotions, pleasures, and torments of human beings. One era follows another; artists adapt to the social and economic factors of a changing world, inventing new forms of poetry; yet the human heart remains the same, and I can see a common essence, a shared poetic component, in every period of art.”

Part of the2025 Milano Art Week programme, the exhibition was sponsored by Deutsche Bank, Spada Partners, and Atitech; with technical sponsors Open Care –Services for Art, ARTE Generali – Agenzia Milano Teodorico, Tenuta Sarno 1860, Donnachiara – Montefalcione, and Petilia – Altavilla Irpina; media partners IGP Decaux; and mobility partner Frecciarossa Official Train.

Thecatalogue was published by Allemandi.

Given the exhibition’s strong social significance, addressing fundamental rights, gender equality, non-discrimination, and social inclusion, the opening ceremony on March 6th received the high patronage of the European Parliament.