MILAN.- The 2022-2023 program of Pirelli HangarBicocca, presented by the Chairman, Marco Tronchetti Provera, and by the Artistic Director, Vicente Todolí, consists of eight monographic exhibitions by international artists with a wide selection of artworks that include both new productions and loans from museums around the world. With an in-depth research and significant production efforts, the exhibitions have been entirely conceived for the monumental spaces of Pirelli HangarBicocca or, in the case of collaborations with other institutions, with new displays that offer unique site-specific projects, in line with the mission of the institution. In keeping with Pirelli HangarBicocca’s commitment to making art open and accessible to all—“Art to the People”—admission to the exhibitions remains free of charge for all.

The Navate space will feature the following exhibitions: Steve McQueen (b. London, 1969) from 31 March 2022; Bruce Nauman (b. Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1941) from 15 September 2022; Ann Veronica Janssens (b. Folkstone, UK, 1956) from 6 April 2023; and James Lee Byars (b. Detroit, Michigan, 1932 – d. Cairo, 1997) from October 2023. In the Shed space: Anicka Yi (b. Seoul, 1971) from 17 February 2022; Dineo Seshee Bopape (b. Polokwane, South Africa, 1981) from 6 October 2022; Gian Maria Tosatti (b. Rome, 1980) from 23 February 2023; and Thao Nguyen Phan (b. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 1987) from September 2023.

Through the exhibitions of the next two years, the artists will deal with urgent issues from unique perspectives. Thus, the program for 2022 and 2023 will propose a radical analysis of reality through the display of a wide range of media—such as installation, sculpture, moving image, drawing and painting. The monographic projects will explore current and crucial topics such as the environment and human-induced climate change, the sense of belonging and community, the formation of identity and social roles, the perception of space and time, the potential of alternative rituals and forms of existence, political resistance and care for the Other.

The solo exhibitions devoted to leading contemporary artists are testament to Pirelli HangarBicocca’s international ties with other prestigious museums. At this very moment, the institution is working with Tate Modern London on Steve McQueen’s exhibition and for the solo show devoted to Bruce Nauman, which is also being organized in collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

“We will continue to present exhibitions made specifically for the industrial spaces of Pirelli HangarBicocca. The shows will closely dialogue with the space and convey to visitors the different, and specific artistic vocabulary of each artist. The exhibition displays are devised specially for each occasion and are never pre-established. We are showing historically acknowledged artists in the Navate, and younger and mid-career ones in the Shed,” explained the Artistic Director Vicente Todolí.

“The program presented today confirms Pirelli HangarBicocca and Pirelli’s commitment to supporting and promoting contemporary culture. We want to involve an ever broader public, offering opportunities for people to approach art and discover artists’ interpretations of the world because we believe that seeing through their eyes offers new insights and opportunities for reflection and enrichment,” said Marco Tronchetti Provera, Chairman of Pirelli HangarBicocca and Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Pirelli.

Over the next two years, Pirelli HangarBicocca will also be expanding an already rich program of activities in the areas of promotion, research, study, teaching, inclusion, and training for different types of public and users. This calendar of events underscores Pirelli HangarBicocca’s commitment to openness and interaction with creative communities and those operating in various areas of culture and society. This dialogue is held through the Public Program, which includes moments of in-depth analysis of the exhibitions and an opening up to a variety of disciplines with the involvement of Italian and international guests, as well as performances and musical events. In addition, Pirelli HangarBicocca hosts Guest Projects, a series of events produced by other Italian and international institutions and festivals, in the space which houses Anselm Kiefer’s permanent installation, The Seven Heavenly Palaces 2004-2015, and in the outdoor areas. Pirelli HangarBicocca also organizes educational activities for schools, and for children and their families, which involve local artists, a creative, unconventional use of digital and technological media, as well as accessibility and inclusion projects designed together with institutions and organisations that are already active in Milan and Italy. These projects will also help make the exhibitions accessible people with disabilities and frailties, while also helping to promote knowledge and awareness of these issues. Finally, Pirelli HangarBicocca offers training projects for teachers and professionals designed to help build skills and knowledge that bring together art, schools, and the themes and languages of the contemporary world. Activities for the public will also include special tours of the exhibitions in which viewers can find out about the themes explored within the shows.

The calendar of exhibitions

The 2022-2023 calendar for the 15,000 square-metre space of Pirelli HangarBicocca has been developed by the Artistic Director Vicente Todolí and the curatorial department. It alternates two exhibitions each year with works by established artists of historical importance in the Navate and two by younger and mid-career artists in the Shed. The 2022-2023 program also includes editorial activities, as the publication of a catalogue for each exhibition, comprising of newly commissioned critical texts and rich photographic apparatus, including views of the exhibited works.

2022

Shed
Anicka Yi | Metaspore | Curated by Fiammetta Griccioli and Vicente Todolí
17 February – 24 July 2022

For her first solo show in an Italian institution, the Korean-American artist Anicka Yi is presenting an exhibition that brings together more than twenty works, dating from 2010 to the present, together with a new expanded version of Biologizing the Machine, which was shown at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. Often privileging an invisible and immaterial dimension, employing elements such as air, scents and bacteria, Anicka Yi investigates new possibilities of interaction and communication between living organisms and artificial intelligence systems.

Navate
Steve McQueen | In collaboration with Tate Modern
Curated by Vicente Todolí and Clara Kim, with Fiontán Moran
31 March – 31 July 2022




The solo exhibition at Pirelli HangarBicocca devoted to Steve McQueen, one of the world’s most relevant contemporary artists, filmmakers, and screenwriters, is realized in collaboration with Tate Modern in London (where it ran from 13 February to 6 September 2020). The show at Pirelli HangarBicocca is conceived as a site-specific project, showing some of the artist’s most iconic artworks alongside a new production. The display provides a unique opportunity to experience in depth McQueen’s visual art career and highlights the themes addressed in his works, such as those related to the concepts of identity and belonging.

Navate
Bruce Nauman | Neons, Corridors & Rooms | In collaboration with Tate Modern and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Curated by Vicente Todolí and Roberta Tenconi with Andrea Lissoni, Nicholas Serota, Leontine Coelewij, Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen and Katy Wan
15 September 2022 – 26 February 2023

Bruce Nauman’s retrospective at Pirelli HangarBicocca focuses on the artist’s spatial and architectural investigations, presenting for the first time a large number of his iconic corridors and rooms, as well as his experiments on the use of light, sound, language, and video. The exhibition, organised in collaboration with London’s Tate Modern (7 October 2020 – 21 February 2021) and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (5 June – 24 October 2021), emphasises the most innovative and radical aspects of an artist who has marked the history of contemporary art since the mid-1960s.

Shed
Dineo Seshee Bopape | Curated by Lucia Aspesi and Fiammetta Griccioli
6 October 2022 – 29 January 2023

The solo exhibition of Dineo Seshee Bopape, her first in an Italian institution, brings together a wide range of works as well as new productions. Visitors will be drawn into a vast array of historical references and different geographical contexts, giving them the chance to explore her practice, which reflects on the relationships between rituals, spirituality and nature, on traditional healing practices, and on forms of political resistance.

2023

Shed
Gian Maria Tosatti | Hôtel de la Lune | Curated by Vicente Todolí
23 February – 16 July 2023

Gian Maria Tosatti’s artistic research focuses on the concept of community and memory, especially in terms of their historical, political, and spiritual significance. He has been working on Pirelli HangarBicocca’s exhibition for over two years, bringing together installations and historical works, and he has conceived a major environmental installation that will radically transform the space of the Shed.

Navate
Ann Veronica Janssens | Curated by Roberta Tenconi
6 April – 30 July 2023

The Belgian artist Ann Veronica Janssens questions our sensory perception of reality, often by creating works and situations that disorient the viewer. For Pirelli HangarBicocca, the artist is realizing an exhibition that retraces her artistic career, featuring historical works and new productions through an open dialogue with the architecture of the Navate.

Shed
Thao Nguyen Phan | Curated by Lucia Aspesi and Fiammetta Griccioli
September 2023 – February 2024

Thao Nguyen Phan’s dreamlike visual language intertwines historical events and fairy-tales to spark reflections on the environmental and social changes caused by the human exploitation of natural resources, and the destruction and colonisation of landscapes. The solo exhibition at Pirelli HangarBicocca presents her work in Italy for the first time, giving shape to cycles of life both spiritual and natural.

Navate
James Lee Byars | Curated by Vicente Todolí
October 2023 – March 2024

The exhibition dedicated to James Lee Byars surveys the career of one of the most widely acclaimed artists from the 1960s to date, a pioneer of performance who challenged the concept of exhibition. For the first time, an Italian museum is presenting a retrospective of Byars’s emblematic works, examining the various media employed by the artist—such as installation, sculpture, performance, drawing, and speech—and his singular visual language, which combines motifs and symbols of Oriental cultures with a profound understanding and knowledge of Western art and philosophy.