All the must-see exhibitions in Italy this summer

Turin: Krapfen
The first production by the New Futures Production Fund, a collaboration between the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation and the New Museum in New York. *Krapfen* is a disturbing musical in which four animated garments pressure a young boy to eat a pastry. Marcon weaves together classic American animation and Italian opera to create a world where childlike innocence gives way to an atmosphere of terror and annihilation.

Unitl July 26 at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo

Rome: Stella Honey
Tatia Franchetti (1924–2010), a self-taught artist from Rome, created a vast body of photographic work between the 1940s and 1970s that remained hidden for decades. Discovered by her granddaughter Maia in a box of negatives found in the attic, the archive offers an intimate glimpse into postwar Italy: travels, friendships, domestic life, and the artistic milieu she shared with her husband Cy Twombly—one of the great masters of the 20th century—of whom Tatia was a discreet and invaluable witness.

Until July 31 at Spazio Treccani Arte


Mostra "Stella Honey" - Foto allestimento © Irene Bruni

Venice: Jenny Saville a Ca' Pesaro
The first major retrospective in Venice of Jenny Saville, one of the most significant painters of our time. Over thirty paintings and drawings trace her career from the 1990s to the present, while her monumental canvases engage in a dialogue with the masterpieces of the past housed in the city. The final room features a previously unseen series created specifically for Ca’ Pesaro: a tribute to Venetian painting by the artist who has made it a central point of reference in her work.

Unitl November 22 at the MUVE

Aosta Valley: Feeding the World. The Global Challenge of Food
Eighty photographs from Agence France-Presse illustrate the food paradox of our time: a planet capable of feeding ten billion people, yet where hunger remains a structural scourge. The exhibition at Forte di Bard explores intensive farming, food waste, vegan cultures, and new synthetic foods, focusing on an urgent question: how can we rethink the way we grow, distribute, and consume food?

Until July 19 at Forte di Bard

Castiglioncello: Dario Ballantini. Enigmi esistenziali
A painter first and foremost, even before becoming a quick-change artist, Dario Ballantini (Livorno, 1964) grew up surrounded by painting, theater, and music, and was influenced by the great masters of modern art—Guttuso, Picasso, Modigliani—before becoming a familiar face on Italian television. In Castiglioncello, he presents a series of works in which suspended faces, distorted figures, and enigmatic presences become metaphors for inner tensions, in a continuous dialogue between mask and authenticity.

Until August 1 at the Galleria Fidanda

Palermo: Palermo Street Photo
Maxine Jones, a British photographer who moved to Palermo in 2023, presents a continuously updated permanent exhibition at the Saletta delle Foto at the Albergheria. Alongside works from previous editions, two new series are on display: black-and-white family portraits and color scenes from the Mercato dell’Usato. An intimate and engaged look at daily life in Palermo’s historic center.

Through October 31 at the Saletta delle Foto


© Maxine Jones

Rome: Tragicomica
Over 300 works, 130 artists, eighty years of Italian culture reinterpreted through the tension between the tragic and the comic. The exhibition takes its cue from the “stubborn anti-tragic intention” identified by philosopher Giorgio Agamben as a hallmark of the national sensibility, tracing its roots back to Dante’s *Divine Comedy*. An alternative, multi-layered narrative that challenges the canon, drawing on painting, film, theater, literature, and architecture.

Until September 20 at the MAXXI

Prato: Verita Monselles. CARNALE
The first major Italian exhibition dedicated to Verita Monselles (1929–2004), an Argentine-Florentine photographer who used the image as a tool for reclaiming female subjectivity. Whether ironic, baroque, pop, or glossy—depending on the context—her photography portrays a political and desiring female body that deconstructs the symbols of patriarchal tradition. At the Centro Pecci in Prato.

Until August 30 at Centro Pecci


© Verita Monselles

Milan: Arnaldo Pomodoro. A life
On the centennial of his birth and one year after his passing, the Gallerie d'Italia in Milan pay tribute to Arnaldo Pomodoro with a retrospective exhibition of forty-five works that traces over sixty years of his artistic exploration. From his early work in the 1950s to his most recent experiments, the exhibition winds through the spaces of Palazzo Scala all the way to the garden, where two monumental sculptures bear witness to the enduring bond between the artist and Intesa Sanpaolo.

Until October 18 at Gallerie d’Italia

Turin: Nick Brandt. The Day May Break. La luce alla fine del giorno
Brought together for the first time, the four chapters of Nick Brandt’s photography project—which began in 2020—depict people and animals affected by the climate crisis and environmental degradation. A stark yet poetic vision that highlights the disproportionate impact of this devastation on the most vulnerable populations. The latest chapter was commissioned by Intesa Sanpaolo for the Gallerie d’Italia in Turin.

Through September 6 at the Gallerie d’Italia