Contemporary art has taken over Palazzo Strozzi. Until June 18, 2023, the exhibition Reaching for the Stars unites the luminaries of contemporary art with over 70 works by leading Italian and international contemporary artists including Maurizio Cattelan, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Lara Favaretto, William Kentridge, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Sarah Lucas and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Collection, one of the world’s most celebrated and prestigious collections of contemporary art.
Reaching for the Stars explores the most important strains in art through a constellation of artworks on display in every space in Palazzo Strozzi. The exhibition uses painting, sculpture, installations, photography, videos, and performance art to enhance the dialogue between Palazzo Strozzi and contemporary art, offering visitors a journey of discovery among the stars of global art in recent decades.
The present and future of art
The exhibition is an invitation to reflect on the present and future of art, through the eyes of more than 50 artists from around the world, whose works express variety, their evolution, and their relationship with contemporary society.
Among the standout works is GONOGO, a new installation by artist Goshka Macuga. In the form of a monumental space rocket, the piece invites visitors to embark on a journey with endless layers of meaning.
The exhibition includes major works by British artists such as Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor and Sarah Lucas, together with a substantial selection of works by Maurizio Cattelan, an artist whose work is crucial to any understanding of contemporary Italian art, along with works by artists such as Paola Pivi and Lara Favaretto. At the same time, the exhibition unfolds into sections that explore identity, the body and contemporary myths, addressing issues such as fragility and alienation, racial and gender discrimination and the relationship between the community and the individual, with iconic works by artists such as Cindy Sherman , Barbara Kruger, Pawel Althamer and Shirin Neshat.
Cover: Maurizio Cattelan, La rivoluzione siamo noi (detail), 2000. Courtesy Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.