Ugo Rondinone at the GAM in Milan: a journey between memory and identity

From April 2 to July 6, 2025, GAM - Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Milano hosts ugo rondinone. terrone, the first monographic exhibition in the city dedicated to Ugo Rondinone (Brunnen, 1964), an internationally renowned artist. Curated by Caroline Corbetta, the exhibition is promoted by the City of Milan | Culture and GAM, in collaboration with CMS.Cultura. The event is part of the Milan Art Week program and is an opportunity to immerse oneself in the expressive universe of Rondinone, who was born in Switzerland to Italian parents and has lived in New York since the late 1990s. A multifaceted artist appreciated for his ability to combine elements of pop culture, existential reflections and references to the art of the past, he represented Switzerland at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007 with a monumental installation in the Church of San Stae. His works, exhibited in the world’s most prestigious museums, include striking public interventions, such as the iconic Seven Magic Mountains, colorful stone sculptures that have attracted thousands of visitors to the Nevada desert for more than a decade.

Conceived specifically for GAM’s spaces, the terrone exhibition explores the artist’s roots and the theme of migrant identity. The title itself proudly claims a term historically laden with stereotypes, transforming it into a symbol of belonging and memory. The installation unfolds as a journey between personal dimension and collective memory, evoking the story of his family, originally from Matera, and of so many Italians forced to leave their homeland in search of a better future.

One of the key elements of the exhibition is the dialogue Rondinone establishes with Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo’s The Fourth Estate, a symbolic work of GAM and a manifesto of the struggle for workers’ rights. Indeed, the artist relates the historic march of the laborers to the experiences of generations of Italian migrants, including the experiences of his parents. The reflection extends beyond the autobiographical dimension, embracing the vicissitudes of entire communities forced to migrate by economic or political necessity. The exhibition path winds through sculptures, paintings and environmental interventions that transform the Gallery of Modern Art into a space for reflection on the concept of belonging and the stratification of identities.

Notes on the artist

Ugo Rondinone is recognized as one of the most influential artistic figures of his generation, capable of deeply investigating human nature and its connection to the world. His visual language, the result of a harmonious fusion of different sculptural and pictorial traditions, has allowed him to develop an aesthetic unlike any other. His artistic research, characterized by a broad view of existence, has given rise to a production that spans sculpture, installation, video and performance. His works, characterized by hybrid forms that interweave ancient and contemporary cultural references, convey a balance between emotion and irony, addressing crucial issues of our time, in which modernity and ancestral expression meet in an intense dialogue.

Born in 1964 in Brunnen, Switzerland, Rondinone studied at the Universität für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna before moving to New York in 1997, the city where he still lives and works today. In recent years, his works have been exhibited in prestigious international institutions, including the Belvedere in Vienna (2021), the Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, the Petit Palais in Paris, the Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice (2022), the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva, the Storm King in New York, the Städel Museum in Frankfurt (2023), the SAN Museum in Wonju, the Museum Würth 2 and Sculpture Garden in Künzelsau, the Kunstmuseum in Lucerne, and the Art Museum in Colorado (2024). In 2007, he represented Switzerland at the 52nd Venice Biennale.

Ugo Rondinone at the GAM in Milan: a journey between memory and identity

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