On 2 April 2026, MAXXI Museum in Rome will open the exhibition Tragicomica. Prospettive sull'arte italiana dal secondo Novecento a oggi [Perspectives on Italian Art from the Late 20th Century to the Present], curated by Andrea Bellini and Francesco Stocchi.
A wide-ranging and multidisciplinary reinterpretation of Italian cultural output from the post-war period to the present day, featuring the works of over 140 artists, a comprehensive catalogue and an extensive public programme.
The project takes its cue from a distinctive feature of Italian culture: the peculiar tendency to respond to the tragic with irony. Through the lens of the tragicomic, the exhibition explores how many Italian artists have used comedy, self-irony and paradox as tools of critique and as an antidote to the tragic.
Tragicomica explores these themes within cultural production in the broadest sense, encompassing cinema, theatre, architecture, literature and philosophy.
Among the artists featured in the exhibition are Mirella Bentivoglio, Tomaso Binga, Alighiero Boetti, Lucia Marcucci, Libera Mazzoleni, Lamberto Pignotti and Carol Rama.
Tragicomica. Prospettive sull'arte italiana dal secondo Novecento a oggi
[Perspectives on Italian Art from the Late 20th Century to the Present]
curated by Andrea Bellini and Francesco Stocchi
2 April – 20 September 2026
MAXXI Museum, Rome
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Cover image: Maurizio Cattelan. Comedian, 2019. Photo: Zeno Zotti. Courtesy of Maurizio Cattelan’s Archive and Galleria Perrotin