Fondazione Prada
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Current exhibitions
TYPOLOGIEN
PHOTOGRAPHY IN 20TH-CENTURY GERMANY
"Typologien" is an extensive investigation into 20th-century German photography. Curated by Susanne Pfeffer, an art historian and director of the MUSEUM MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST in Frankfurt, this exhibition explores the concept of "typology," which originated in the fields of botany in the 17th and 18th centuries for the classification and study of plants, and has been adapted in photography since the early 20th century in Germany. The exhibition presents over 600 photographic works by 25 essential artists, both prominent and lesser-known, who are crucial to understanding a century of German photography. Rather than following a chronological order, the layout takes a typological approach, drawing unexpected parallels between artists from various generations and highlighting their distinctive approaches to photography. The design features suspended walls that create geometric divisions in the exhibition space, suggesting surprising connections among different artistic practices united by a shared principle of classification.
A KIND OF LANGUAGE
STORYBOARDS AND OTHER RENDERINGS FOR CINEMA
“A Kind of Language: Storyboards and Other Renderings for Cinema” is an exhibition curated by Melissa Harris that explores the creative process behind filmmaking through storyboards and various other materials, such as mood boards, drawings, sketches, scrapbooks, notebooks, annotated scripts, and photographs. Featuring over eight hundred items created from the late 1920s to 2024 by more than 50 contributors including directors, cinematographers, visual artists, graphic designers, animators, and choreographers, the exhibition will take place at Osservatorio, Fondazione Prada in Milan from January 30 to September 8, 2025. Additionally, the Cinema Godard at Fondazione Prada will also feature a selection of films related to the exhibition during this period, and an illustrated publication will accompany the exhibition, published in the Quaderni series by Fondazione Prada.
NADA
THIERRY DE CORDIER
Fondazione Prada presents the monographic exhibition "NADA," uniquely created by the Belgian artist Thierry De Cordier for the three spaces of the Cisterna at its Milan venue. This exhibition features ten large-scale paintings from the NADA series, created between 1999 and 2025. The initial works in this series emerged from the artist's explicit desire to erase the image of the crucifixion. The resulting pieces transcend negative painting and aim to delve into, as the artist puts it, the 'grandeur of nothing.' De Cordier recalls, "My first black painting (which is now destroyed) stemmed from the intention to abolish the image of Christ on the Cross in a demonstrative manner. My focus was not to create a remarkable painting, but to symbolically annihilate a deeply entrenched Christian image. This was my sole aim at that time. While reading a biography of the Spanish mystic Saint John of the Cross, I discovered a passage stating, 'No emphasis, but absolute rigor. The search for the NADA (Nothing) of the Cross; the concern for the only thing necessary...' This realization profoundly enhanced the meaning of these paintings, liberating them from restrictive interpretations. Freed from their original negation, they evolved towards the pinnacle of painting, encapsulated in sublimity." De Cordier’s works are characterized by their almost monochromatic palette, yet they cannot be strictly classified as merely abstract or conceptual. As indicated by the series title, they represent a black pictorial space that invites contemplation of nothingness. Notably, NADA also appears in some paintings in the place where the historical initials INRI (Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews) were affixed to the Cross, a symbol represented by various artists in their crucifixion depictions. Exhibiting these ten NADA series works in the Cisterna is intentional; the building features three vertically extending exhibition rooms lit by large windows, giving the space a ecclesiastical feel. Each room's design evokes an impression of a monumental triptych with the side doors open, where the large paintings are centrally hung, and the lateral structures include niches for smaller pieces. In front of the colossal canvas Gran Nada (2007-2012), situated in the central room of the Cisterna, a bench invites observers to reflect and acknowledge the essence of the entire installation.
Fondazione Prada: art in spectacular architecture
Contemporary works by Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, among others, can be seen in the permanent exhibition of the collection.But the Fondazione Prada also hosts temporary exhibitions and special events.
Torre: panorama of Milan from the architectural highlight
The nine-storey, white tower was designed so that the room height and floor plan change on each level. On the observation deck of the 196,85 ft high (60-meter-high) state-of-the-art tower ( Torre ), visitors can take a break and look out over the center of Milan to the north. The panoramic elevator here is also spectacular.General information
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Largo Isarco, 2
20139 Milan
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