2023 program

With a rich interdisciplinary program, developed both within and beyond the Gallery space, and with a series of new or renewed collaborations, in 2023 GAMeC will return to explore some fundamental themes of our time—the preservation of memories, the dematerialization of processes, the decolonization of narratives, and the ecological turn—through the languages of painting, sculpture, experimental cinema, design, and performance.

February 3–May 28, 2023
A Leap into the Void: Art beyond Matter

The third and final project in the Trilogy of Matter cycle, the exhibition will explore the theme of dematerialization by linking up the research into the void initiated by the early movements of the historical avant-garde with their investigations into flux undertaken in the first years of computerization, later developed in the post-digital era through the use of new languages and simulated realities.

The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections. The first will be dedicated to the representation of the Void as an immaterial space, and will host a series of works by artists who have experimented with the principles of extreme reduction, minimum contrast and the imperceptible. The Flux section will present works from the avant-garde to the present day, bearing witness to the radical impact of computerization and digital networks on the perception of material reality. Finally, the Simulation section will focus on the junction between the real and the virtual, along a path showcasing both pioneering and recent works.

On show are works by some of the great protagonists of 20th-century art, as well as pioneers of digital art, together with artists from more recent generations.

Curators: Lorenzo Giusti, Domenico Quaranta

June 23–October 29, 2023
Rachel Whiteread

For the exhibition …And the animals were sold at Palazzo della Ragione, the renowned English artist Rachel Whiteread (1963) will conceive a group of new works inspired by the architectural context, thus creating a new bond between past and present, between material history and the modern-day culture of form. 

The intervention involves the production of thirty new works, for the creation of which the artist will exploit local stones, ones also found in the buildings of Piazza Vecchia. The forms created correspond to the empty space inside the legs of some of the chairs; a choice that explores the themes of the void and absence, leading thought back to the architectural pre-existence of the square and to its millennial history.

Curators: Sara Fumagalli, Lorenzo Giusti

June 23–September 24, 2023
Vivian Suter

The works of Vivian Suter (1949) tell of the intimate bond that keeps them linked to the vital forces of the environment from which they originate. After moving to Guatemala at the age of thirty-five, since 2005, when most of her works were submerged during the passage of Hurricane Stan, the artist has further opened her research to the infinite possibilities of chance, accepting metamorphosis as an essential element of art and painting.

Home, the first exhibition ever by the artist in an Italian museum, will bring together almost 200 canvases, created over various phases of her career. With Vivian Suter. A Stone in the Lake (April 28–June 18, 2023) the Vienna Secession will present a corresponding solo exhibition curated by Jeanette Pacher. A monographic publication focusing on the creative domestic dimension of the artist will be co-published by GAMeC and Secession.

Curator: Lorenzo Giusti

June 23–September 24, 2023
The Impermanent Collection #4

The Impermanent Collection is a research, exhibition and workshop platform that since 2018 has highlighted the hybrid nature of the GAMeC Collection, reflecting on its dynamic and at times contradictory character. 

In 2023, the show will feature a series of works belonging to the heritage of the Municipality of Bergamo, including both historical and contemporary works, according to criteria arising from the suggestions, preferences and indications of the public gathered over the course of 2022, according to a principle of sharing the planning of museum itineraries.

Curators: Sara Fumagalli, Valentina Gervasoni, A. Fabrizia Previtali

July–December 2023
Chiara Bersani

Deserters by Chiara Bersani (1984) is a live installation, winner of the 11th edition of the Italian Council, the program aimed at supporting Italian contemporary art in the world promoted by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity within the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Through this work—consisting of a performance for actors with motor disabilities and a large sculptural environment—the artist investigates the broader concept of accessibility, from an aesthetic perspective rooted in proximity and relationships. The work will be produced over the period of the artist’s residency in Bergamo, which will conclude with a series of event days, during which the public will be invited to attend the final rehearsals of the performance in preparation for its debut at the Kunsthaus Baselland in Muttenz/Basel, which will host Bersani’s first solo exhibition in a European institution in the autumn. The project also includes a talk and a workshop, respectively at the Galerie Stadtpark in Krems and the HangarBicocca in Milan.

Curators: Lorenzo Giusti, Ines Goldbach

October 2023–January 2024
Tomás Saraceno + Giovanni Francia

In the autumn, a special project by the Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno (1973) will be presented at GAMeC on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Fondazione Meru - Medolago Ruggeri Foundation for Biomedical Research, producer of the work in collaboration with GAMeC and BergamoScienza.

The exhibition Solar City will shape the dialogue between the artist and the physicist and mathematician Giovanni Francia, who designed the world’s first solar-powered thermoelectric power plant. The immersive exhibition path will include Saraceno’s works from the A Thermodynamic Imaginary series, as well as objects from the Fondo Giovanni Francia of the Fondazione Micheletti in Brescia. In this context, a film—made for the occasion and produced by the Fondazione Meru—documenting the performative project Aerocene: Libérer l’air will be premiered.

Curators: Anna Daneri, Carlo Antonelli

October 2023–January 2024
Ali Cherri

On the occasion of his first solo exhibition in an Italian institution, the Lebanese artist and filmmaker Ali Cherri (1976) will present a preview of a new video installation commissioned and produced by the Fondazione In Between Art Film.

Through film, sculpture, drawing, and performance, Cherri constructs metaphorical narratives that explore the convergence of history, archaeological finds and cultural heritage, highlighting their material manifestations and ideological implications. The work of Ali Cherri—who received the Silver Lion at the 2022 Venice Art Biennale—is a lyrical as well as a critical examination of the processes of national identity construction, with a particular focus on the survival and metamorphosis of original mythologies in the current context of global tensions.

The exhibition is the first project launched by Unison: a biennial initiative promoted by Fondazione In Between Art Film to support the production of newly commissioned video installations in collaboration with international institutions.

Curators: Alessandro Rabottini, Leonardo Bigazzi

January–December 2023
Objects of Common Interest / Salottobuono 

On the occasion of Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023, GAMeC is supporting the Municipality of Bergamo and Confindustria Bergamo in the creation of two urban installations that testify to the desire to support the community through the creation of inclusive, sustainable and harmoniously integrated meeting and social spaces within the urban context, linked to the values of innovation and industriousness.

The Lights On project by Greek designers Objects of Common Interest (Eleni Petaloti and Leonidas Trampoukis) will dress up Piazza della Libertà with a temporary intervention geared toward interpreting the theme of the capital of culture: The Illuminated City. Pioppeto by the architectural firm Salottobuono, founded by Matteo Ghidoni, will transform the entrance space to the Confindustria Bergamo headquarters within the Kilometro Rosso Innovation District, with a square dedicated to the concept of the Industrious Nature.