Thomas Houseago's Monumental Show in a Deconsecrated Milan Church

Thomas Houseago's exhibition 'Gravità e Grazia' (Gravity and Grace) opened at the deconsecrated Chiesa di San Vittore e Quaranta Martiri in Milan's Corvetto district, marking a reunion between the artist and gallerist Paolo Zani after two decades. The show, which runs until October 3, explores Houseago's recurring themes of the body, weight, and the construction of form, featuring sculptures in wood, clay, plaster, bronze, steel, cement, and hemp. A centerpiece is the over-five-meter-tall 'Lionman,' carved with a chainsaw from a single white fir trunk in Switzerland, which had to be transported horizontally and hoisted through the church portal in August when Milan was empty. Other works include two large wooden sculptures, a wall piece, and small metal sculptures cast at Fonderia Battaglia in Milan. The exhibition is part of a broader cultural revival of the Corvetto area, which has recently attracted galleries and institutions like Viafarini, Fondazione Galleria Milano, and Villaclea. The church, built in 1928 and deconsecrated in the 1950s, has been restored and is now hosting cultural events, including Fuorisalone activities since 2023. A new chapter of Houseago's work will be presented at Galleria Zero... in Milan. Houseago, born in Leeds in 1972, studied at Central Saint Martins and de Ateliers in Amsterdam, and has shown at institutions including the Rubell Museum, TANK Shanghai, Centre Pompidou-Metz, and the Royal Academy.