Corpus Domini at Palazzo Reale: 34 Artists Explore the Body as Social and Political Locus

The exhibition 'Corpus Domini' at Palazzo Reale in Milan brings together 34 internationally recognized artists and over 100 works spanning from the 1970s to today. Curated around the theme of the body as a social and political entity, the show challenges entrenched prejudices regarding gender, sexuality, race, and class. Spread across approximately 1,000 square meters of dark-walled galleries, the display features a diversity of stylistic and figurative languages. Notable works include Oscar Muñoz's emotionally charged video installation about a disappearing body and Zharko Basheski's hyper-realistic sculpture of a dying body with an IV drip emerging from a pillar. A dedicated section honors critic Lea Vergine, presenting works, books, documents, and photographs that trace her influential research on the body. Artists such as Urs Lüthi, Andres Serrano, Carol Rama, Duane Hanson, Marc Quinn, Joseph Kosuth, Christian Boltanski, and Joseph Beuys are featured, each interrogating the body's role in identity, society, and perception. The exhibition dismantles false absolutes, from gendered roles to the demonization of sexual practices, asserting the body as the primary site of experience and meaning-making.