Italian Postmodern Artists Embrace Eastern Philosophy

A new generation of Italian artists, born between 1985 and 2000, is increasingly aligning with Eastern philosophical concepts such as circular time, slowness, active emptiness, and multiplicity. This shift reflects a broader geopolitical and cultural turn as Western dominance wanes and East Asian influence grows. The article, written by Marco Bassan for Artribune, argues that Italy's historical position as a cultural intermediary between East and West makes it particularly receptive to these influences. Key artists exemplifying these tendencies include Giulia Cenci, whose hybrid sculptures depict time as sedimentation; Valentina Furian, who uses slow, almost static imagery; Guglielmo Castelli, whose paintings rely on what is left unsaid; and Bea Bonafini, whose works emphasize interweaving and multiplicity. The piece draws on Byung-Chul Han's book 'Del vuoto' (2024) to frame these artistic approaches within Eastern aesthetics. The article was published on Artribune in January 2026.