Mimmo Paladino's Major Exhibition at Palazzo Boncompagni in Bologna

Palazzo Boncompagni in Bologna hosts a major exhibition of Italian artist Mimmo Paladino (born Paduli, 1948), curated by Silvia Evangelisti. The show marks Paladino's return to Bologna after many years, a city he is connected to through an honorary degree from Alma Mater University (2020) and his friendship with Lucio Dalla. A key figure of the Transavanguardia movement theorized by Achille Bonito Oliva in the 1980s, Paladino works across painting, sculpture, and film. The exhibition features works that dialogue with the Renaissance palazzo's spaces, including a spiral sculpture referencing time and the Gregorian calendar instituted by Pope Gregory XIII, who once lived there. A highlight is the installation of thirteen black resin horses in the Sala delle Udienze Papali, evoking his famous "Montagna di Sale" and symbolizing energy emerging from darkness. Other works include "Madonne Nere" (2023), mixed media on jute, inspired by folk votive icons, and "Corale," gold leaf on panel, representing collectivity. The exhibition explores themes of cyclical time, war (as in the piece "Elmo"), and universal human archetypes, with recurring motifs of masks, spirals, and the color black. The show runs at Palazzo Boncompagni, near Piazza Maggiore and the Two Towers.