Nicolas Bourriaud on Relational Aesthetics: A Retrospective at MAXXI

Nicolas Bourriaud, the French critic and curator who coined the term "Relational Aesthetics," has curated "1+1. L’arte relazionale" at MAXXI in Rome, the first major retrospective of the movement three decades after its inception. The exhibition, suggested by MAXXI artistic director Francesco Stocchi, occupies the museum's Galleria 3, a three-level space accessed by a straight ramp with curved walls. Bourriaud structured the show around the venue's specific features: each ramp level features Kim Sooja's video "The Needle Woman," while monumental works by Ken Lum, Maurizio Cattelan, Vanessa Beecroft, and Santiago Sierra are hung high to evoke Times Square. Smaller works are displayed on TV monitors, reflecting the 1990s presentation style. The exhibition traces the evolution of relational art through artists like Pierre Huyghe, Liam Gillick, Gabriel Orozco, and Philippe Parreno, as well as collectives Britto Arts Trust (Bangladesh) and Opavivara (Brazil). Bourriaud notes that relational aesthetics anticipated the industrialization of human relations and social networks, and that concepts like proximity and conviviality have evolved into contemporary notions of care and solidarity within eco-feminist discourse. He sees relational art as a force resisting automation, with AI giving it new functions tied to the living world. The exhibition runs at MAXXI in Rome.