From September 10, 2026, to April 5, 2027, the Sonnabend Collection Mantua will present a new chapter in its exhibition series in the halls of the Palazzo della Ragione. The initiative, sponsored by the City of Mantua in collaboration with Marsilio Arte and the Sonnabend Collection Foundation, will kick off in conjunction with the 30th edition of the Festivaletteratura (September 9–13, 2026).
The new project reflects the vision that has always guided collector Ileana Sonnabend: an art collection conceived as a dynamic organism, constantly renewing itself through new dialogues between works and artists. For this season, the permanent exhibition is enriched by a special exhibition dedicated to Gilbert & George and by new masterpieces of Pop Art and contemporary art.
The exhibition focused on Gilbert & George traces nearly sixty years of work by the famous British duo, who have been associated with the Sonnabend Gallery since 1971, when *The Singing Sculpture* inaugurated the gallery’s New York location. Nearly twenty years after the last major Italian monographic exhibition dedicated to them, Palazzo della Ragione presents eight significant works—on display in Italy for the first time—that explore the central themes of their artistic practice: urban identity, religion, politics, sexuality, and mortality. The exhibition begins with the monumental charcoal drawings of *The Bar II* (1972), which reflect the early phase of their work, and continues with the famous grid-like photographic panels that have come to define their artistic language. Among the works on display are also *Piss off! * (2014), a provocative reflection on the taboos of contemporary society; *Bale* (2013), dedicated to urban alienation; and *Beardway* (2016), in which the artists transform the beard into an ironic symbol of contemporary culture. “Through a clear metaphor and self-identification, Gilbert & George sought to emphasize their interpretation of the artist as an outside observer who, by living on the margins of society, becomes a privileged spectator capable of investigating, feeling, and embodying the mystery and drama of life in all its possibilities and nuances,” explains artistic director and curator Mario Codognato. “The large drawings that make up *The Bar*,” he adds, “are a true prototype and forerunner of the formal and thematic exploration that has characterized Gilbert & George’s artistic and existential journey.” The charcoal sculpture on paper, the curator continues, “immerses the viewer, almost in real time, into a void and absolute silence, where the usual exuberant vitality of the environment is replaced by a melancholic landscape in which the two artists contemplate nothingness, placing their mere presence at the center of the work, both factually and metaphorically.”
“Like a great medieval fresco or the stained-glass window of a Gothic cathedral,” Codognato emphasizes, “the images and actions of Gilbert & George narrate the odyssey of modern man amid the complexity and fragmentation of our time. A kaleidoscope of visual stimuli that invites the viewer to reflect on and compare their own existential journey with the images, situations, and endless chains of ideas and sensations that their representations emanate, like a visual river perpetually in flood.”
At the same time, the permanent exhibition of the Sonnabend Collection is being refreshed withthe addition of new works from the United States, reaffirming the dialogue between the American and European art scenes that has always characterized the collection. This renewal primarily features works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Campbell’s Soup Can (Turkey Noodle) and Large Spool are temporarily removed from the exhibition, replaced by three important works on paper created by Lichtenstein in 1961 (Airplane, Man with Coat, and Knock Knock), along with four canvases dedicated to Warhol’s famous 1964 *Flowers* series. The section dedicated to Jeff Koons is also enriched with two key works from his 1980s output: *Jim Beam – Barrel Car* (1986), which reflects on the symbolic value of industrial objects, and *Buster Keaton* (1988), a tribute to the great silent-film actor through the tradition of wood sculpture. These two works replace *Wild Boy and Puppy* (1988) and *Gazing Ball (Standing Woman) * (2014).
“The Sonnabend Collection Mantua represents one of the most important cultural legacies the city has welcomed in recent years. The choice of a dynamic museum, which periodically renews its exhibition program and offers high-level insights, provides citizens and visitors with an ever-changing reason to return to Mantua,” states Mantua’s mayor, Andrea Murari. “Our commitment is to continue promoting this collection through high-quality cultural programming and by creating opportunities that engage young people and art enthusiasts. The Sonnabend Collection Mantua is a new and welcoming museum with an exceptional artistic heritage that positions Mantua among the most interesting destinations on the international tourism scene.”
With this new exhibition design, the Sonnabend Collection reaffirms its nature as a constantly evolving collection, offering the public the opportunity to rediscover major figures in contemporary art through unexpected pairings and an exhibition experience that renews itself without losing its cultural identity.
The Sonnabend Collection Mantua is a project of the City of Mantua, realized in partnership with the Sonnabend Collection Foundation and Marsilio Arte. BPER Banca is the sponsor of the initiative, while the exhibition design is by unostudio.
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| The Sonnabend Collection in Mantua Gets a Makeover: An Exhibition Focusing on Gilbert & George and New Pop Art Masterpieces |
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