As part of the ART CITY Bologna 2026 program, LabOratorio degli Angeli presents a new project by Francesco Gennari, an artist born in Pesaro in 1973, curated by Leonardo Regano. The exhibition, titled Why are you looking at me like that?, will open on Saturday, January 31, from 6 to 10 p.m. and will remain open from February 2 to 14, 2026. The initiative stems from a collaboration with the galleries Ciaccia Levi, based in Paris and Milan, and Zero..., Milan. The intervention finds its home inside the historic restoration workshop, a place that retains a precise operational identity and becomes an active part of the project. Gennari imagines a convivial moment that does not take shape through the usual elements: no people appear, no bar exists, and even glasses are missing. The idea of an aperitif is evoked only through the presence of bronze sculptures that refer to the geometric profiles of alcoholic liquids. The forms allude to an encounter that never took place, to a suspended dialogue, to a dynamic of glances that is only manifested in the title of the exhibition.
A core of works on paper appears alongside the sculptures, expanding the artist’s research on the theme ofself-portraiture. Gennari does not adopt a physiognomic representation, nor does he proceed by narrative definitions. Instead, his focus is on an inner dimension, understood as a shifting measure of one’s being in space. The papers record minimal tensions, perceptual variations, subtle states that do not seek a figurative translation but build a self-portrait based on almost imperceptible oscillations. The artist works on what remains, on traces that do not claim to describe but to define a positioning in space and a relationship with the idea of identity. The set of works composes an essential environment, in which each element appears reduced to the bone. Subtraction becomes a strategy to bring out a question that runs through the entire project. The title, Why are you looking at me this way, introduces a latent tension. The question addresses what remains after the elimination of the most obvious elements: identity becomes a question field. The exhibition thus proposes an inquiry into the relationship between gaze, identity and space, without resorting to narrative or celebratory solutions. Each element is placed in a precise position, allowing an environment to emerge that invites one to question one’s role as an observer. Why are you looking at me like that? is configured as a question that runs through the visitor’s experience, accompanying him or her along a path in which form does not offer definitive answers and perception becomes the only possible ground for confrontation.
Francesco Gennari (1973) lives between Pesaro and Milan. He has presented solo projects in institutions such as MUT/Mutina for Art, Fiorano Modenese (2022); GAMeC - Galleria D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo (2019); Galerie Stadtpark, Krems (2016); FRAC Corse, Corte (2015); GAM Gallery of Modern Art, Turin (2015); Museo Marino Marini, Florence (2014); Museum Dhondt - Dhaenens, Deurle (2009); Musée d’art moderne de Saint Etienne Metropole (2008). His work has been shown in major group exhibitions, including: Cremona Art Week (2024); CCC OD, Tours (2023); Ca’ Pesaro - Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna, Venice (2023); Kunst Museum Winterthur (2022); MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna (2022); Quadriennale d’Arte, Rome (2020); Galleria Nazionale d’Modern Art, Rome (2019); Frac Île-de-France / Le Plateau, Paris (2017); Triennale di Milano (2015-2016); Palazzo Reale, Milan (2012); Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2010); Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago (2009); Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2008); Manifesta 7, Trentino Alto Adige (2008). Gennari’s works are in several permanent collections, including those of Centre Pompidou, Paris; Ca’ Pesaro, Venice; CAPC, Bordeaux; Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia; Collezione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; GAM, Turin; GAMeC - Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo; Kunst Museum Winterthur; Museo del Novecento, Milan; Musée Voorlinden, Wassenaar; Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.
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| Francesco Gennari brings a new project on the gaze to the LabOratorio degli Angeli |
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