Casa Conte, the sartorial design apartment of the Conte brand, continues its dialogue between art and design in the historic setting of Palazzo Melzi di Cusano on Via Montenapoleone 18 in Milan. The new exhibition, titled Who are you?, comes after the successful collaboration during Salone del Mobile 2025 and again sees the organization with Brun Fine Art and Jonathan Kugel. Curated by Laura De Jonckheere, the exhibition, which can be visited until April 1, 2026, addresses the theme of identity, examining it through different eras and artistic languages.
The exhibition opens with Orfeo Boselli’s Personification of Madness, a 17th-century marble bust that combines realistic and symbolic details: the flowing hair, delicate veil and exotic feathers suggest both fascination and instability, recalling early proto-modern reflections on complex mental states. The exhibition compares works that investigate female identity in historical and contemporary ways. Among them, the Master of Half-Figures ’ Lucretia expresses a grief marked by tragedy, contrasting with Alan Macdonald’s Siren, an assertive female figure who symbolizes the transition from identities conditioned by moral narratives to autonomous, self-determined identities. Further insight into identity emerges with the alabaster Head Orientale from the Royal Artistic Industrial School of Volterra. The female face, devoid of personal features, suggests an externally shaped identity, while the radiating hairstyle recalls a ritual aura and archaic power, representing a balance between imposed mask and ancient, central role. The dialogue between past and present continues with contemporary works, such as René Magritte’s Fantômas drawing, which uses irony and absurdity to emphasize the performative dimension of identity, and Andy Warhol’s portrait of Buxy Gancia, in which stylistic clarity foregrounds the essence of the subject, consistent with the artist’s typical language.
The inclusion of these works within the residential space of Casa Conte emphasizes the intimate dimension of the portrait and the moment of recognition between viewer and subject. Who are you? invites us to reflect on how identity, whether historical, artistic or personal, is constantly being formed and reformulated through time, culture and artistic practice. The exhibition provides an opportunity to observe how different artistic languages and cultural contexts can dialogue with each other, offering a complex and layered view of the construction of the self.
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| Who are you? Casa Conte investigates identity between art and design in Milan |
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