Giverny, Giverny. Nature and Abstraction in Contemporary Art
On Wednesday, November 18, the 13th edition of BAG – Bocconi Art Gallery will open at Bocconi University with the exhibition Giverny, Giverny. Nature and Abstraction in Contemporary Art”, curated by Anna Bernardini. The exhibition brings together an extensive selection of more than 90 works — installations, sculptures, paintings, wall drawings, and photographs — by 28 living contemporary artists from Italy and around the world, in dialogue with the historical legacy of Claude Monet (Paris, 1840 – Giverny, 1926).
Marking the centenary of Monet’s death, the exhibition takes its starting point from the revolutionary vision of the master of Giverny: moving beyond the constraints of figurative representation toward an emergent, cosmic abstraction capable of freeing nature and transforming it into matter, process and perceptual energy. The University’s buildings — its historic headquarters designed by rationalist architect Giuseppe Pagano (1941) along with the building by Dublin-based Grafton Architects (2008) — become an exhibition space extending across the campus and open to the city’s residents.
“All my efforts are directed simply toward creating as many images as possible connected to unknown realities,” wrote Monet. Building on this insight, curator Anna Bernardini emphasizes how nature is understood here as more than a subject to contemplate or depict figuratively: it is a field of inquiry, relationships and transformation. In an era marked by the Anthropocene extinction and a memory crisis, abstraction offers a means of engaging with reality, accessing the visible and invisible structures of matter, and reimagining our presence in the world. This exploration encompasses matter, energy, transformation, growth, time, order and chaos, reaching into the most intimate and spiritual dimensions of the relationship between humanity, nature and the cosmos.
“This year, for the first time, we focused on one specific topic — the relationship between art and nature — which has shaped the exhibition’s entire exploration,” explains Antonella Carù, President of the BAG Committee. “Another important aspect is the involvement of Bocconi students, who have worked under the guidance of Professor Susanna Caviglia and curator Anna Bernardini to write the artwork descriptions. BAG once again offers a special opportunity to open our University to the city of Milan, rendering the campus a setting for encounters, dialogue and shared experiences through the language of contemporary art. Finally, the catalog published by Allemandi documents the current exhibition project and reflects BAG’s continuous commitment, which over the years has led to the creation of a rich permanent collection.”
The exhibition explores the evolution of these forms of expression through three fundamental actions: dissolving, depositing and transforming. It brings leading figures of the Arte Povera, Land Art and conceptual exploration movements into dialogue with some of today’s most innovative artistic practices. These range from Michelangelo Pistoletto’s reflective and relational works to Gian Maria Tosatti’s archetypal spaces and dwellings, and from Marzia Migliora’s interwoven economic and environmental narratives to Melissa McGill’s fluid maps and pigments, a tribute to water and the natural world.
Alchemical processes and the memory of matter emerge not only in Gilberto Zorio’s crucibles, but also in Claudio Parmiggiani’s imprints of ash and butterflies and in Alessandro Piangiamore’s flower-filled concrete works, presented alongside Gianni Caravaggio’s cosmological sculptures and Massimo Kaufmann’s generative chaos. The drive toward botanical and technological proliferation is explored through Andrea Mastrovito’s reassembled compositions and inlays, Deborah Hirsch’s digital data and herbarium, Daniele Innamorato’s monumental water lily canvases, and Chiara Dynys’s lenticular visual traps.
Representations of landscape and of body take shape in Vincenzo Castella’s large-format photographs of botanical gardens, as well as in Stefano Arienti’s golden tarpaulins, Giovanni Frangi’s primordial monotypes, and Andrea Bianconi’s spatial wall drawing. The human body itself becomes geography in Binta Diaw’s photographic works, while the performative experience of walking finds its foundational reference points in Land Art pioneers Richard Long and Hamish Fulton. This web of relationships comes together in Claudia Losi’s tapestries, Valentina D’Amaro’s suspension of color and perception, Wolfgang Laib’s spiritual contemplation, Christiane Loher’s microcosms, and Tadashi Kawamata’s temporary, labyrinthine wooden structures. This culminates in the weight and resistance of minerals in Francesco Ideale Vullo’s sculptures and in the surface imprints of Linda Carrara.
The exhibition is promoted and organized by BAG, located at Via Sarfatti 25. Admission is free during the University’s opening hours: Monday–Friday, 8am–8:30pm, and Saturday, 8am–6pm. Registration, however, is required to attend the exhibition opening on Wednesday, 18 November 2026, which will be held from 4 until 6pm.
To book a free guided tour or to request further information about visits, please contact bag@unibocconi.it.
BAG - Bocconi Art Gallery was born from the idea of Professor Severino Salvemini, with the support of collector Giuseppe Panza di Biumo. Over time, the project has evolved through ongoing dialogue with artists, galleries and collectors — transforming the Bocconi campus into a museum of contemporary art spread across its buildings. More than an exhibition, it is a permanent cultural laboratory where works of art are part of the daily life of the University community and the city. BAG reflects the University’s commitment to breaking down disciplinary boundaries, encouraging engagement with contemporary forms of expression, and offering students the opportunity to play an active role both in interpreting the artworks for visitors and in organizing exhibitions.
BAG 2026 Artists
Stefano Arienti, Andrea Bianconi, Linda Carrara, Gianni Caravaggio, Vincenzo Castella, Valentina D'Amaro, Binta Diaw, Chiara Dynys, Giovanni Frangi, Hamish Fulton, Deborah Hirsch, Daniele Innamorato, Tadashi Kawamata, Massimo Kaufmann, Wolfgang Laib, Christiane Loher, Richard Long, Claudia Losi, Andrea Mastrovito, Melissa McGill, Marzia Migliora, Claudio Parmiggiani, Giuseppe Penone, Alessandro Piangiamore, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Gian Maria Tosatti, Francesco Ideale Vullo, Gilberto Zorio.