Situated in the industrial district of the so-called city of fashion, the Pirrelli Foundation used to be a factory dedicated to the manufacture of industrial heavy machinery. Now converted into a museum foundation, it used to produce a wide range of products, from steam locomotives to agricultural machinery and equipment, from airplanes to warships during the First World War period. Today, however, it showcases operas by international artists and has permanent site-specific installations and sculptures, such as The Seven Heavenly Palaces, by German artist Anselm Kiefer, or The Sequenza, by Italian artist Fausto Melotti.

Now converted into a museum foundation, it used to produce a wide range of products, from steam locomotives to agricultural machinery and equipment, from airplanes to warships during the First World War period

The foundation, which opened its doors in 2004, since 2014 Vicente Tolodí has been its Art Director, committed to bringing a varied program dedicated to art. Since its creation, the foundation has promoted contemporary art with national and international artists. The 2023 retrospective of Ann Veniroca Janssen, an artist who plays with our visual perception, making the viewer enter her work with joy, happiness and confusion, stands out. In addition to the retrospective, it is also worth mentioning the future exhibition of Chiara Camoni, Italian artist, who creates delicate and exquisite ceramic and loom pieces, always relating them to nature and flowers.

it is also worth mentioning the future exhibition of Chiara Camoni, Italian artist, who creates delicate and exquisite ceramic and loom pieces, always relating them to nature and flowers

However, let's focus on the works of the American artist James Lee BYars, born in Detroit, Michigan (USA). This exhibition features a series of works dedicated to the artist's last period. The exhibition focuses on the essential topics treated by the artist, with a strong influence of the Eastern lifestyle and a vast knowledge of Western philosophy. All these ideas were combined with materials such as marble, velvet, silk, gold leaf and glass, treated within forms such as prisms, spheres and pillars. All of these elements confer to the exhibition a great elegance and a harmonious sense of space, with a minimalist aesthetic, resulting in a transformation of the old factory into a golden space where you can not only think, reflect and contemplate on his work but also on the subject highlighted in them.

In this exhibition, we can see how this art can capture the essence of different artistic movements and periods such as minimalism, baroque or even the sculpture of ancient Greece through the use of gold as a reminiscence of Byzantine murals. James Lee, shows through his pieces how he can bring together the classic and the contemporary, mixing his knowledge of art history by synthesizing elements and forms.

In this exhibition, we can see how this art can capture the essence of different artistic movements and periods such as minimalism, baroque or even the sculpture of ancient Greece through the use of gold as a reminiscence of Byzantine murals.