Giò Marconi Gallery in Milan
Porta Venezia · Contemporary programme
Editorial Profile
Founded in 1990 by Gió Marconi — whose father Giorgio had previously established Studio Marconi (1965–1992) — Gió Marconi is one of the most historically rooted commercial galleries in contemporary art in Milan. Operating from its space in the Porta Venezia neighborhood, the gallery carries a lineage that extends back to the experimental energy of Studio Marconi 17, an artist-centered project space active from 1987 to 1990. From its opening year, the program demonstrated an ambition that anticipated broader critical conversations: early exhibitions included Martin Kippenberger, Mario Schifano, and Richard Hamilton, setting a precedent for the gallery's commitment to positions that balance historical weight with curatorial risk. Over more than three decades, the roster has expanded to encompass a distinctly international group of artists working across painting, installation, photography, video, and performance — among them Wade Guyton, Kerstin Bräтsch, Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, Tobias Rehberger, and Simon Fujiwara.
The gallery's program resists easy categorization, combining rigorous support for living artists with a growing attention to historical figures from the Studio Marconi archive, including Giulio Paolini, Valerio Adami, and Sonia Delaunay. This dual orientation — contemporary and historical — gives the gallery a depth that distinguishes it within the landscape of galleries in Milan. Internationally, Gió Marconi maintains a consistent presence at major art fairs, reinforcing the reach of its artists beyond the Italian context and positioning itself as a gallery of sustained critical relevance within the broader European contemporary art circuit.
Selected Artists
Wade Guyton
American
Works primarily with inkjet printers and canvas to produce large-scale paintings that interrogate the boundaries between digital process and traditional painterly production, often incorporating abstract forms and typography.
Kerstin Bräтsch
German
An artist whose practice centers on expanded notions of painting, often working collaboratively and across formats including glass, pharmaceuticals, and performance to question authorship and medium specificity.
Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg
Swedish
A collaborative duo combining stop-motion animation with original musical compositions to create immersive, darkly psychological environments that explore desire, power, transformation, and the unconscious.
Simon Fujiwara
British, Japanese
Works across installation and video to examine identity, representation, and the construction of narrative, often drawing on personal history, mass media, and pop culture as critical frameworks.
Tobias Rehberger
German
Creates environments and objects that blur distinctions between art, design, and function, frequently involving commissioned productions and collaborative processes that examine mediation and aesthetic experience.
Allison Katz
Canadian
A painter whose figurative and often humorous works draw on art historical references, linguistics, and bodily imagery to destabilize fixed meanings and explore the self-reflexive dimensions of painting itself.
John Bock
German
Produces chaotic, theatrical performances and installations that combine pseudo-scientific lecture formats, handmade props, and absurdist narrative structures to create immersive, carnivalesque environments.
Selected Exhibitions
Foundations
Allison Katz
A solo presentation of new works by the Canadian painter, continuing her investigation of pictorial ambiguity, symbolic layering, and the self-reflexive logic of painting as a medium and conceptual framework.
Tristesse
John Bock
A site-specific project by the German artist rooted in his characteristic blend of theatrical staging, absurdist narrative structures, and handmade objects that destabilize the boundaries between performance and sculptural installation.
World Leader Pretend
Alex Dacorte
A solo exhibition by the American artist bringing together immersive environments and video works that draw on pop culture, color theory, and theatrical spectacle to interrogate desire and representation.
Lavish Phantoms of the House of Dust
Tai Shani
A solo presentation by the Turner Prize-winning British artist combining text, sculpture, and installed environments to explore feminist mythologies, speculative worlds, and the intersection of body and political imagination.
Die Sein: Para Psychics II
Kerstin Bräтsch
An exhibition expanding the German artist's ongoing engagement with painting as an open system, incorporating glass works and collaborative production strategies to examine medium, authorship, and spiritual or para-psychological dimensions.
The Soft Spot
Nathalie Djurberg, Hans Berg
An immersive environment by the Swedish duo combining stop-motion clay animation with original musical compositions, creating a darkly psychological atmosphere that probes themes of compulsion, fragility, and transformation.
Siamo arrivati, in forma abbreviata
Wade Guyton
A solo exhibition by the New York-based artist presenting large-scale inkjet-printed works on linen that interrogate the boundaries of digital fabrication, seriality, and the persistent question of what constitutes a painting.
Sognatore Americano in Italia
Martin Kippenberger
The gallery's inaugural exhibition, presenting works by the German artist in a show that set the tone for Gió Marconi's commitment to ambitious, culturally provocative positions from its very first year of activity.
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