Il Color
First chapter of the exhibition "Times of the Gaze. 90 Years of Italian Photography in Two Acts"
THE POOL NYC at Palazzo Fagnani Ronzoni, Milan
October 8 – December 20, 2025
From the serie A Tutto Tondo, 2007
Monte San Giacomo Salerno, 1982
THE POOL NYC at Palazzo Fagnani Ronzoni in the heart of Milan's historic center (Via Santa Maria Fulcorina, 20) presents the exhibition Il Colore, the first chapter of the series I tempi dello sguardo. 90 anni di fotografia italiana in due atti (Times of the Gaze. 90 Years of Italian Photography in Two Acts), which features two exhibitions at different but consecutive times, bringing together a total of 194 works by 55 Italian and international artists who have shaped the history of 20th-century photography.
The project's title alludes to the artists' ability to mark an era, a "time" in our history, with their gaze, and at the same time invites us to rediscover the time—away from the excesses of today's visual production—to rediscover the extraordinary talents that have made Italian photography unique, even internationally.
The first event, curated by THE POOL NYC, presents the experiences of those masters who have made the use of color one of their most characteristic features.
Olanda - Otterlo, 2009
Parma, 1984
Paesaggio - Italia, 1995
The exhibition, comprising 115 photographs, features, among others, works by Luigi Ghirri, master of light and quiet, by Giovanni Chiaramonte who travels to Venice to capture the city's most hidden corners, and by Franco Fontana who shapes the landscape through colour, from the geometric urban visions of the 1970s to the abstract sensuality of the Piscina series, to Italian landscapes transfigured into fields of colour.
Pomposa, 1983
"Arte istantanea – 3000 fotografie di Mario Schifano"
22 Aprile - 19 Giugno. Foto-n 2403, 1994
"Arte istantanea – 3000 fotografie di Mario Schifano"
22 Aprile - 19 Giugno. Foto-n 2413, 1994
The exhibition continues with Guido Guidi who makes photography an act of waiting, with Mario Schifano, irreverent and experimental, who works with the same creative freedom with which he interpreted painting, while Paolo Gioli , the alchemist, although starting from sensitive photographic material, considers it a "material" to be shaped and manipulated.
If on the one hand, Leonardo Genovese captures fragments of dreams through a fierce and revealing light, the Lucanian “controra”, which cuts into bodies and deforms appearances, Rita Lintz, on the other hand, transforms waste into relics: rags become carpets and waste becomes beauty.
Rainbow n 2, 2006
The first act of the exhibition is completed with photographs by international artists, including Denis Brihat, Wim Delvoye, Claus Goedicke, Béatrice Helg, John Hilliard, Tracey Moffatt, Jiang Zhi, Wang Qingsong .
During the exhibition period, Palazzo Fagnani Ronzoni hosts a series of collateral events, such as meetings, talks, book presentations, and themed evenings with artists, historians, and photography critics.
Artists : Denis Brihat, Vincenzo Castella, Giovanni Chiaramonte, Mario Cresci, Wim Delvoye, Cosimo Di Leo Ricatto, Franco Fontana, Vittore Fossati, Andrea Galvani, Leonardo Genovese, Luigi Ghirri, Luca Gilli, Paolo Gioli, Claudio Gobbi, Claus Goedicke, Guido Guidi, Béatrice Helg, John Hilliard, Jiang Zhi, Luisa Lambri, Rita Lintz, Marcello Mariana, Tracey Moffatt, Brigitte Niedermair, Wang Qingsong, Mario Schifano, Davide Tranchina, Luigi Veronesi, Cuchi White, Silvio Wolf, Marco Zanta.
The second episode, scheduled from January 16 to February 28, 2026 , will be dedicated to Black and White , with works by authors such as Renato Di Bosso, Alfredo Camisa, Mario De Biasi, Mario Giacomelli, Antonio Biasiucci, Franco Vaccari, Mario Cresci, Luigi Erba, Andrea Galvani, in dialogue with international photographers, including Elliott Erwitt, Jan Groover, Horst P. Horst, Michael Kenna, William Klein, Minor White.
The Pool NYC | Palazzo Fagnani Ronzoni
Via Santa Maria Fulcorina, 20, Milano