Michelangelo Antonioni and Luigi Ghirri

Dominant narratives are surrounded by countless micro-stories. Far from being insignificant, these micro-stories are sources of inspiration for artists creating work that can enhance and deepen our understanding of life. Two such artists are the filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni (Ferrara, 1912 - Rome, 2007) and the photographer Luigi Ghirri (Scandiano, 1943 - Roncocesi, 1992). Natives of Emilia Romagna born 20 years apart, the two men never met, yet their work invites us to observe, remember and look within ourselves, each in its own way. 

An exhibition of selected works by both artists will open at La Virreina in October 2025. The exhibition aims to highlight the artists’ respective perspectives on embracing nature: one of someone born on a plain and another of someone immersed in the realm of imagination and abstraction. This is the starting point of an exhibition that displays Antonioni’s photographic series Le Montagne Incantate (The Enchanted Mountains) alongside works made by Ghirri in the 1970s, presenting them as reflections of a way of understanding life as advocated by Georges Perec, meaning based on what happens when it seems like nothing is going on.