ILARIO CUOGHI e VANNI CUOGHI
Nel nome del padre e del figlio
Pittura o scultura: un falso problema
From 1 to 22 November 2025
The Exhibition
The dual solo exhibition by Ilario Cuoghi and Vanni Cuoghi, “In the Name of Father and Son. Painting or Sculpture: a False Problem”, with a critical essay by Luca Maggio in the catalog, brings together and engages in dialogue two artists who, as the title suggests, are linked by family ties. Despite using different media, they achieve similar expressive outcomes in this case.
The exhibition thus takes on multiple levels of interpretation, not only inherent to their respective poetics, but also as a reflection on the languages and metalanguages involved. So, while Vanni begins with a scenographic composition to arrive at painting, Ilario uses sculpture to arrive at small metal scenographies. At the same time, both artists use the two-dimensional shape as their basic idea and formula, sometimes painted and connected to a tree representation, sometimes cut and presented in geometric-abstract forms, the final effect is the third dimension.
The implications of these interplays and combinations go beyond the visual-spatial aspect, not only because of the implicit references, from Munari's travel sculptures to Magritte-like and, in some ways, baroque illusions, but also because, to paraphrase the title of Vanni Cuoghi's installation, the encounter between these two artists produces a true "staging" of the image and the imagination.
The Works
The Artists
Ilario Cuoghi. An artist born in Castelmassa (RO) in 1936, graduated in Applied Arts from the Venice Teacher Training Institute. He created important sculptural cycles for churches and public buildings, including: the portals, the Stations of the Cross, the stained glass windows, the baptismal font, and the pulpit for the Abbey of San Siro di Struppa (GE) in 1963; the doors and a large fresco for the church of Piandeipreti (GE) in 1966. Stained glass windows, sculptures, and bas-reliefs can also be found in the churches of San Fruttuoso, Santa Sabina, and the Salesian Church, as well as in the Staglieno Monumental Cemetery in Genoa, in Zelo (RO), and in the Abbey of Tiglieto (AL).
He created important sculptures between 1970 and 2000, including the War Memorial in Ognio (GE), a large Christmas Star in Piazza De Ferrari (GE), for the Peyrani company (TO), for Workwerk Contempora (MI), for Stabilimento Dalmine (BG), and for Tarragona (E). His public works also include sculptures at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Piazza Cesare Battisti in Ancona and in the gardens of the Galleria Arte Moderna in Bologna.
His public solo exhibitions include 1974 at the Giardini di Genova Nervi during the 7th Ballet Festival, 1975 at the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa (VE) and Chiostrino di San Romano (FE), 1981 in the historic center of Sestri Levante, and 1989 at the Municipality of Ancona. In 2009, the Istituto Statale d'Arte di Venezia dedicated a major retrospective to him.
He also created commemorative medals for Dalmine (BG), Giorgio Mondadori (MI), Arca dell'Arte (PU), Contempora (MI).
Vanni Cuoghi. He has participated in numerous biennials in Italy and abroad, including the St. Petersburg Biennial (2008), the Prague Biennial (2009), the 54th Venice Biennial, Corderie dell’Arsenale, Italian Pavilion (2011) the 56th Venice Biennial, Collateral Italia Docet (2015), the Italy-China Biennial (2012) and the Rimini Drawing Biennial (2024) He has also participated in public exhibitions at the Palazzo Reale in Milan (2007), the Haidian Exhibition Center in Beijing, on the occasion of the XXXIX Olympic Games (2008), the Liu Haisu Museum in Shanghai (2008), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Perm, Russia (2010), the Sforza Castle in Milan (2012), the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan (2015) and the Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium Museum in Norway (2018). His works have been exhibited at various Italian and international fairs, including Frieze (London), MiArt (Milan), Artefiera (Bologna), Scope (New York), Artissima (Turin), Off (Brussels), Daegu Artfair (Korea), and KIAF, Seoul (Korea).
In 2012, commissioned by Costa Crociere, he created eight large paintings for the Costa Fascinosa and in 2014, six paintings for the Costa Diadema.
Since October 2015, he has held the chair of Painting at the Aldo Galli Academy in Como.
Public solo exhibitions include Novus Malleus Maleficarum (2011) at San Pietro in Atrio and the Pinacoteca di Palazzo Volpi in Como; Aion (2013) at the Crema Civic Museums in Crema; Da Cielo a Terra (2016) at the Jewish Museum of Bologna; and The Invisible Sun (2017) at the Francesco Messina Museum in Milan.
At the end of May 2019, his solo exhibition The eye of the Stormopened at the Rossi-Martino Gallery in Hong Kong, and in October, his solo exhibition Esuli pensieri opened at the Balestra Foundation in Longiano (FC).
In July 2020, his solo exhibition Apnea opened at the Argenterie in the Villa Reale in Monza.
In 2021, his solo exhibition Submariner opened at the Civic Aquarium in Milan. In 2022, he participated in the exhibition Eccentrici, apocalittici, pop. Inferno e delizia nell’arte contemporanea. at the Galleria Civico in Trento, at the exhibition Acque Chiare, Acque scure the Civic Museum of Noto (SR), and in Savona he participated in the Connexxion Festival organized by the magazine Espoarte.
In 2023, he participated in the group exhibition Fiat Lux at the Diocesan Museum of Noto (SR) and held a solo exhibition Plinio. Effetto Serra at Villa Bernasconi in Cernobbio (CO) on the occasion of the bimillennium of the Latin writer's birth.
In 2024, he was invited to the Interaction biennial at the Made in Cloister Foundation in Naples.
