2026-05-21

∞François Morellet∞ Centenario 1926 - 2026

∞François Morellet∞ Centenario 1926 - 2026

project coordinated by A arte Invernizzi
in collaboration with Estate Morellet
curated by Paolo Bolpagni and Alessandro Gallicchio


The project ∞François Morellet∞ Centenario in Italia 1926 - 2026, conceived and coordinated by A arte Invernizzi, curated by Paolo Bolpagni, director of the Fondazione Ragghinati in Lucca, and Alessandro Gallicchio, director of the Department of Art History at the Accademia di Francia a Roma - Villa Medici, and organised in close collaboration with Estate Morellet, is conceived to mark the centenary of François Morellet (1926 - 2016).
Various institutions across Italy are coming together to honour the French artist in a country where he exhibited for the first time in 1960 at the Galleria Azimut in Milan at the invitation of Piero Manzoni, and where the last exhibition he curated took place at A arte Invernizzi in Milan in 2016, opening shortly after his death. Also worthy of mention is the double solo exhibition held in the spring of 2016, which saw Morellet’s works displayed alongside those of Mario Ballocco at the Fondazione Ragghianti: in fact, this was the last exhibition of his to open during his lifetime.
The programme runs in parallel with the celebration of the artist’s centenary in France, organised by the Centre Pompidou and and launched with the exhibition François Morellet. 100 pour cent on 2 April 2026.
Through the presentation of exhibitions and works at the participating institutions, the aim is to “shed light” on an artist who was a visionary, a pioneer and a leading figure in the programmed and minimalist artistic explorations of the 1950s and 1960s; today, he is also unanimously and internationally recognised as a forerunner of a generative and immersive vision of the image, which represents one of the most innovative expressions of creativity among the latest generations of artists.
A catalogue, edited by Paolo Bolpagni and Alessandro Gallicchio and published by Metilene, will document all the initiatives through photographic reproductions and essays by the critics involved and representatives of the institutions.


PARTICIPATING VENUES
A arte Invernizzi, Milano
Accademia di Francia a Roma - Villa Medici, Roma
Fondazione Biscozzi | Rimbaud, Lecce
Fondazione Ragghianti, Lucca
MacaMorterone, Morterone
Università Luigi Bocconi, Milano
Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano
Villa Pisani Bonetti, Bagnolo di Lonigo


FRANÇOIS MORELLET | GIANNI COLOMBO - A ARTE INVERNIZZI | MILANO
CURATED BY LUCA MASSIMO BARBERO
21 MAY - 17 JULY 2026
The exhibition François Morellet | Gianni Colombo, curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, marks the beginning of the initiatives dedicated to the centenary of the French artist in Italy.
The exhibition aims to explore the relationship between these two leading figures of international art, who shared mutual respect and friendship from the late 1950s onwards, and with whom Epicarmo and Tiziana Invernizzi, who met François Morellet and Danielle Morellet through Gianni Colombo in the 1980s, have always maintained a close relationship of friendship and collaboration.
On this occasion, alongside iconic works by the two artists, the exhibition will feature several installations by Gianni Colombo and a large installation using adhesive tape by Morellet, for whom a catalogue raisonné is due to be published in 2027.


π PIQUANT NEONLY - 1=6° (2005) - FONDAZIONE RAGGHIANTI | LUCCA
CURATED BY PAOLO BOLPAGNI
24 JUNE - 19 JULY 2026
In 2016, Fondazione Ragghianti hosted the exhibition Sguardi paralleli. Mario Ballocco / François Morellet, the last exhibition held in a public space in Italy whilst the artist was still alive.
On this occasion, in the first cloister of the Complesso monumentale di San Micheletto, where the Fondazione is based, the work π piquant neonly - 1=6° (2005), composed of 14 neon elements, is presented.
In a dynamic dimension, the movement in the work’s geometries becomes rhythm and is made visible in its structure. The intervals between the openings of each luminous element are punctuated according to patterns rationally determined by chance and by the number π.


PRATICA DELLO SGUARDO - MACAMORTERONE | MORTERONE
CURATED BY ANGELA FARAVELLI
11 JULY 2026 - 30 MAY 2027
In 2012, François Morellet created the work La porte s’envole (2012) for the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea all’Aperto di Morterone, which is presented to the public once again on this occasion. The work consists of two blue neon elements that trace, while altering, the outline of one of the entrances to the house on which it is installed. The neon light shifts the focus from the actual point of passage across the threshold to an “other” dimension, as if the observer’s gaze were invited to move beyond the limits of what is real toward the “possible”, without, however, negating the doorway’s actual function of connecting the building’s exterior and interior. Inside the Casa dell’Arte, there is also a special exhibition dedicated to the artist featuring works from the 1960s, 1970s and 2000s.


AZZURRO PALLIDO PALLADIO (2008) - VILLA PISANI BONETTI | BAGNOLO DI LONIGO
CURATED BY FRANCESCA POLA
2 OCTOBER - 8 NOVEMBER 2026
Villa Pisani Bonetti in Bagnolo di Lonigo, an early masterpiece by the architect Andrea Palladio, will once again showcase the work Azzurro pallido Palladio (2008), created for François Morellet’s solo exhibition in 2008, the year marking the 500th anniversary of the great architect’s birth, which has since become part of the Villa’s permanent collection.
A crescent-shaped arch spans the entire wall of the external portico, echoing yet at the same time contradicting its monumental and pure arcaded structure, and establishing a dialogue with the natural light from outside. The artist’s centenary will also be celebrated within the rooms of the Palladian villa through a focus on works from the 1990s and 2000s, alongside a selection of silkscreen prints realized by the artist in the 1970s.


PICNIC ROMANO - ACCADEMIA DI FRANCIA A ROMA - VILLA MEDICI
CURATED BY ALESSANDRO GALLICCHIO
8 OCTOBER 2026 - 15 JANUARY 2027
From 1971 onwards, François Morellet conceived the artwork as a “space for a picnic”, a place where every viewer is invited to participate with their own wealth of knowledge, desires and imagination. Doing as little as possible thus becomes a kind of artistic manifesto: a gesture implying an aesthetic with minimalist and radical undertones. The exhibition, to be held at the Accademia di Francia in Rome, takes the form of a posthumous tribute to the artist on the centenary of his birth. The exhibition project also includes an intervention aimed at enhancing his permanent installation at the Re di Roma metro station. Faced with this attempt to desacralise art, the viewer becomes an active participant, free to organise their own “Roman picnic” both in the stately rooms of Villa Medici and in the urban tunnel.


π PIQUANT NEONLY N°9, 1=6° (2007) - FONDAZIONE BISCOZZI | RIMBAUD | LECCE
CURATED BY LORENZO MADARO
16 OCTOBER - 15 NOVEMBER 2026
Several works by François Morellet from the 1960s and 1970s are held in the Biscozzi Rimbaud Collection which, from its beginnings to its gradual development over more than forty years, has come to document a significant part of twentieth-century Italian and international art, with particular reference to the period 1950-1980.
To mark the artist’s centenary, the Fondazione displays the work π piquant neonly n° 9, 1=6° (2007) on its façade, which is always visible to the public from Piazzetta Giorgio Baglivi.
Morellet’s art arises from the interplay between extreme systematic rigour and an inexhaustible curiosity, combined with a suspended, demystifying freedom of experimentation.


π WEEPING NEONLY BLEU N° 1 (2001) - UNIVERSITÀ LUIGI BOCCONI | MILANO
CURATED BY ETTORE BUGANZA
JANUARY - JULY 2026
On the occasion of Bocconi Art Gallery, Bocconi University opens its doors to a journey through contemporary art, a project that reflects the University’s commitment to bridging knowledge and creativity.
In the exhibition spaces of Via Röntgen, is presented the work π Weeping Neonly bleu n° 1 (2001), an installation comprising 30 neon tubes, each 1,4 metres long, fixed to a wall in positions determined by the random selection of the number π. The neon tubes are connected by wiresof the same length, hung loosely, and  resemble the long, supple branches of a weeping willow.


SYMPOSIUM - UNIVERSITÀ VITA-SALUTE SAN RAFFAELE | MILANO
PALAZZO ARESE BORROMEO | CESANO MADERNO
CURATED BY FRANCESCA POLA
NOVEMBER 2026
The Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, in collaboration with ICONE - Centro Europea di Ricerca di Storia e Teoria dell’Immagine, is organising a one-day symposium dedicated to François Morellet as the concluding event summarising all the initiatives that took place in Italy during 2026. The event will be attended by the curators involved in the project and representatives from the participating institutions.