With The Magpie and Other Matters, Paolo Ventura presents his first exhibition in Germany. The internationally renowned artist, whose works have been shown for many years in major museums and institutions worldwide, has developed a project conceived especially for Berlin.
Ventura’s photographic series unfold as narratives. They emerge in chapters, in fragmented sequences of images that only reveal their full meaning when experienced together. His practice moves at the intersection of photography, painting, theater, and literature. Central to his work is the deliberate construction of his pictorial worlds: Ventura paints his own backdrops, builds stage-like settings, and creates atmospheres in which time and place remain intentionally undefined. He frequently appears as the protagonist himself.
At the heart of this new project is a man who loses his magpie and follows it through Berlin. The city does not serve as a documentary backdrop, but as a stage. Streets, squares, and façades become the sites of a poetic search. Along the way, new scenes, encounters, and characters unfold. The magpie becomes the connecting motif — both the catalyst of the narrative and a symbol of loss and hope.
As in many of his works, the story is shaped by a quiet melancholy. The images unfold their resonance through subtle gestures and open-ended situations. The narrative remains deliberately fragmentary, inviting personal interpretation.
Running concurrently with this exhibition, Paolo Ventura is also part of the group exhibition Rooms/Stages at the Helmut Newton Foundation, opening on June 4, 2026. For this context as well, he has created a distinct series in which Berlin once again serves as the point of departure for his artistic narrative.
With The Magpie and Other Matters, Ventura’s narrative practice is presented in Germany for the first time, while simultaneously being newly anchored within the context of the city of Berlin.
