We are pleased to announce the representation of the internationally renowned artist Paolo Ventura and to present The Lost Magpie and Other Affairs as his first solo exhibition in Germany.
Paolo Ventura works across photography, collage, painting, sculpture, drawing, and scenography, forming visual narratives through a multidisciplinary practice. He is considered one of the leading artistic positions of his generation, expanding the boundaries of photography beyond its traditional limits. His work has been presented for many years in major museums and institutions, including the Italian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale. This year, the Museo Palazzo Reale in Milan is dedicating a major retrospective to his work.
For this exhibition, Ventura has developed a new body of work created specifically for and partly in Berlin. At the center of the exhibition is the story of a painter in search of his lost magpie. A letter containing a single feather leads him to Berlin, where the search proves more difficult than expected. The city, whose architectural structures remain recognizable and whose spaces often feel familiar, becomes the stage for his narrative.
As in many of Paolo Ventura’s works, the story unfolds in atmospheric, almost dreamlike sequences. His images appear as photographic film stills suspended between reality and fiction. Ventura constructs his own stages, paints his backdrops, and develops carefully composed scenes in which he often appears as the protagonist.
The story remains deliberately open and the outcome of the journey uncertain. It is precisely this openness that defines Ventura’s work, inviting the viewer to continue the narrative within their own imagination. A catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition.
In parallel, Paolo Ventura will be part of the group exhibition Rooms/Stages at the Helmut Newton Foundation, on view from June 5, for which he has developed a new body of work that relates both to Berlin and to Helmut Newton.
