When modern meets contemporary art. Visit the GAM museum in Milan.

From the 23^rd of November to the 26^th of February 2017 the GAM, the modern art gallery in Milan hosts the exhibition “La finestra sul cortile” (The rear window).  In partnership with UBS the exhibit takes inspiration from the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece and features a collection of contemporary artworks put together by Luca Massimo Barbero, one of the most iconic art reviewer and researcher of our times.

The permanent collection of the GAM Modern Art Gallery of Milano features an impressive selection of the 19^th and 20^th centuries masterpieces that meets through an accurate combination the artworks selected by Barbero for this new exhibition.

The artworks of some of the most distinguished artists of the 20^th century have been selected to occupy a certain spot within the GAM museum. The self-portrait of Francesco Hayez (1791 – 1882) is hanging on the wall right next to the portrait of a deformed man by the Chapman Brothers. A selection of things of everyday usage has been carefully placed next to a couple of Morandi’s painting that depicts objects of that same category like bottles and jars. Jonathan Seliger and Giorgio Morandi (1890 – 1964) force the visitor to compare the artworks, to look at the permanent collection of the GAM while examinating the pieces of the temporary one.

 

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This is the reason why the whole exhibit was named after The Rear Window. It is mandatory for the audience to look harder. As the main character portrayed by James Stewart did in the movie the visitor needs to look closer.

The culmination of this concept is the GAM itself. The museum’s collection is permanently exhibited within Villa Belgiojoso. A neo-classical building that dates back to the end of the 18^th century.  The staircase that leads to the upper floor has been decorated with two of Dan Flavin’s works. The sculptures made of fluorescent lights adorn the wall that features ornamental details that traditionally belong to the neo-classical style like pillars and recesses.

To further emphasize the need of  a comparison between the past and the present the Villa’s façade serve as a screen where a projection by Arthur Duff highlights the endless fight between dark and light.

A tour of the Gam during this exhibition will be a surprising experience from the first moment the visitor gets to the main entrance where an old chariot made by the Bulgarian artist Christo symbolize the beginning of a journey through the art of the last three centuries.