A major retrospective of Mario Schifano (1934–1998) continues at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome through May 27, showcasing over 100 works from his entire career—from early informal and material pieces to the first monochromes of the 1960s, TV Landscapes, oversized 1980s paintings, and 1990s works. Concurrently, a smaller exhibition titled "Mario Schifano | Io guardo" is on view until May 16, 2026, at Galleria Lombardi in Rome. Curated by Lorenzo and Enrico Lombardi, it features about twenty works spanning thirty years of the artist's activity, including monochromes, advertising signs, anemical landscapes, the Futurism revisited cycle, equestrian paintings, and chromatic materials of the 1990s. The show is accompanied by a catalog with a critical text by Silvia Pegoraro.
This double presentation matters because it reaffirms Schifano's central role in the Scuola di Piazza del Popolo and his unique European reinterpretation of American Pop Art, transforming consumer and mass-media imagery into dense, layered painting suspended between memory, vision, and critique. The exhibitions highlight his relentless experimentation—from early international recognition in the 1960s, including exhibitions in the United States and at the Venice Biennale, to his later forays into photography and new media—underscoring his enduring influence on contemporary Italian art.