Mother Exhibition Palazzo Reale Milan

Milan’s Palazzo Reale has launched "The Great Mother," a massive exhibition exploring the evolution of motherhood and female power throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Curated by Massimiliano Gioni and produced by the Nicola Trussardi Foundation, the show features over 400 works by 127 international artists, including Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, and Rineke Dijkstra. The exhibition spans 29 halls, juxtaposing avant-garde historical works with contemporary installations to examine how gender roles and the maternal image have been constructed, challenged, and reclaimed.

This encyclopedic exhibition is significant for its scale and its nuanced approach to gender, moving beyond binary definitions to present motherhood as a complex spectrum of power and social expectation. By including both male and female artists, Gioni highlights how the maternal image was historically shaped by men while showcasing the radical ways women artists have subverted these tropes. The show’s presence in the Palazzo Reale—a site historically associated with male political authority—adds a layer of institutional critique to its exploration of domestic and creative agency.