TRAGICOMICA. Perspectives on Italian art from the mid-20th century to today
Curated by Andrea Bellini and Francesco Stocchi
MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome
1 April – 27 September 2026

A broad, multidisciplinary reinterpretation of Italian cultural production from the post-war period to the present day, through the works of over 130 artists. Tragicomica brings together over 300 works to explore the ironic element that runs through Italian culture, which the philosopher Giorgio Agamben defined as a “stubborn anti-tragic intention” (Categorie italiane, 1996). More than a mere attitude, it is a genuine national sensibility that finds its first and highest reference in Dante’s Comedy: the revolutionary approach of tackling the most complex themes through a tone rooted in everyday life, weaving ‘high’ culture and popular culture in a continuous and fertile exchange. The exhibition spans over eighty years, from the post-war period to the present day, focusing on artists who have made this tension between the tragic and the comic the centre of their poetics and their view of the world. What emerges is an alternative narrative of Italian art—one that disrupts the canon, expands it, and offers a layered, alternative reading of the history of national art. Tragicomica explores these themes across cultural production broadly, including cinema, theatre, architecture, literature, and philosophy.