Claudio Verna. La luce è un luogo (Light is a place)

From 25 September to 25 October 2026, the historic venue of Villa delle Rose hosts the exhibition Claudio Verna. La luce è un luogo, dedicated to one of the leading masters and key figures of Italian painting in the second half of the 20th century.

Curated by Lorenzo Balbi and Giulia Pezzoli and organised in collaboration with LABS Contemporary Art, the project is not conceived as a conventional retrospective, but as a rigorous and carefully balanced exhibition itinerary designed to convey the rhythm, dynamic tension and vitality that have characterised more than sixty years of artistic research.

Through a carefully selected group of works, the exhibition - whose title is taken from a phrase by the English poet Dylan Thomas, Light is a place - highlights how the different periods of Claudio Verna’s work do not follow one another in a rigid sequence, but instead echo, revive and overlap with one another, revealing a profound consistency of vision.

The exhibition begins in 1967, the year that marked the start of the artist’s celebrated analytical period, and continues with a selection of masterpieces from the 1970s.
On the upper floor, works from the 1980s and 1990s will be displayed, leading up to his most recent and contemporary production.
At the heart of the exhibition is the vibrant dialogue between geometry and colour, the latter understood as a physical, sensory and emotional experience capable of generating space and light.

On the occasion of the exhibition, the new Catalogo Ragionato dell’opera di Claudio Verna (2010-2025), edited by Alberto Mugnaini and published in 2026 by Dario Cimorelli Editore, will be presented to the public.

Exhibition opening: Thursday, 24 September 2026 at 5:00 P.M.