Photographic Exhibition by Antonio Schiavano

Palazzo Regione Lombardia – Oasi Life Experience | 13 – 26 aprile 2026

On the occasion of Milano Art Week 2026 and Milano Design Week 2026, photographer and artist Antonio Schiavano presented the exhibition La Bellezza oltre lo specchio, a project that unfolds within the vision of Oasi Life Experience, a hybrid space located in the square of Palazzo Regione Lombardia, where art, design, and research converge to generate new forms of contemporary narrative.

Within this context, the exhibition is not merely a display, but an experience capable of engaging in dialogue with the very identity of the venue: a place conceived to welcome, cross-pollinate, and transform different languages. Here, design is not only aesthetics, but a narrative structure, while art becomes a critical tool capable of questioning the present.

Schiavano’s work stems from a long experience in commercial and beauty photography, fields in which the image is often polished, constructed, and tightly controlled. With La Bellezza oltre lo specchio, the artist performs a radical gesture: he intervenes directly on the photographs through abrasions, incisions, and material layering. The face thus loses its flawless surface to become a field of tension, a fragile and unstable space in which imperfection is transformed into language.

This process challenges the codes of contemporary representation, revealing what is usually concealed. Subtraction becomes a critical act, while matter restores a deeper and more complex truth of the image, opening a reflection on the construction of identity and on self-perception within contemporary society.

The dialogue between art and space also finds meaningful synthesis through the contribution of Adriana Lohmann, Art Director of Oasi Life Experience, and Letizia Fontanelli of Idea Integrale, who have accompanied and enriched the project within a shared design framework, where every element, from the installation to the narrative, contributes to building a coherent and immersive experience.

THE INAUGURATION BY THE PRESIDENT OF REGIONE LOMBARDIA

The project was inaugurated by the President of Regione Lombardia, Attilio Fontana, whose presence highlighted the cultural significance of the initiative, also documented by the Lombardia Notizie cameras, which covered the exhibition through an interview with the artist.

La Bellezza oltre lo specchio thus emerges as a project that goes beyond the image itself, becoming an inquiry into our time, in which art and design collaborate to redefine the boundaries of representation and open new possibilities of perception.

THE TALK WITH THE CURATOR

A central moment of the exhibition was the talk held on 18 April, which brought together on stage, alongside the artist, curator Alisia Viola, Adriana Lohmann, and Letizia Fontanelli, in an open dialogue that went beyond the boundaries of art to address broader themes related to identity, aesthetics, and self-perception. It was an occasion for exchange that gave the exhibition an even more vivid and participatory dimension.

Discover the exhibited artistic projects:

A visual inquiry that delves beyond appearance, restoring meaning to imperfection. Each mark becomes a revelation, each manual intervention a critical act against the falsification of reality. The result is a visceral manifesto that challenges imposed models and returns the gaze to the truth of form.

An immersion into the instability of personal image, where unsettled silhouettes slip between appearance and desire. The works explore the influence of external judgement on the construction of identity, offering an emotionally charged landscape that is fragile, dense, and profoundly human.