Maurizio Cattelan – Seasons

The exhibition Seasons by Maurizio Cattelan (Padova, 1960), conceived for GAMeC’s program Thinking Like a Mountain – The Orobie Biennial, unfolds as a visual journey through the city of Bergamo. It encourages a deep reflection on the cyclical nature of life and history, on generations, on the rise and fall of values, and on the transformations of both the individual and society.

The title of the exhibition is a clear reference to the seasons—universal symbols of transition and renewal—serving as an invitation to reflect on the passage of time, but also as an exhortation to experience reality in all its complexity and drama through art, which does not merely represent the world, but interprets, questions, and transforms it.

Four sculptures are presented, along a route that includes four venues: a recent work in the Sala delle Capriate of the Palazzo della Ragione—since 2018 the museum’s summer venue in the heart of Bergamo Alta; two new works at GAMeC’s historic headquarters on Via San Tomaso and at the nearby Oratorio di San Lupo; and a site-specific installation for a public space, staged in collaboration with the Municipality of Bergamo.

A significant symbol throughout the exhibition is the image of the eagle—an animal emblematic of the mountains and unspoiled nature—which, since antiquity, has embodied power, domination, and expansionist ambition. The work installed in the Oratorio di San Lupo challenges this symbolic tradition, presenting the eagle in its purest and most vulnerable form.

The second work created for the exhibition in Bergamo reflects on a power that never materializes and explores the tension between the ambition to build and conquer and the impossibility of acting in a context that restricts every move. Made of glass, the piece suggests a potential act of rebellion that never takes shape—a desire for rupture that goes unfulfilled, a revolution without result.

The third work is an installation conceived by Maurizio Cattelan for one of the city’s most iconic locations. The intervention weaves together references to national and local history, the role of monuments, and the crisis of values, encouraging critical reflection on the complexity of our times. The piece is also a gentle anthem to rebellion and an invitation to reconsider the values of unity in light of ongoing social and historical changes.

The final work in the exhibition urges reflection on our relationship with marginality, justice, and decay, but also on the sense of freedom that the weakest and most vulnerable can sometimes embody. Made of marble, the sculpture creates a powerful contrast with the exhibition space and questions our relationship with structures of power and societal values.

Though presented independently, the four works are in close dialogue with one another. They reflect our lived experiences and convey a message that concerns not only the past but also challenges the present and the future of our society and each of us individually. They become symbols of a broader reflection on our existence and our responsibilities toward the environment and the community.

Completing the exhibition will be a communication campaign that, in addition to a series of street posters, will also involve Bergamo’s Kilometro Rosso, for which the artist has imagined a special site-specific adaptation of the project’s visual identity, specifically conceived for the portals of the iconic red wall designed by Jean Nouvel.