I visited Yukinori Yanagi’s solo exhibition “ICARUS.” The venue is Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, Italy.Pirelli HangarBicocca is a contemporary art center established in 2004 by the major Italian tire maker Pirelli. Pirelli positions its support for cultural activities as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), and — aiming to spread contemporary art and contribute to the local community — it makes admission free.There are three main galleries; Yanagi’s solo show was held in the gallery called “navate.”“ICARUS” is Yukinori Yanagi’s first large-scale retrospective in Europe, showing his signature works from the 1990s and 2000s along with recent pieces. Large-scale installations are reconstructed in the vast space of a former factory, offering fresh perspectives on themes such as nationalism, systems of governance, and the paradoxes of contemporary society.
Yanagi’s work explores complex issues such as sovereignty, globalization, and borders; digging into Japanese history, it engages universal themes such as nationalism, modernization, and technology’s impact on society. His method lies in dismantling and reconstructing the symbolic images and preconceptions of political and national oppression into organic, mutable forms.Back: Project God-zilla 2025 The Revenant from “El Mare Pacificum”, 2025; Front: Article 9, 1994
Tokyo Diagram, 2024Left: Banzai Container, 2025Icarus Container 2025, 2025Icarus Container 2025, 2025Icarus Container 2025, 2025Icarus Container 2025, 2025Icarus Container 2025, 2025Back: Absolute Dud, 2007Nagato 70·l, 2021Atomic Clouds over Ground Zero (Left) From the Ground, Hiroshima, 8:30am, August 6, 1945 (Right) From the Sky, Hiroshima, 8:30am, August 6, 1945 Cyanotype exposed by the sun of 8:30am, August 6, 2024, 2024Nagato x Operation Crossroads “Baker”, July 25, 1946 Cyanotype exposed by the Sun of July 25, 2024, 2024Hinomaru Illumination 2025, 2025Hinomaru Illumination 2025, 2025 *from the backBack: The World Flag Ant Farm 2025, 2025; Front: Wandering Position, 2025
The World Flag Ant Farm 2025 (detail)You could see several living ants in the work.
Pirelli HangarBicocca is a contemporary art center established in 2004 by the major Italian tire maker Pirelli. Pirelli positions its support for cultural activities as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR), and — aiming to spread contemporary art and contribute to the local community — it makes admission free.
