The Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea or PAC is a

museum of contemporary art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to: Africa * Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi Asia East Asia * Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy. It is on via Palestro, next to the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, and across from the

Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli Giardini Pubblici Indro Montanelli ("Indro Montanelli Public Gardens"), formerly known as Giardini Pubblici and Giardini di Porta Venezia (and renamed after journalist and writer Indro Montanelli in 2002) are a major and historic city park in Mi ...

History

In 1947 the Municipality of Milan, pressed by the need to find a new exhibition space for contemporary art, focused its attention on the site of Villa Belgioiosa, destroyed by bombing in 1943. It was decided to use the Villa as a site for the Modern Art Gallery, and to build a brand new space exclusively devoted to contemporary art. The design by the architect

Ignazio Gardella Ignazio Gardella (30 March 1905 in Milan, Lombardy – 16 March 1999) was an Italian architect and designer. Biography Born into a family of architects, the first of whom was his namesake (1803–1867). Gardella graduated in engineering fro ...

was preliminarily selected in March 1948, and the Pavilion was inaugurated in 1954. In 1979, PAC reopened after a long period of closure for renovations. In 1993 a bomb destroyed the building (

Via Palestro massacre The Via Palestro massacre (Italian: ''Strage di Via Palestro'') was a terrorist attack carried out by Cosa Nostra in Milan on the evening of 27 July 1993. The explosion of a car bomb in Via Palestro, near the Galleria d'Arte Moderna, resulted in ...

) at a time when Italy was heavily committed in its fight against

the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

. Gardella subsequently rebuilt the exhibiting space according to the original design, though with key technical improvements. In 1996 PAC resumed its normal activity with an exhibition dedicated to

Leo Castelli Leo Castelli (born Leo Krausz; September 4, 1907 – August 21, 1999) was an Italian-American art dealer who originated the contemporary art gallery system. His gallery showcased contemporary art for five decades. Among the movements which ...

. Over the past thirty years PAC have organised solo presentations of international artists such as Marina Abramovic,

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

Jivya Soma Mashe Jivya Soma Mashe (1934 - 15 May 2018) was an artist of the Maharashtra state in India, who popularised the Warli tribal art form. Mashe was born in Dhamangaon village in Talasari taluka of Thane district of Maharashtra. At the age of 11, he ca ...

Christian Boltanski Christian Liberté Boltanski (6 September 1944 – 14 July 2021) was a French sculptor, photographer, painter, and film maker. He is best known for his photography installations and contemporary French Conceptual art, conceptual style. Early li ...

, Chen Zhen,

Lucio Fontana Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor and theorist. He is mostly known as the founder of Spatialism. Early life Born in Rosario, to Italian immigrant parents, he was t ...

Franko B Franko B (born in Milan in 1960) is an Italian performance artist based in London, where he has lived since 1979. He studied fine art at Camberwell College of Arts (1986–87), Chelsea College of Art (1987–90) and the Byam Shaw School of Art (19 ...

Regina José Galindo Regina José Galindo (born August 27, 1974) is a Guatemalan performance artist who specializes in body art. She was born in Guatemala City. Early work Remarkably, for an artist who is known for the political themes of her work, Galindo grew up ...

, Alberto Garutti,

Jannis Kounellis Jannis Kounellis ( el, Γιάννης Κουνέλλης; 23 March 1936 – 16 February 2017) was a Greek Italian artist based in Rome. A key figure associated with Arte Povera, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. Life and work ...

, Richard Long,

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American Abstract Expressionism, abstract expressionist Painting, painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of th ...

Pino Pascali Pino Pascali (19 October 1935 – 11 September 1968) was an Italian artist, sculptor, set designer and performer.

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

Yinka Shonibare Yinka Shonibare (born 9 August 1962), is a British-Nigerian artist living in the United Kingdom. His work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation. A hallmark of his art is t ...

Tony Oursler Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

, Jeff Wall and

Zhang Huan Zhang Huan (; born 1965) is a Chinese artist based in Shanghai and New York City. He began his career as a painter and then transitioned to performance art before making a comeback to painting. He is primarily known for his performance work, but a ...

. In 1994

Maurizio Cattelan Maurizio Cattelan (born 21 September 1960) is an Italian artist. Known primarily for his hyperrealistic sculptures and installations, Cattelan's practice also includes curating and publishing. His satirical approach to art has resulted in him bei ...

presented at the Laure Genillard Gallery in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

a sculpture called ''Lullaby'' consisting of a blue bag containing debris he collected from PAC after the bombing. The piece is part of the collection of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Art museums and galleries in Milan Contemporary art galleries in Italy Art museums established in 1954 1954 establishments in Italy Modern art museums in Italy Tourist attractions in Milan