Stretching the spectrum of Italian contemporary art in Shanghai

This spring, the Modern Art Museum Shanghai (MAM) will become a portal to Italy – not through postcards or pasta but through a collision of cinema and circuitry, stardom and silence.

Under the poetic theme "Italian Spring at MAM," the museum unveils two solo exhibitions that together stretch the spectrum of Italian contemporary art: Halo by Shay Frisch and Diva by Francesco Vezzoli.

Running through June 2, these exhibitions mark both artists' first museum shows in China. Their visions couldn't be more different – yet both channel invisible forces, whether radiating from a glowing circuit grid or seeping through a stitched film still.

Walk into Halo and you're immediately absorbed by a soft, humming geometry. Israeli-Italian artist Frisch transforms cold industrial materials, such as electric circuits, custom conductors, and precise electronic units, into fields of radiant energy. These aren't sculptures in the traditional sense; they are energy systems, calibrated lightscapes that spill into the room like invisible halos.

"Light can be visible or invisible, but it always expresses the inner essence of things," Frisch said. To him, a halo isn't simply something to see; it's something to feel. "The artwork is actually invisible. What you see is only the generator."

Curated by MAM's Artistic Director Shai Baitel, Halo fills the museum's cavernous space with quiet voltage. The installations glow with a meditative hum, creating a temple-like atmosphere where energy becomes a metaphor for presence, perception, and transformation. The effect is hypnotic: sacred and secular, minimal and monumental.

One floor below, a different kind of light glistens, studio spotlights, flickering reels, and the shimmering tears of screen goddesses. In Diva, Vezzoli – Milan's master of cinematic pastiche – turns the museum into a gallery of icons and illusions.

Through hand-embroidered recreations of vintage movie posters, the artist reimagines the mythologies surrounding 20th-century European actresses such as Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren and Isa Stoppi. Each piece pairs glittering threadwork with cult-classic film imagery, peeling back the glamor to reveal its fragility.

"'Diva' unfolds on two intertwined paths," Vezzoli said. "One is a historical narrative of film; the other is a deeply personal meditation, emotional, aesthetic and cultural."

Co-curated by Baitel and curator Nancy Spector (formerly of the Guggenheim), Diva draws upon Vezzoli's 25-year exploration of fame and femininity. The long corridors of the museum become cinematic timelines, stitched with irony, reverence and raw emotion.

"Vezzoli invites viewers to question what is authentic and what is performed," Baitel said.

Date: Through June 2

Venue: Modern Art Museum Shanghai

Address: 4777 Binjiang Ave 滨江大道4777号

Admission: 60 yuan (US$8.2)