A visual parable on solitude and hope

In a deserted Milan, a man deeply irritated by others wakes up to find what he has always desired: absolute solitude. But the initial euphoria soon transforms into a metaphysical nightmare. The drift reaches its conclusion when even his own shadow decides to abandon him.

With Story of a Man Alone, Paolo Ventura builds a surreal parable that questions one of the most pressing themes of our time: the risk of a chosen solitude that becomes a prison, individualism as the slow dissolution of the self. A visual narrative suspended between reality and melancholic fable, it returns to the viewer an essential question: what do we lose when we close ourselves off from others?

It is from this very void that the space of hope opens: the awareness of what we lose becomes the key to finding ourselves again, to believing that renewal is still possible.

 

Public art, open to all

Story of a Man Alone is an open-air exhibition, installed along Via Santa Croce in the heart of Milan. Anyone passing through the neighbourhood can experience it, free of charge and without booking. The show reaches even those who did not seek it out, opening a dialogue between the story of a deserted Milan and the vibrant, active Milan of Fondazione IBVA.

The project is curated by Denis Curti and realised with the support of Fondazione Deloitte, as part of the fourth edition of Le Parole del Pane Festival 2026, promoted by Fondazione IBVA and dedicated this year to the theme of Hope.

The vernissage is scheduled for Friday 5 June at 8:00 pm.

 

A moment of major international visibility

This Milanese project comes at a particularly significant moment for the artist: on 4 June, Ventura is among the protagonists of a group exhibition at the Newton Foundation in Berlin — a further confirmation of his international standing and his central role in the landscape of contemporary art photography.

 

Paolo Ventura

Born in Milan in 1968, Paolo Ventura is one of the most internationally acclaimed Italian visual artists. His practice merges photography, painting and set design into hand-crafted visual narratives, populated by figures, miniature theatres and settings that evoke a time suspended between memory and melancholic fable. After studying at the Accademia di Brera and spending an extended period in New York, Ventura has exhibited in museums and institutions worldwide. He has worked with MARCOROSSI artecontemporanea for many years, a partnership that has produced some of his most significant exhibitions in Italy.

 

Denis Curti

Curator of the exhibition, Denis Curti is the artistic director of the Stanze della Fotografia in Venice and founder of the Milan space STILL. For over fifteen years he served as photography critic for Vivimilano and Corriere della Sera, and is one of the most authoritative voices in Italian contemporary photography.

Info:

5 June – 8 July 2026, Via Santa Croce, Milan – Fondazione IBVA

Free admission, no booking required

www.ibva.it