7 artists redefining Italy’s contemporary art scene

Italy has long been a global hub for artistic innovation, stretching its influence from the grand frescoes of the Renaissance to the radical Italian art of the late 1960s and 1970s, when artists explored a wide range of unconventionality. It spans centuries to the conceptual audacity of the movement Arte Povera. Events like the Venice Biennale highlight the country’s role in shaping the trajectory of contemporary art. From Simone Lee’s powerful sculptures to Sonia Boyce’s exploration of black identity, it marks a shift toward voices that challenge historical norms and amplify diverse perspectives. In this dynamic, a new generation of Italian female artists is creating works that firmly place Italian contemporary art within the global discourse.

Among these up-and-coming artists is Irene Coppola, who explores humanity’s fractured relationship with nature through organic materials. Sylvia Rosi reconstructs her family’s migration story through self-portraits. Marta Roberti reconsiders myth and metamorphosis. Camila Alberti combines art and science in her intricate installations. Sara Regissa transforms public spaces into places of activity. Elena Mazzi investigates the intersection of landscape and memory. Rosana Oke’s ephemeral balloon art reflects the delicate balance of life.

Their practice bridges tradition and innovation, reflecting the urgency of today’s concerns without losing sight of Italy’s deep artistic tradition. This interplay between past and present, local and global, is redefining what it means to create art in a country that is often seen as a living museum.

Identity, nature, and the power of memory

For many of these artists, their practice has become a means of exploring fundamental questions about individual and collective identity, and humanity’s relationship to the natural world.

Irene Coppola embodies this approach by incorporating organic materials such as soil and plants into her sculptures and installations. Her works act as quiet meditations on ecological imbalance, inviting viewers to consider their role within fragile ecosystems. Coppola’s art goes beyond representation and serves as a tactile reminder of humanity’s connection to and responsibility for the environment.

Photographer and performance artist Sylvia Rosi brings a deeply personal lens to her work. Born to Togolese immigrants, Rosi explores her family’s migration story, with a particular focus on her mother’s experiences. Rosi reconstructs moments of labor and resilience through self-portraits that bear the persona of her mother, offering a nuanced reflection on diaspora, race, and heritage in contemporary Europe.

Similarly, Marta Roberti navigates themes of transformation and myth. Her multimedia works explore the metamorphosis of humans becoming animals and vice versa, drawing on feminist theory and ancient stories. By blurring the boundaries between the human and the mythical, Roberti encourages a reassessment of gender, identity, and the body’s place in the natural world.

science, public spaces and collaboration

Other artists bridge art and science, public engagement, and geographic storytelling, expanding the scope of what contemporary art can encompass.

Camila Alberti’s installations often evoke the atmosphere of a science laboratory, combining elements of biology, ecology, and detective fiction. Through intricate arrangements of plant, mineral, and animal specimens, Alberti draws attention to the interconnectedness of natural systems and the precarious balances that sustain them. Her work serves as a silent call to wonder and preservation.

Sara Regissa takes a different approach, using public performance to explore themes of individual agency and collective action. By placing art in streets and public spaces rather than traditional galleries, Regissa invites the community to directly engage with her work. This participatory art model challenges traditional notions of audience and transforms public spaces into forums for dialogue about autonomy and activism.

Elena Mazzi focuses on the intersection of landscape and memory. Her video and installation works examine how natural history and human history are intertwined in specific places, shaping and being shaped by the environment. By grounding her work in the physicality of place, Mazzi opens up new ways of thinking about how geography informs identity and collective experience.

Rosana Oke: Balancing ephemerality and depth

Among these diverse voices are Rosana, known as “Balloon Girl” for her unique use of balloons as a symbol of fragility and resilience, control and chaos, the beauty of impermanence, and the interconnectedness of all living things; There’s an orchestra. This temporary medium becomes a metaphor for human existence, the essence of life.

Oke’s balloons were exhibited in the prestigious Pananti Museum in Florence in the form of a painting, once again emphasizing the contrast between the symbolic nature of the form and the weightlessness of the subject matter that lifts us to new heights. This interaction also invites viewers to ponder the balance between the art’s deep meaning and its playful essence.

Oke takes this concept further by turning the bursting of a balloon into a moment of rebirth. When the balloons burst, colorful flowers and landscapes appear. Currently based in Manhattan, her work has garnered significant attention, culminating in her first solo exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York City on December 16, 2024.

Her perspective is also shaped by her interest in fashion, which she sees as an equally dynamic field where creativity and reinvention coexist with a strong sense of identity. Staying true to her core concept of boundless optimism, she confessed that she intended to “fill the Manhattan sky with balloons filled with soul.”

modern evolution

Italy’s art scene is often associated with its historical heritage, but these artists are reinventing that narrative for the present. By addressing important issues of identity, ecology and social engagement, they demonstrate that Italy’s artistic relevance extends beyond its storied past.

This new generation represents a broader evolution in how the arts are conceived and practiced, integrating traditional and experimental approaches while directly addressing the challenges of today’s world. I am. Through their work, Coppola, Rosi, Roberti, Alberti, Mazzi, Regissa and Oke explore how Italian art is evolving, not by looking back, but by grappling with the complexities of the present and imagining the possibilities of the future. It shows whether you are continuing.