With a new group exhibition, Galleria Erica Ravenna—drawing inspiration from Nicolas Bourriaud’s 1998 essay Relational Aesthetics—raises the question of the artwork not as a simple object, but as the result of a dynamic encounter between artist and viewer.

The mental history implied in the painting lies in the one who looks at it, or rather in the one who 'reads' it—in other words, it is the viewers who make the painting.

(Marcel Duchamp, 1887–1968)

While the artist initiates the creative process, often in solitude, it is the viewer’s interpretation and engagement that give the work its full existence. "Relational artists" expand on Duchamp’s theorem, exploring different ways of involving and collaborating with the audience—inviting others into their creative process, relinquishing some control, embracing chance, and trusting the viewer-turned-participant. Ultimately, the artwork becomes a two-way dialogue in which meaning is co-created and the experience is shared.

Bourriaud’s Relational Aesthetics goes beyond a simple art theory and becomes a philosophy of form. "Form" is not merely a visual aspect, but a coherent structure that emerges from an exchange of elements and shapes existence itself, emphasizing the vital importance of human interaction and social relationships.

Tutta l’arte è relazionale: ? brings together three generations of artists—Vincenzo Agnetti, Gianfranco Baruchello, Tomaso Binga, Alighiero Boetti, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Mike Kelley & Paul McCarthy, Céline Condorelli, Mocellin Pellegrini—and offers an exploration of the concept and its evolution in our times: an era marked by post-isolation, post-relationality, post production, and the looming presence of artificial intelligence, where reality is perpetually mediated by technology and isolation has only intensified our desire for authentic connections and shared experiences that transcend the screen.

Relational aesthetics, with its emphasis on human interaction and co-created meaning, resonates with increasing power. The artist becomes a facilitator, a catalyst for relationships, a “producer” of experiences—or, as Vincenzo Agnetti described it, a “cultural operator”, a master of authentic encounters.

Throughout its run, the exhibition will include a series of talks, conversations, and performances featuring, among others: Céline Condorelli, Mocellin Pellegrini, Germana Agnetti, Andrea Cortellessa, Ilaria Gianni, Colin Ledoux, Carla Subrizi, Saverio Verini, and Giordano Boetti Editions.