Non the beating heart of Milan, among the rooms of the Permanente Museum, an unconventional work has captured attention, glances and thoughts. It’s called Good — and behind this disarming title lies a bold and sensual work, as powerful as it is fragile. He is the one who signed it Maria Giovanna Zanella, 34 years old, born in Schio and already considered one of the most interesting voices in Italian contemporary art.
During the opening night of the 24th edition of the Cairo Prizeit was his work that won over everyone. A sculpture made entirely of breadwhere matter is transformed into metaphor: bodies, fragments, impulses merge into a mixture of memory, flesh and myth. A delicate and brutal synthesis, archaic and contemporary at the same time, which convinced the jury “for its ability to return us to the essentiality of life with simple material and in a light manner, but not without vigorous linguistic invention”.
The 24th Cairo Prize a Maria Giovanna Zanella
An important recognition – 25,000 euros and the entry of the work into the Cairo Prize Collection – for an artist who turns vulnerability into a creative force. Painting, sculpture, organic materials and alchemical processes: Zanella carries out research that embraces the body and describes it as a terrain of transformation, passion and resistance. A necessary voice, feminine but never reductive, which delves into matter and psyche.
Maria Giovanna Zanella in front of her work “Buoni”
His victory also marks a significant moment for the panorama of Italian art: a signal of openness, of listening to new, less rhetorical, more intimate sensibilities. And of space for female artists, often still too little represented in the major awards.
The cover of the December issue of “Arte” will be dedicated to her, with an exclusive interview that will delve into her creative universe.
But the 2025 Cairo Prize does not end with victory: From 14 to 19 October, the exhibition with the 20 finalist works is open to the public free of charge at the Permanente Museum. Alongside the unpublished works of the artists selected by the editorial staff of Artalso the historic collection of the winners of previous editions and the exhibition “The great self-portraits for Art”, with iconic names of the twentieth century such as Guttuso, Oppenheim and Melotti.
The entire ceremony was streamed on corriere.it, while on Instagram, the account @artemagazine.official tells in real time all the phases of this now indispensable event for those who follow contemporary Italian art.
The jury
The jury for this edition was chaired by Bruno CoràPresident of the Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri Foundation of Città di Castello, assisted by highly respected experts from the art world; Luca Massimo BarberoDirector of the Institute of Art History of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice; Mariolina Bassetti, Chairman Christie’s Italia; Chiara GattiArtistic Director of the MAN Museum in Nuoro; Lorenzo GiustiDirector of Gamec, Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery of Bergamo; Gianfranco MaranielloDirector of the Museums of Modern and Contemporary Art Area of the Municipality of Milan; Renata Cristina MazzantiniDirector of the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome; and finally Emilio Isgròthe master of “erasures”, one of the best-known Italian names internationally in the world of contemporary art.
Behind the award, the vision and support of Urbano Cairo, who has passionately promoted young artistic talents since 2000. And alongside him, a network of partners who believe in culture as a tool for change: Banco BPM, MG, Baratti & Milano, Bianchi, Franzosini, LifeGate, Corriere della Sera and many others.
But today, more than anything, is Maria Giovanna Zanella’s day. From a sculpture born from leavening and uncertain temperature, like life. Of an artistic gesture that puts the body at the center, that speaks of good and bad, but above all of humans.
And of a woman who, through art, finds her space. And he conquers it.