Abitare lo spazio

Pirelli HangarBicocca presents Abitare lo spazio (Inhabiting Space), the first museum retrospective in Italy dedicated to Luciano Fabro (1936–2007) since his death. The exhibition traces the artist’s entire career through approximately fifty sculptures and installations, highlighting the continued relevance of his research and his fundamental contribution to postwar Italian art.

A leading figure of Arte Povera, Fabro explored the relationship between the body, perception, and space, experimenting with different materials and bringing sculpture, painting, and architecture into dialogue. At the heart of the exhibition is the concept of habitat: an environment to be traversed and inhabited, capable of engaging the senses and generating new relationships between the artwork and the viewer, moving beyond the neutrality of the exhibition space.

The exhibition features iconic works such as In cubo (In a Cube) (1966), Lo spirato (The Deceased) (1968–73), and Habitat (di Rotterdam) (Habitat [of Rotterdam]) (1981), alongside works that explore cosmological dimensions, dualities, and reflections on existence. The exhibition alternates between individual sculptures and complex environments, inviting visitors to engage in an immersive experience in which matter, light, and space continually redefine perception.

Through a rigorous yet sensual approach to research, Fabro expanded the boundaries of contemporary sculpture, leaving behind a significant artistic and theoretical legacy. The retrospective also offers an opportunity to rediscover the artist’s deep connection with Milan, the city where he lived, taught, and actively contributed to the training of new generations of artists.