Tomás Saraceno at the Palazzo Strozzi

Contemporary art in Florence can feel stifled by the sheer quantity of historical works in the cultural epicentre’s grasp. However, Tomás Saraceno, a contributor to the Nicole Brachetti Peretti Collection, has become the latest in a line of international contemporary artists to present solo shows at the Palazzo Strozzi, a Renaissance palace and gallery set back from the Arno. Since 2015, Director-General of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Arturo Galansino, has been blazing a trail for contemporary artists at the gallery space, including show commissions for Marina Abramović and Ai Weiwei. Saraceno’s turn in the 15th Century palazzo will feature his iconic spider web-style installations which infest and sprawl throughout the historic architecture of the Strozzi. So too will the exhibition show a series of his sculptures that act as prototypes to his large eco-aware aerosolar machines, footage of which will be shown on monitors in the exhibition space. In Apollo Magazine’s recent piece on the show, Saraceno’s work has been likened to that of the great minds of the Renaissance masters, “not least Leonardo and his speculative sketches of flying machines.” It seems the bridge between the contemporary and the classical is bridged by progressive and innovative thought.