“Pirelli HangarBicocca presents ‘Ground Break,’ an exhibition dedicated to one of America’s foremost contemporary artists, Nari Ward. Since the 1990s, Ward has produced installation comprising everyday objects and re-purposed highly symbolic materials to make layered references to social issues and historical traumas—past, recent and contemporary. 

In ‘Ground Break,’ the artist stages a monumental choreography of works from the past 30 years alongside new productions, creating a highly engaging dialogue between sculpture, video, and installation. The exhibition, which is accompanied by a program of live performances in collaboration with other artists and musicians, invites reflection on some of the central issues of our time, such as social responsibility, inequality, exclusion, and migration, and offers possible visions of transformation and change.” — Pirelli HangarBicocca

Nari Ward “Ground Break”, exhibition views at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2024. Photos Courtesy the artist and Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. Photos Agostino Osio. All works © Nari Ward Studio. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Seoul, and London, and GALLERIA CONTINUA. 

Exhibition curated by cura di Roberta Tenconi con Lucia Aspesi.

Title image: Nari Ward. Carpet Angel, 1992. Installation view at Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan, 2024. The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Gift of Jennifer McSweeney, in memory of Joan “Penny” McCall. Photo Courtesy the artist and Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan. Photo Agostino Osio.