The painter Mario Schifano enters the Valentino universe. The occasion is given by the opening of the new Valentino flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York. From 8 November 2023, the Maison will host an exclusive exhibition of the Italian artist in the spaces of its boutique, organized in collaboration with Magazzino Italian Art, a museum and research center dedicated to post-war Italian art based in Philipstown, New York. The primary aim of the initiative is to celebrate Italian excellence in art and fashion by underlining how these two precious realities do not belong to distant worlds but, on the contrary, are the same world. The New York exhibition includes five large paintings made by Schifano, a controversial artist who has spent his entire life connecting Roman creative energy with that of the Big Apple. On stage there are therefore not only his works but all of his poetics. Schifano’s paintings always require us to move a little further, they push us to ask ourselves questions about the new frontiers of creation and invite us to analyze functions, customs, social roles, cultural and political contexts. More than an artistic exercise, it is a philosophy. This homage to the Belpaese is only the first step of a long journey that will involve the fashion house and Magazzino through a series of exhibitions dedicated to famous Italian artists. By Germano D’Acquisto