Presentation of the artist’s book: “Dal Libro della Vita” by Silvio Wolf, published by Prearo Editore (2026)

On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at 5.30PM

at BUILDING TERZO PIANO, Milan

 

The following guests will intervene in the presentation:

Silvio Wolf, the artist

Alberto Fiz, art critic and curator

Elio Franzini, philosopher and professor Professor of Aesthetics in the Department of Philosophy at the Università degli Studi di Milano

Giampaolo Prearo, art publisher and founder of Prearo Editore

 

The meeting will be held in Italian.

 

RSVP required, limited seats: events@building-gallery.com, +39 02 89094995

 

On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, at 5.30PM, BUILDING presents in BUILDING TERZO PIANO spaces, the artist’s book Dal Libro della Vita [From the Book of Life], published by Prearo Editore (Milan) in 2026. This bilingual book (Italian and English) consists of 15 original limited edition prints signed by Silvio Wolf and inserted into French-style quartini, enclosed in a black silk-lined box. The volume, accompanied by a conversation between Alberto Fiz and Silvio Wolf, summarises 45 years of the artist’s visual and existential research on the themes of the Threshold, Absence and Elsewhere.

The event will take place in the presence of artist Silvio Wolf, in a dialogue with Alberto Fiz, art critic and curator; Elio Franzini, philosopher and professor of Aesthetics in the Department of Philosophy at the Università degli Studi di Milano; and Giampaolo Prearo, founder of Prearo Editore.
During the event, some copies of the artist’s book will be available for sale at BUILDING‘s bookshop.

 

The event will take place o the occasion of the exhibition L’Altrove (24.02.2026-21.03.2026),  a solo exhibition by the artist Silvio Wolf (Milano, 1952), which brings together a selection of historical, recent, and unpublished photographic works created by the artist between 1989 and 2026, exploring the themes of Threshold, Absence, and Elsewhere. The exhibition also presents Aperture II (2009/2026), a visual and acoustic installation – with composition and sound design by Tiziano Crotti – conceived specifically for the exhibition space: an artwork in where reality is activated through each visitor’s experience, making them a co-author of a device in which time and image coincide in the present moment of the experience.
Simultaneously, at Gallery Moshe Tabibnia, the work Piccolo Myhrab Monumentale (1990) is on view, in which the artist tackles the themes of elsewhere and the threshold through the three-dimensional photographic reconstruction of an architectural element from Islamic tradition.

 

________

 

Silvio Wolf (Milano, 1952) lives and works between Milan and New York. He studied Philosophy and Psychology in Italy and Photography and Visual Arts in London, where he received the Higher Diploma in Advanced Photography from the London College of Printing. Until the mid-1980s, he worked exclusively with photography, exploring its forms, language, and the two-dimensionality of the image. His work took directions different from those of the tradition, which at the time tended to emphasize the testimonial and narrative value of the photographic image; instead, he sought a subjective and metaphorical vision of reality. He created polyptychs and large-format works to explore the limits of photographic representation, challenging the indexical nature of the medium through an interest in abstraction and the relationship between the visible and the invisible. Notable exhibitions from this period include: Nuova Immagine (1980), Palazzo della Triennale, Milan; Linee della Ricerca Artistica in Italia 1960/80 (1981), Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome; Aktuell ‘83, Lenbachhaus, Munich; L’Italie Aujourd’hui (1985), Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Nice; and Documenta VIII (1987), Kassel. From the late 1980s to the present, he has incorporated a broad spectrum of new media into his work, using moving images, projections, light, and sound. His works thus move beyond the two-dimensionality of photography, creating multimedia projects and sound installations that engage with architectural and social space, and with the specific characteristics of the places in which he works. The artist responds to the history and personality that spaces express, establishing a symbolic and experiential relationship with them, of which the public becomes an active and aware participant.
In his site-specific projects, as in his photographic work overall, the issues of Limit, Elsewhere, and Threshold remain central. He has exhibited in galleries and created temporary and permanent installations in museums, public spaces, and unconventional sites in Belgium, Canada, China, Korea, France, Germany, England, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. In 2009, he was invited to the 53rd Venice Biennale.

 

Alberto Fiz (Turin, 1963) is an art critic, exhibition curator and journalist specialising in art and the art market. He has organised scientific projects involving young artists and classical masters, acting as director and artistic consultant for public administrations and institutions. He has written extensively for publications and essays. Former artistic director of the MARCA museum in Catanzaro, he collaborates with the Exhibition Activities Structure of the Autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta and with numerous other institutions, including the Municipal Museum of Modern Art in Ascona. He created the sculpture project Intersezioni at the Scolacium Archaeological Park and the International Sculpture Park in Catanzaro, creating one of the most important public collections in southern Italy. He has collaborated with the Special Superintendency of Rome, with which he has organised exhibitions in archaeological areas such as the Baths of Diocletian, the Palatine Hill and the Baths of Caracalla. He inaugurated the XNL space in Piacenza with the exhibition La Rivoluzione siamo noi (We Are the Revolution). Contemporary Italian Collecting. He has contributed to the critical rediscovery of major artistic movements such as Analytical Painting and is a member of the scientific committee of the Mimmo Rotella Foundation. In addition to his critical work, he is interested in issues related to collecting and is an art advisor to Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking. He collaborates with ‘Arte’, ‘Il Giornale dell’Arte’ and ‘Art e Dossier’.

 

Elio Franzini is Professor of Aesthetics in the Department of Philosophy at the Università degli Studi di Milano. An heir to the Milanese phenomenological tradition, he has addressed the main aesthetic problems in philosophical thought from the eighteenth century to the present day, with particular reference to the problem of the symbol, the status of the work of art, and the imaginary. Among his most recent works are: Modern and Postmodern: An Assessment (Cortina, 2018), Philosophy for the Present (Morcelliana, 2022), and Logic of Truth: Metaphysics and Things (Cortina, 2024). A new study of his on the emerging forms of tribalism in contemporary aesthetic thought is currently in press.

 

Giampaolo Prearo (Milan) is an art publisher, founder of Prearo Editore, established in 1969. A central figure in the field of contemporary Italian art publishing, he has devoted over fifty years to producing monographs and artist’s books created in close collaboration with the artists themselves, contributing to the recognition of major protagonists of modern and contemporary art—often anticipating their critical and market success.
Among his earliest and most significant publications are the catalogue raisonné of Piero Manzoni (1973), the monograph on Mimmo Rotella, and volumes dedicated to Giulio Turcato, Alighiero Boetti, Christo, Antonio Marras, among many others. He also promoted influential theoretical series that contributed significantly to critical debate, collaborating with leading scholars such as Germano Celant, Tommaso Trini, and Achille Bonito Oliva.
Throughout his career, he has combined publishing with cultural promotion through exhibitions, performances, and experimental projects, consistently maintaining an independent and forward-looking vision. In 2019, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of his activity, he received the special mention “Prince of Art Publishers” from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. Today, Prearo continues his work in Milan, confirming his role as a key reference point in contemporary art.