Zenato Academy opens the Photography Exhibition “On the borders of iconography” in Venice
May 8 – June 1, 2025, Palazzo Corner Mocenigo, Venice
Zenato Academy opens the Photography Exhibition “On the borders of iconography” in Venice For the first time, a group exhibition featuring works from the Zenato Academy collection will be on public display, with free admission until June 1st.
Venice, May 8, 2025 – Zenato Academy proudly presents the photography exhibition “On the borders of iconography” hosted at the prestigious Palazzo Corner Mocenigo (Campo S. Polo) in Venice. Curated by Luca Panaro and held under the patronage of the City of Venice, the exhibition is part of the official cultural program Le Città in Festa. Open to the public free of charge, the show will run from May 8th through June 1st, 2025.
This group exhibition brings together a curated selection of works from the Zenato Academy collection, offering a reflection on how contemporary photography is redefining the boundaries of traditional visual representation. What formal transformations are taking place in today’s photographic practice? How have technological interventions reshaped visual aesthetics? These are the questions the exhibition seeks to explore through the photographs and video works of thirteen international artists.
The show features a chorus of diverse perspectives examining the impact of new technologies on the language of contemporary photography, with works by Carola Allemandi, Jimena Croceri, Daniela Droz, Giacomo Erba, Jorge Garrido, Rachele Maistrello, Orecchie d’Asino, Dario Picariello, Enrico Smerilli, Pumipat Usapratumban, Anna Vezzosi, and Lu Yidan. Also featured is “Sun Rain Wind” by Julia Carrillo, previously unveiled at the latest edition of Vinitaly.
“Zenato Academy,” explains Nadia Zenato, CEO of the Zenato Winery, “was born out of a desire to go beyond mere representation of reality. With this exhibition, we invite viewers to move beyond conventional interpretation, opening portals of imagination and reflection through the universal language of art.”
The selected works in “On the borders of iconography” navigate a delicate threshold between tradition and experimentation, exploring uncharted and unconventional visual territories. These pieces challenge established photographic norms, transcending purely descriptive or documentary intent to forge new paths of meaning and imagination. Through hybrid techniques, material experimentation, and interaction with natural elements, the artists present images that do not simply depict reality—they evoke, fragment, and transform it, inviting the viewer into novel forms of perception.
While pushing the boundaries of traditional visual language, these works remain rooted in the very essence of photography: its ability to capture a trace, an energy, an interaction between subject and environment. Light, time, and matter—the foundational elements of the photographic medium—become tools of poetic inquiry, allowing the image to inhabit an autonomous space infused with intuition, abstraction, and expressive power.
“We are witnessing the emergence of a new photographic aesthetic,” notes curator Luca Panaro, “marked by a heightened sensitivity to surface: unrecognizable landscapes, extreme close-ups of liquids and biological materials, and seemingly abstract objects.”
Founded in 2019, Zenato Academy has established itself as a permanent creative platform where wine, art, and culture converge—fostering the development of young talents and promoting new ways of narrating the territory and its values.
VISITOR INFORMATION
The exhibition “On the borders of iconography” is open to the public with free admission at Palazzo Corner Mocenigo, Campo S. Polo, Venice, from May 8th to June 1st, 2025.
Opening hours: • Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM • Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM
