Premio Lissone 2025: New Edition at the Museum of Contemporary Art
- Redazione
- Oct 17
- 2 min read
The Premio Lissone 2025 has been announced — the historic biennial event dedicated to painting, which continues to stand out as one of the most significant formats in the Italian contemporary art scene.
Realized with the support of Regione Lombardia as part of the Avviso Unico 2025, this year’s edition also celebrates the 25th anniversary of the opening of the MAC – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Lissone – presenting a renewed and international outlook.
Under the artistic direction of Stefano Raimondi, the new format of the Lissone Prize takes shape as a large-scale exhibition spread across all three floors of the museum, where the works of six Italian and international artists engage in an open dialogue of exchange and research. One work by each artist will be acquired and added to the MAC’s permanent collection.
The curators of the Lissone Prize 2025 are three prominent figures from the international contemporary art scene: Lorenzo Balbi, Director of MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna, who has invited Viola Leddi and Valerio Nicolai; Hanne Mugaas, Director of Kunsthall Stavanger and Head of Programme at OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway, who has selected Cecilia Granara and Giuliana Rosso; and Stefano Raimondi, Director of the MAC, who has chosen Landon Metz and Ariel Schlesinger.
“I have never seen art as a competition but as a dialogue,” remarks Raimondi. “The concept of a prize where one artist ‘wins’ feels distant from the spirit of our time. This edition aims to celebrate collaboration and the exchange of ideas as the founding values of the contemporary artistic community.”
The selection of artists — all born between the 1980s and 1990s — reflects the original spirit of the historic Lissone Prize, when emerging talents brought the energy of their research into a shared space for debate and growth. “It is highly significant,” notes Mayor Laura Borella, “that all invited artists belong to a generation capable of renewing the gaze on painting, in continuity with the tradition and spirit of the museum’s collections.”
Carolina Minotti, Councillor for Culture, highlights how the Prize regains its international dimension, fostering dialogue between European institutions and Italian artists working abroad, in a continuous exchange of perspectives and artistic languages.
Founded in 1946, the Lissone Prize was one of Italy’s earliest and most prestigious awards dedicated to painting, marking an important chapter in the history of national contemporary art. After historic editions featuring artists such as Afro, Vedova, Turcato, and Morlotti, the Prize was re-established in 1999 and made biennial in 2006, alternating with the Lissone Design Prize.
Today, with its 2025 edition, the MAC reaffirms its mission to build bridges between generations and geographies, transforming the Lissone Prize from a competition into a platform for dialogue and reflection on the present state of painting.
MAC Museo d'Arte Contemporanea
Lissone
Date 19 ottobre 2025 – 18 gennaio 2026
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