Historical painting about collective forgetting

She describes her practice as painting with photographs: Italian artist Giulia Andreani (*1985) uses photos from family albums and archives as the basis for her figurative, often monochrome paintings. Andreani breathes new life into forgotten stories, opening up new levels of meaning for the present and exploring collective memory. The leitmotif of her work is the history of feminism. She usually creates her works using Payne's gray, a blue-gray shade that moves between warm and cold colors and is reminiscent of historical photographs. The Hamburger Bahnhof is now presenting Andreani's first institutional solo exhibition in Germany: Giulia Andreani: Sabotage runs from February 27 to September 13. The exhibition also reframes historical collections through contemporary perspectives: Andreani's paintings are shown alongside works from the Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Museum of European Cultures, and the Museum of Prints and Drawings.

The artist is originally from Venice and lives and works in Paris. In 2018, Andreani was a fellow at Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome, and in 2022 she was shortlisted for the Prix Marcel Duchamp. Her works are represented in numerous museum collections, primarily in France, Italy, and Switzerland. In 2026, her solo exhibition Peinture froide will follow at the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, starting on March 6. Andreani is represented by the Max Hetzler Gallery.

The exhibition is part of the »30 Years of Hamburger Bahnhof anniversary programme«, which spans the history of the place into the future: Eight special exhibitions, including ones on Shilpa Gupta and Sophie Calle, a new collection presentation, performances, and concerts will shape the year 2026. The highlight will be the anniversary weekend from November 13 to 15, when an international conference on the future of contemporary collection museums will take place and the museum will be open continuously for 30 hours.