The 2026 season at MASI opens in spring with a solo exhibition by one of the protagonists of the contemporary Swiss art scene, Jean-Frédéric Schnyder, and the group show "K-NOW! Korean Video Art Today," which explores the South Korean art scene through the medium of video art. The first retrospective of Kaari Upson, which opens in September 2026, is dedicated to one of the most intense and original voices in American contemporary art.
A global museum with local roots, looking to the collection and its spaces as sources of inspiration to be reinvented: this is the vision of future director Letizia Ragaglia, which will take shape in the autumn exhibition "Re-imaginings. Mai-Thu Perret and Ugo Seemann in Dialogue with the Collections."
The focus on Ticino's art history and museum collections continues in 2026 with a special focus on Boccione, while Palazzo Reali will host a new project by artist Kaspar Ludwig, winner of the 2026 Manor Ticino Cultural Prize.
K-NOW! Korean Video Art Today
The 2026 season opens at MASI with “K-NOW! Korean Video Art TodayThe exhibition invites you to explore South Korea's contemporary art scene through the language of video art. An immersive journey, hosted in the underground hall of the LAC, will present works by new-generation artists and collectives—Chan-Kyoung Park, Jane Jin Kaisen, Ayoung Kim, 염지혜 (Eom Jihye), Onejoon Che, Sojung Jun, SungSil Ryu, and Heecheon Kim—who address themes related to identity, memory, and the social transformation of a country that, in just a few decades, went from the devastation of war to becoming a global power. Curated by Francesca Benini and Je Yun Moon, former deputy director of the Art Sonje Center in Seoul, “K-NOW! Korean Video Art Today” will be on view at the LAC from March 8 to July 19, 2026.
Jean-Frédéric Schnyder. Painting 2024/2025
From the languages of video art to painting, in the second spring exhibition, MASI presents a solo show by one of the protagonists of the contemporary Swiss art scene, Jean-Frédéric Schnyder (b. 1945, Basel, lives in Zug). With consistency, independence, and a uniquely eclectic flair, Schnyder has consistently revitalized his pictorial language over the course of his sixty-year career. A recurring theme in his work, which spans diverse genres, is landscape exploration, to which Schnyder has devoted himself systematically like few other artists of our time.
This is the focus of his solo exhibition at MASI, titled "Jean-Frédéric Schnyder. Painting 2024/2025" (curated by Tobia Bezzola and Ludovica Lorini, LAC venue, from March 15 to August 9, 2026). The exhibition will present a new cycle of previously unpublished paintings created by the artist over the past two years, alternating between small landscapes outside Created in various locations in Switzerland, as well as canvases created in studios by diverse subjects. Two of the artist's iconic works will also be on display: Billige Bilder (Paintings of little importance, 2000–2019) and the monumental still life (Still Life, 1970).
Kaari Upson, Dollhouse – A Retrospective
Instead, it leads to a more intense and original reflection on American contemporary art: Kaari Upson, Dollhouse – A Retrospective, the first major posthumous exhibition dedicated to the artist. Through sculpture, video, drawing, and installation, Kaari Upson (1970–2021) developed a layered oeuvre that investigates the body, relationships, illness, and loss. The exhibition at MASI includes Upson's emblematic works, including the series linked to the famous Larry Project and the imposing installation THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS OUTSIDE, presented for the first time at the Venice Biennale in 2019. The exhibition, the result of an international collaboration with the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art Humlebæk and the Kunsthalle Mannheim and curated by Francesca Benini and Taisse Grandi, Venturi will be hosted in the underground room of the LAC (from September 6, 2025 to January 10, 2027).
Reimaginings. Mai-Thu Perret and Ulla von Brandenburg in Dialogue with the Collections
In the fall of 2026, the first exhibition at MASI curated by future director Letizia Ragaglia will open, entitled Re-imaginings. Mai-Thu Perret and Ulla von Brandenburg in Dialogue with the Collections. This exhibition brings together the two personalities of Perret (Geneva, 1976) and Brandenburg (Munich, 1975) in a single exhibition project. For the occasion, the artists have been invited to engage in dialogue with MASI's collections through a selection of works of their own choosing. The project is the first step in a new research path through which MASI presents itself as a global institution with local roots and invites international artists to reinterpret the museum's heritage and the Ticino context. Despite their different artistic languages, Perret and Brandenburg share an interest in temporality, memory, and ritual forms. Their research, intertwined with myth, nature, and narrative, offers new interpretations of the MASI collection and opens up new perspectives on the future. The exhibition, which also extends into spaces of the museum that are not usually accessible to the public, is hosted at the LAC (15.11.2026 – 16.05.2027).
Umberto Boccione
In 2026, the focus on the art city of Ticino and its museum collections continues within the "Sentimento e osservazione" (Feeling and Observation) exhibition, with a special focus on Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916). The exhibition, built around the Futurist paintings donated to the City of Lugano by the heirs of Gabriele Chiattone, the artist's patron and supporter during his Milanese years, offers a close-up look at a crucial phase in Boccioni's artistic evolution and conveys the intensity of his quest to conquer a new language. LAC, curated by Cristina Sonderegger, from August 9, 2026, to January 24, 2027..
Kaspar Ludwig
From 17 October 2026, Palazzo Reali will host an unpublished project by the artist Kaspar Ludwig (Nuremberg, 1985), winner of the Manor Ticino Cultural Prize 2026 (until 04.04.2027), while the group exhibition Self-portraits from the collection (1928–2021), set up in the rooms on the ground floor, will remain visible until 21 June 2026.
