POST EDEN | Ultra Nature | Donatella Izzo

POST EDEN

Ultra Nature

Donatella Izzo

Edited by Alisia Viola

November 19 | December 19, 2026

MA-EC Gallery, Milan

Durini Palace, Via Santa Maria Valle, 2

Milan, November - From November 19 to December 19, 2026 , the MA-EC Gallery presents POST EDEN. Ultra Nature , a solo exhibition by Donatella Izzo curated by Alisia Viola , at Palazzo Durini, in the heart of Milan. Conceived as a new, site-specific project, the exhibition marks a new development in the artist's research, which relies on photography and its material processing to explore the relationship between humans and the natural world. In a present marked by the climate crisis and the progressive alteration of ecosystems, the exhibition addresses a question that affects our very idea of landscape: the possibility of recognizing an autonomous vitality in what humans have subjected to a relentless exercise of appropriation.

The Eden evoked in the title belongs to a conception of nature as an original place of harmony, prior to human intervention. It is from this perspective that the idea of ultra-nature takes shape, understood as a condition in which the organic element continues to manifest itself even when its recognizable characteristics seem compromised. Nature retains its own capacity for expression, independent of the aesthetic categories and systems of representation through which humans attempt to understand it.

Long engaged in research that questions the presumed objectivity of the photographic medium, Donatella Izzo considers the image a surface open to physical intervention. Photography, rather than being exhausted in the act of taking the shot, continues to work with the material, where the artistic gesture modifies its consistency and redefines its expressive possibilities.

Divided into three spaces and conceived in relation to the spaces of Palazzo Durini, the exhibition unfolds through photographs, installations, and video performances. The exhibition opens with an installation designed by Soteri Studio , which reproduces the workings of a scanner on a larger scale: a moving light passes through lush vegetation, visible behind a semi-transparent surface, attempting to capture in an image what continues to biologically transform. The installation thus connects artificial temporality, reiterative and oriented toward conservation, with organic temporality, mutable and constantly transforming.

In the next room, the photographic collection presents plant forms subjected to radical chromatic and material alterations , suspended between recognizability and abstraction. The final room introduces a novel process of displacement of photographic material , through which the image is progressively reduced to its essential traces. An installation dedicated to possible scenarios of sea level rise by 2100 extends the reflection to the future dimension of the environmental crisis.

POST EDEN invites us to look at nature from a different perspective , questioning the idea that humans can dominate it without suffering the consequences. Through images that transform, alter, and ultimately dissolve, Donatella Izzo makes visible a relationship we have learned to ignore. The environmental crisis does not concern a reality distant from us, but the very conditions of our existence. And as we try to decide the future of nature, we forget that our own future also depends on that future.

Donatella Izzo (Busto Arsizio, 1979) lives and works in Milan. Trained at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, she develops research focused on experimenting with the language of photography, exploring the expressive possibilities of images beyond their documentary function. She is often described as a "heretic" for her unique approach to the medium, which is distinguished by direct intervention on the photographic surface, through processes of alteration and material processing that bring photography closer to pictorial sensibility.

His exhibition career includes solo and group shows in Italy and internationally, with shows in London, New York, Madrid, Barcelona, and Rzeszów. Among the most significant exhibitions are the solo show at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan in 2020, produced with the support of the Cariplo Foundation, and Milestone, presented in 2024 at the DAV in Soresina. Throughout his career, he has also received awards such as the Morlotti Prize and the Parati Prize.

Soteri Studio is a creative studio that operates at the intersection of art, botany, and design. Nature is at the heart of its research, understood as a source of inspiration and a tool for connecting people and spaces. Through an approach based on listening, dialogue, and care, the studio develops artistic, installation, and compositional projects that explore the relationship between the natural and human dimensions. ____________________________________________________________________________

EXHIBITION INFORMATION

POST EDEN

Ultra Nature

Solo exhibition by Donatella Izzo

Edited by Alisia Viola

November 19 - December 19, 2026

MA-EC Gallery, Milan

Durini Palace Via Santa Maria Valle 2

Press Preview: Wednesday, November 18, 11:00 a.m.

Opening: Thursday, November 19th at 6:30 pm

Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday 10:00 am - 1:00 pm / 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm, Saturday 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Free entry