Francisco Tropa: Miss America

In conjunction with ART CITY Bologna 2026, the Banca di Bologna Hall at Palazzo De’ Toschi presents “Miss America”, a new solo exhibition by Portuguese artist Francisco Tropa (b. 1968), curated by Simone Menegoi. This is Tropa’s first large-scale solo show in Italy since Scenario for the Portugal Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale. The exhibition takes its name from its central work, “Miss America”, a new installation combining performance and sculpture.

The show features two major works: “Lantern with clock mechanism” (2025), part of Tropa’s ongoing “Lanterns” series, explores the shadows cast by small objects—some referencing time (hourglasses, clepsydras, or clock mechanisms), others fragility (spiderwebs, dead insects, leaf skeletons). The piece evokes a vast vanitas, as well as Plato’s allegory of the cave and the nostalgic art of shadow puppetry.

“Miss America” (2025) is an installation performed by six participants (3–8 February). Clotheslines span the room, holding bedsheets and signs with phrases from cafés and restaurants. The bamboo poles and clothespins are bronze casts, meticulously crafted to appear real. The performers hang and remove the sheets repeatedly, transforming a simple task into choreography. The meaning of “Miss America” is left open: it may refer to the title “Miss” or the longing implied in “I miss (we miss) America,” evoking a bygone, idealised vision of the country.

The exhibition is realised with the support of Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris.