A stone’s throw from the historic Piazza del Duomo in San Gimignano, Galleria Continua is today one of the most famous international galleries in the world with a portfolio of great artists, from Anish Kapoor to Ai Weiwei and Antony Gormley, and seven locations in as many countries.
Galleria Continua is located in a beautiful medieval palace in the famous Tuscan village nicknamed “the Manhattan of the Middle Ages” due to the numerous towers that distinguish its skyline. It begins its long history starting from the conversion of a 1950s cinema, adjacent to the palace, into an exhibition space devoted to contemporary art; first of its kind in one of the most famous Tuscan villages in the world, above all for its peculiar medieval architecture and its historicity.
It was founded by Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo, 3 friends, united by a passion for art and the desire to give voice to the contemporary one, who in 1990 made their bet a reality, opening what would become the first of a series of galleries dedicated to the promotion of some of the most famous international artists.
Nomen omen and, after a few years, Galleria Continua evolves from its original place, transforming itself into a “wave of art” that breathes new life into heterogeneous and fascinating spaces, mainly unconventional and former industrial buildings. Here works of art of exceptional value are set up, personally selected by the 3 founders who meet the artists, sometimes discover them, and bring them to meet the general public, creating precious opportunities for cultural exchange.
After San Gimignan,o it is in fact the turn of Beijing where, in 2005, the first Western space of this type was inaugurated in the Art District of Beijing thanks also to the friendship with the couple of artists Chen Zhen and Xu Min. On this occasion, they meet Ai Weiwei for the first time, undoubtedly one of the most significant and influential artists of our time, with whom they will build a solid collaboration that lasts to this day.
Only two years later, in a former factory in the Parisian countryside, Les Moulins was born in Boissy-le-Chatel where, in addition to exhibition events, workshops and educational activities are organized for young people and enthusiasts. In 2016, in the spaces of an old cinema in Barrio Chino, Havana’s Chinatown, Arte Continua Havana was inaugurated to give voice to the most interesting forms of Cuban art and its interpreters often limited by the impositions of the regime.
Four years later, the prestigious Rome headquarters was inaugurated in via Vittorio Emanuele inside The St. Regis hotel, a brand that has always been intimately linked to contemporary art, with which a program of artistic residencies for emerging young people was also launched.
In 2021 it is Brazil‘s turn, with the opening of Galleria Continua São Paulo inside the Estadio Municipal Paolo Machado do Carvahlo, a historic sports facility currently being renovated to become an important cultural hub in the city. In the same year, the offices in Paris and Dubai were also opened, the first in the central Le Marais district, the second inside the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, the spectacular hotel that has become a global icon of Arab luxury.
In San Gimignano, the beating heart of the whole world of Galleria Continua, two other collateral spaces have been opened to host multiple exhibitions at the same time, animating the city with cultural proposals of an international scope. Until September 1st it is possible to visit the magnificent Neither Nor exhibition dedicated to the extraordinary and prolific creative path of the artist Ai Weiwei from 1995 to today.
The exhibition brings together, for the first time, all the extraordinary works created with LEGO bricks, from homages to Renaissance masterpieces to self-portraits, up to those that celebrate the exquisite traditional Chinese craftsmanship, such as the installation of 3000 Ming and Qing stools of the Republican era who watch The Last Supper or the poetic floating work in bamboo and silk inspired by the Shanhaijing, a Chinese mythological text dating back to the 4th century.
The Secret
The cinema, which was annexed to the gallery and today hosts incredible site-specific works, was the first essay cinema in San Gimignano, a true piece of history of this Tuscan village with such a special soul.
Useful Info
Galleria Continua
Via del Castello 11
53037 San Gimignano, Siena
Tel. +39 0577 943134
Free entry, guided tours by reservation
