14 May 2026 – 17 July 2026

Opening: Thursday 14 May h. 18.00

Max Rohr

Somewhere/Sometime

curated by Sergio Tossi, with an essay by Lorenzo Bruni

The solo exhibition by Max Rohr at Colombo’s Gallery in Milan, titled Somewhere/Sometime, marks an important return for the painter from Bolzano, active since the end of the 1980s. After several years of self-imposed retirement from the exhibition circuit, Rohr presents new production composed of works on canvas and on paper. The latest cycle, made roughly from 2024 to 2026 and shown here for the first time, includes 21 paintings with different formats, and a series of works on paper created with a mixture of techniques. These pieces are often placed in dialogue with others from previous cycles, emphasizing the continuity and evolution of the artist’s approach, one of the most original on the contemporary scene of painting in Italy.
The settings for the recent works feature natural landscapes and mountains, in which the limpid color and clear drawing, combined with diffuse light, position the scenes in an a-historical dimension, suspended and almost at the limit of fable and narrative. The subjects – adolescents or young figures that make hybrids, in some cases – are seen in moments of intense inner concentration, in a state that might suggest mystical revelation, but rather seems to be linked to finding the right balance between their being and the occupation of that specific landscape of peace, attempting to create a correct face-off with the memories of previous generations. This comparison is also built through recurring elements like hands, which often multiply, suggesting a relationship with other presences, and the home, which appears transparently in the bodies as a sign of rootedness, recollection and possible return.

In his essay, Lorenzo Bruni describes this cycle as “the configuration of an autonomous space in which figures, objects and fragments of landscape do not describe reality but cross it, giving rise to a dimension suspended between memory and imagination. A visual universe in which time is not linear but circular, and in which every image – more than representing – seems to resurface, as also seen in the work Never Alone from 2023. It is in this context that the transparencies of the bodies draw forth the archetype of the house, and it is above all here that the concept of the narrative loop takes on a central role. The margins of the painting, in fact, no longer border the setting, but put it into continuity, as happens when the legs of a figure are interrupted at the edge of the canvas, only to reappear on the opposite side, as the natural perpetuation of a different space-time condition. A method that marks a significant evolution with respect to the cycles of twenty years ago, while remaining coherent in the
construction of the image, which at the time was already defined by overlays of different scenes, aimed at investigating the mood and the back-stories of the protagonists.”
Max Rohr, in a long conversation with Lorenzo Bruni, specifies that “The idea is that of a sort of temporal loop… considering the boundaries of the painting in a completely different way.” And furthermore: “I like the idea of things that go, that come or return, ahead of us or behind us, before or after.” He then indicates: “The title ‘Somewhere/Sometime’ evokes the suspended atmosphere present in all the paintings, but it also refers to dilated times and spaces…” At the same time, another passage is central: “My paintings are developed first of all by means of intuitive dynamics, with their own rhythms and logic, also purely visual, graphic and pictorial… it is important not to lose the aesthetic and playful aspect of the work.” Precisely these words remind us that his paintings should never be understood as presentations of theses or univocal, imposed symbolic systems, but instead as open devices, capable of activating reflections on the differing interpretations of the world and images, and on the history and role of painting.

Sergio TossiTossi, who over the last 20 years has repeatedly shown the works of Max Rohr in his role as a gallerist, observes that: “in relation to the works in the exhibition, as in the construction of “his” figurative action, there is a central process of deconstruction of physical and temporal space – hence the emblematic title of the show – expressed in a narration made of flashbacks and visual alterations. Apparently irreconcilable planes thus become surprisingly plausible; bodies are integrated and mingled, limbs detach themselves and reappear in an almost mocking way, while the images slide over the canvas as in a loop, amidst symbols scattered in the landscape, and grafts between male and female figures. All this is inserted in a context where the autobiographical component – characters and landscapes – is condensed in a dreamy vision with a refined surrealistic tone.” Regarding this reasoning, it is important to note that what contributes to the stylistic recognizability of the artist is a palette of clearly Nordic origin, together with the reference to the artistic traditions of the 20th century.

Antonio Colombo explains the commitment he intends to make to the future support for the oeuvre of Max Rohr, observing that: “In his work I glimpse a quality that is rare today: an erudite way of painting, capable of shifting between memory and invention without ever becoming illustrative or nostalgic. There is a sensibility that links back to a certain Italian culture of the early 1900s, not so much through direct citation as in the atmosphere. In this sense, his work also brings to mind a literary imaginary – from Carlo Emilio Gadda to the writing connected with the mountains – where characters, pets, farm animals and various tools intersect in the environment and are humanized. It is precisely this world, together with the vivid pictorial consistency, that encourages me to support this artist, with whom I wish to interact. In Max I can recognize moments of immobile religiosity, typical of Tullio Garbari and painters from Trentino like Gigiotti Zanini, Gino Panchieri, and the painter-carabiniere Francesco Di Terlizzi, admired by Edoardo Persico, who curated a solo exhibition for the artist at Galleria Il Milione in Milan. But this is old stuff,” Colombo ironically concludes. “I would like to accompany Rohr’s work, which I have always held in high esteem, as I discussed with our friend Luca Beatrice, along a pathway of greater visibility, while keeping intact that dimension of depth and research that makes him a necessary voice on the contemporary scene, in my view.”

MAX ROHR was born in Bolzano in 1960. After having studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, he lived in that city, followed by periods in Rome and Florence, after which he returned to his native city a few years ago. Starting in the years after the academy, he began intense activity in exhibitions with his extremely original and visionary figurative painting, where the influences of art from the early 20th century were combined with Nordic colors, references to literature and film, as well as a fundamental autobiographical component, finally arriving at a complex and detailed construction of the image. His resumé contains a series of solo exhibitions in various galleries, including Polaris (Paris), Liliana Maniero (Rome), Sergio Tossi (Prato, Florence), Giovanni Bonelli (Mantua), and Antonella Cattani (Bolzano). He has also taken part in many important group shows, such as Sui Generis (PAC, Milan, 2001), Italian Factory (Venice, Santa Maria della Pietà, 2003; Strasbourg, European Parliament, 2004), Anteprima Quadriennale di Roma (Turin, Promotrice Belle Arti, 2004). His work has been examined by many authors, including Luca Beatrice, Valerio Dehò, Alberto Fiz, Luigi Meneghelli, Alessandro Riva. The magazines Arte Mondadori and Juliet have featured his work on covers and in articles. Max Rohr has a great passion for American music, 20th-century design and apparel from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. During his break from exhibition activity, after the last show he has continued to paint in his ateliers in Bolzano and Collalbo, while at the same time focusing – with international acclaim – on designing an exclusive line of knitwear, with clear connection to his obsessions. The English-Japanese magazine Men’s File recently published a long article on this area of his work. Since 2025 he has begun to collaborate with Colombo’s Gallery in Milan. In May 2026 he presents his first solo show in the spaces of the gallery.