Galleria Continua marks two decades in China with Time Knows the Answer to Art

Galleria Continua was founded in 1990 in San Gimignano, Italy, by Mario Cristiani, Lorenzo Fiaschi and Maurizio Rigillo. To mark 20 years of activity in China, the art gallery is presenting a group exhibition from May 21 – August 24, 2025, featuring 15 contemporary artists who have played a central role in its journey.

“In 2020, the same year as Galleria Continua’s thirtieth anniversary, a new space in Rome opened, dedicated to an open interculturality and new forms of dialogue and encounters between art and the public. In 2020, a space in São Paulo also opened, situated inside the Pacaembu sports complex. In early 2021, a new space opened in Paris in the heart of the Marais, just a few steps from the Centre Pompidou. In the same year, the gallery also inaugurated a space inside the most iconic hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah in Dubai. In 2024, Galleria Continua opened its third French space in the heart of Matignon, the historic epicentre of the art market in western Paris. And in 2025, Galleria Continua took a significant step forward in its journey in Brazil with the inauguration of its new space within the premises of the Santa Teresinha Parish in São Paulo, founded in 1925,” the press release notes.

Throughout its nearly 35-year journey, Galleria Continua has remained committed to inclusivity, artistic dialogue and cultural exchange, guided by its founding values of generosity and altruism. These principles—and a close relationship with artist Chen Zhen and Xu Min—were central to the gallery's early presence in China.

Over the past two decades, the Beijing space has introduced leading international artists to Chinese audiences, starting with its participation in the first contemporary art fair in Beijing and an inaugural exhibition featuring 16 artists from five continents.

The 20th-anniversary art exhibition continues this legacy, showcasing works by Daniel Buren, Loris Cecchini, Chen Zhen, Antony Gormley, Gu Dexin, Kan Xuan, Anish Kapoor, Hans Op de Beeck, Giovanni Ozzola, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Qiu Zhijie, Tobias Rehberger, Serse, Sun Yuan & Peng Yu and Zhuang Hui.

"Most importantly, the exhibition is consolidating and representing the ideology of the three founders, an ideology that has been the basis for the development and position of Galleria Continua in relation to the world around it, and its core value, as expressed in an interview by our founder Lorenzo Fiaschi on the occasion of the 25th anniversary: 'For Mario, Maurizio and myself, culture is a meeting, it’s about making our differences a source of creativity, of beauty, of union and of love'," according to the show's press release.