Joan Jonas: Drawings past and present at Galleria Alessandra Bonomo, Rome

Decades after redefining the boundaries of performance and video art, Joan Jonas continues to interrogate how the human body records, interprets, and translates raw experience. Opening December 9, 2026, at Galleria Alessandra Bonomo in Rome, Drawings past and present offers an intimate, multi-layered look into the foundational element of Jonas’s vast practice: the act of drawing.

Conceived specifically for the gallery space, the exhibition creates an immersive dialogue between paper works, video installations, structures, and physical artifacts. For Jonas, drawing is rarely a static pursuit; it functions as a fluid, temporal event. Whether emerging from immediate observation, body movement, or the re-contextualization of pre-existing imagery, her lines act as physical traces of performance.

A Decadal Continuity in Rome

This presentation marks ten years since Jonas's 2016 exhibition with Alessandra Bonomo, continuing a deep historical relationship between the artist and the gallery that began in 2010. For this occasion, Jonas will also realize a series of brand-new drawings produced on-site in Rome.

Following major global recognitions—including MoMA’s expansive 2024 retrospective Good Night Good Morning, the 2024 Nam June Paik Award, and the 2025 Icon Award at the inaugural Art Basel Awards—Jonas’s persistent investigation into the synthesis of nature, narrative, and human perception remains as urgent as ever. Drawings past and present reaffirms her enduring role as a vital benchmark for contemporary spatial practice.

Venue: Galleria Alessandra Bonomo, Via del Gesù 62, 00186 Roma

Opening: Wednesday, December 9, 2026 | 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM