FRENCH PLACE LAUNCHES 'CORALE' IN MILAN AFTER FOUR YEARS IN LONDON

FRENCH PLACE has opened a new permanent space in Milan, marking the latest phase for an organisation that began in London in 2020. Originally based at 9 French Place in Shoreditch, the project started as an independent exhibition venue and has now relocated its programme to Via Carlo Goldoni 64, 20129 Milan, where it will run exhibitions alongside residencies and public events.

Installation photography courtesy of gallery

The opening is inaugurated by CORALE, a group exhibition running until 28 February 2026. The organisation describes the Milan venue as a step toward a hybrid structure at the conjunction of an art institution and an art gallery. The founders frame the move as an expansion of purpose rather than a change of identity: the London space, they write, was built to “bring artists, galleries and audiences into closer dialogue,” and as the programme developed, “so did the need for a setting that could support its evolution.”

Installation photography courtesy of gallery

FRENCH PLACE is led by Mauro Umberto Mattei and Marta Orsola Sironi, who place emphasis on what they call a dual perspective. “Our collaboration as co—founders is grounded in difference,” they explain, pointing to “intergenerational perspectives” and a balance between “experience and contemporary insight.” The aim, they add, is to create a space that feels “structured, warm, confident and welcoming.”

Installation photography courtesy of gallery

A key part of that proposition is a funding model that ties the commercial gallery to a broader public-facing programme. The founders describe a circular model in which gallery proceeds support a public programme, an artist mentoring lab, and a residency programme. They also outline plans for an Art Trust to sit alongside the gallery, designed to support longer-term initiatives and partnerships.

Installation photography courtesy of gallery

CORALE is positioned as both a first exhibition and a statement about how the programme will operate. The show brings together thirteen artists and collectives: Xolo Cuintle, Nina Davies, Anna De Castro Barbosa, Francesca Frigerio, Steph Huang, Cecilia Mentasti, mountaincutters, Matthias Odin, Marco Siciliano, Riley Tu, Gaspar Willmann, Rafał Zajko and Luis Enrique Zela-Koort. Works span sculpture, installation, text and moving image, with a curatorial emphasis on plural voices rather than a single through-line.

The exhibition title draws on the Italian word corale, which can refer to choral composition but also carries a broader meaning of something collective or shared. The accompanying text notes that English does not map neatly onto that semantic range, and frames the exhibition around that gap. The intention is to treat translation as an active condition rather than a problem to be solved: a way to hold “plurality, friction, and resonance” without forcing consensus.

Alongside the group show, FRENCH PLACE is using its opening month to establish a programme rhythm that extends beyond exhibitions. From 29 January to 11 February, the first iteration of its video programme presents two single-channel works by Riley Tu, described as addressing “body politics, self-representation, and algorithmic resistance within digital spaces.” From 12 February to 12 March, the organisation launches its residency programme with Matthias Odin, presented as the first in an ongoing sequence of process-led residencies.

Riley Tu, Prelude, 2024 Single channel colour 4K video with stereo sound, 3 minutes 20 seconds Edition of 3 + 2AP, courtesy FRENCH PLACE & the artist

The founders describe the Milan venue as “a gathering place for people, research and critical discourse,” and present their intentions in terms of sustained engagement rather than quick turnover. They also stress continuity with the London chapter, describing the original address as foundational to the project’s identity and the new space as a development of an existing community.

FRENCH PLACE is open Wednesday to Saturday, 3–7pm, Via Carlo Goldoni 64, 20129 Milan.