Isabella Costabile. Whose is this?
Curated by Chiara Nuzzi and Gabriella Rebello Kolandra

The project room of Fondazione ICA Milano presents a new series of sculptures by Isabella Costabile (USA, 1991), produced between 2024 and 2025. In Whose is this?, Costabile reflects on the role of the artist today and the relationship between the artwork and reality. The works are assembled from found objects sourced in her family’s garage, on sidewalks, or next to street dumpsters. These sculptures take the form of uncanny hybrids, potentially subject to ongoing transformation. The function of objects undergoes a process of reclassification and reinterpretation, becoming testimonies of a personal archaeology of memory—devices that recount the passage of time through images. Oscillating between personal and collective dimensions, the work rejects the logic of ownership and opens to a relational space, inviting the viewer to recognize something of themselves in what is not theirs, but nonetheless resonates with their experience.

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ICA Milano thanks Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, official sponsor of the Foundation and Valsoia for supporting ICA Milano’s program and activities.

The exhibitions Isabella Costabile. Whose is this? is made possible with the support of Eni as Main Partner.
 

Special thanks to le vite gallery for supporting Isabella Costabile. Whose is this?

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ISABELLA COSTABILE
Born in 1991 in New York, Isabella Costabile lives and works between Milan and Grosseto. She grew up between Jamaica, the United States, and Italy. She studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste. Her sculptural practice is rooted in a compositional methodology based on the interpretation of found materials and objects, reflecting on the ambiguity of forms and the multiple perceptions of reality. Her work has been presented in various institutions including Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (2020); Casa Masaccio, San Giovanni Valdarno (2022); Palazzo Re Rebaudengo, Guarene (2023); Museion, Bolzano (2024); and Centro Pecci, Prato (2024).