Yu Hong's ‘Make a Wish’ in Dialogue with Caravaggio at Pio Monte della Misericordia

On 10 October, Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples will open its historic chapel for Humanity: Confronting Darkness and Gold, bringing Yu Hong’s Make a Wish (2023) into dialogue with Caravaggio’s The Seven Works of Mercy (1606–07). Curated by Mario Codognato and Loredana Gazzara, the exhibition explores the interplay between two works that, although created centuries apart, both shed light on the human condition.

Make a Wish was the centrepiece of Yu Hong’s 2024 Venice Biennale exhibition, Another One Bites the Dust, where it was presented by the Asian Art Initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum with the support of Lisson. Named among the New York Times’ top eight hits of the Biennale, the monumental painting takes Caravaggio’s The Seven Works of Mercy as its basis. Following its presentation in Venice, Make a Wish was acquired by Pio Monte della Misericordia and will become part of the institution’s contemporary art collection. It will be presented alongside Yu Hong’s Death Can’t Be Known until One Knows Life (2023), a small triptych already held in the collection.

Humanity: Confronting Darkness and Gold is on view from 10 October 2026 to 10 January 2027 at Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples.

Shown here: Yu Hong, Make a Wish, 2023. © The Artist, Courtesy Lisson.