Paolo Maggis was born in Milan in 1978.
He studied painting at Brera fine arts academy between 1996 and 2000. He lived in Berlin (Germany) from 2005 until early 2008, when he and his family moved to Barcelona; he now divides his time between Barcelona and Milan, going back to his studio once a week for new inspiration and dialogue.
The artist began by using images from various media, such as film, tv, and the internet, taking advantage of their sudden violence and the confused messages they convey, in a rapid, powerful idiom which assails the viewer through layers of pasty colour overlapped on his big canvases. The recent Close-Up exhibition offers an opportunity to see close-up, as the name suggests, framing tiny details which are often isolated from their broader context. In this cycle of works Paolo Maggis uses the close-up technique to inspire expressive reflection in which portions of a larger whole are sudden invested with new importance, indelibly recording their poetic testimony on the canvas with traces of paint.
According to the artist, “During this creative process, everything changes and is modified; the canvas is often rotated, so that the image disappears, revealing another form, which I decide to follow. It is the work itself that dictates the rules, not me who impose my own rules. My true subject is painting itself.”
Maggis has participated in numerous art fairs and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad, including Premio Durini per l’Accademia di Brera, curated by Alessandro Riva at Museo della Permanente, Italian Factory at the 50th International Art Exhibition at Biennale di Venezia, also curated by Riva (2003), and Anteprima XVI Quadriennale, a preview of the 16th Quadriennale Exhibition held at Palazzina della Promotrice in Turin (2004). In 2011 he was among the artists featured in the Italian Pavilion – Lombardy section at the Biennale.
Recent exhibitions include Close-Up at Palazzo Collicola in Spoleto and Praestigium Contemporary Artists from Italy at Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin.
His solo shows include Notizie su di noi in 2003; Dream on at Beaker Gallery in Tampa in 2004; Gita al lago, at Binz&Kraemer in Cologne; and The Dreamers, curated by Marco Meneguzzo, inspired by Bertolucci’s film, at Spirale Arte gallery in Milan. In 2005 Maggis was featured in Monitor, an exhibition at Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano Veneto curated by Vladek Cwalinski with a catalogue published by Skira featuring texts by Cwalinski, Luca Beatrice and Luca Doninelli, the Earth/Stars project, five exhibitions in five public spaces in Leipzig’s Baumwolle Spinnerei, Io Esisto at Mac3 contemporary art museum in Caserta, Judas, a solo show at Berlin’s Galerie Burster, and a major solo show at Serrone di Villa Reale in Monza entitled 15 Million K.
2021
Close-up, Isorropia Homegallery at Copernico, Milan, Italy
In atto, FinecoBank, Milan, Italy
All Present, Riccardo Costantini Contemporary, Turin, Italy
2018
15 millions K, Serrone di Villa Reale – Reggia di Monza, Monza, Italy
2015
Sein, Galerie Knecht und Burster, Karlsruhe, Germany
The abstract side of reality, part 1: I Salotti; part 2 Blu Corner, Carrara, Italy
TESTA, Rompone Artspace, Cologne, Germany
2014
Judas’ mystery, Galerie Burster, Berlin, Germany
IO ESISTO, Museo Arte Contemporanea Caserta, Caserta, Italy
2013
EARTH/STARS, Palazzo Panichi, Pietrasanta, Italy
2012
Roots, Chiesa di San Francesco-Spazio Ratti, Como, Italy
Sketches from life, Circolo Artistico Culturale, Ortisei, Italy
White Ashes, Queen-Ann Gallery, Leipzig, Germany
2011
La sonrisa de Lola, Marcorossi Artecontemporanea, Verona – Monza, Italy
The Apartment, Naples, Italy
2010
Chapters, Alessandro Marena Project; Piazza Maria Teresa, Turin, Italy
A Strange Romance, Marcorossi Artecontemporanea, Pietrasanta, Italy
Travelgum, Marcorossi Artecontemporanea, Milan, Italy
2008
In Nodum Coacti, Marena Rooms Gallery, Turin, Italy
Opera Rock, Andrea Arte Contemporanea, Vicenza, Italy
Tohuwabohu, GFJK, Baden, Germany
2007
CO2, Galeria Metropolitana, Barcelona, Spain
2006
Galerie Binz & Kraemer, Cologne, Germany
Cacho a cacho, Galeria Metropolitana, Barcelona, Spain
Siamo fatti così, Galleria Allegretti Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
2005
Dieci di te, Museo della Permanente, Milan, Italy
Galleria Spirale Arte, Verona, Italy
Monito(r), Palazzo Sarcinelli, Conegliano Veneto, Treviso, Italy
2004
Dream on, The Beaker Gallery, Tampa, Florida, USA
Gita al lago, Galerie Binz & Kraemer, Cologne, Germany
The dreamers, Galleria Spirale Arte, Milan, Italy
2019
Selvatico, Museo Civico San Rocco, Fusignano, Italy
Essere Corpo: Michele Bubacco, Paolo Maggis, Josef Rainer, Kusthalle West, Eurocenter Lana, Italy
2018
Angry Boys, Museum Det Ny Kastet, Thisted, Danmark
No Parking, Black Art Lounge, Carrara, Italy
2017
Zona, Spazio Bigli, Milan, Italy
Angry Boys, Galerie Rompone, Cologne, Germany
2016
Similitudini: Paolo Maggis, Valerio Murri, Giuseppe Renda, Blue Corner, Carrara, Italy
Anaconda, Kulturkirche Ost – GAG, Cologne, Germany
Autoselbstfahrer, Rompone Kunstsalon, Cologne, Germany
2015
Cesare quand’era Pavese, Associazione Alessandro Marena, Turin, Italy
Cesare quand’era Pavese, Rompone Artspace, Cologne, Germany
Mappa dell’arte nuova, Fondazione Cini, Venice, Italy
Praestigium Contemporary Artists from Italy, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
Close Up, Palazzo Collicola, Spoleto, Italy
Mein lieber Alf. Ein Zimmer für Alfred Flechtheim, Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany
2014
Sto disegnando, Casa Testori, Novate Milanese, Italy
Se ti sputo ti affezioni, Blue Corner, Carrara, Italy
Il ritratto – Punti di vista, I Salotti di Piazza Alberica, Carrara, Italy
Cahier de Voyage, Palazzo Ex Tribunale di Susa, Susa, Italy
WIR2, Klinger Forum, Leipzig, Germany
Mein lieber Alf. Ein Zimmer für Alfred Flechtheim, Rompone Artspace, Cologne, Germany
Zohar Fraiman– What we esxpose to you, Queen-Ann Gallery, Leipzig, Germany
2013
I have a dream too, Associazione Alessandro Marena, Turin, Italy
Earth, XXI Giornate FAI, Palazzo delle Curia Maxima Turin, Italy
2012
Dis-velamenti, Santa Giulia, Turin, Italy
Nasdat, Galleria D’Arte Contemporanea, Palazzo Ducale – Pavullo, Italy
2011
The Gentlemen of Verona, Galleria d’Arte Moderna Palazzo Forti, Verona, Italy
Italian Pavilion – 54º Venice Biennale, Palazzo della Regione, Milan, Italy
2010
Ajerman-Maggis-Ydanez, Marcorossi Artecontemporanea, Monza, Italy
2009
Undercover, Galleria L’Archimede, Rome, Italy
Hambre, Escaparate Atocha 24, Madrid, Spain
Giorni Felici, Casa Testori, Novate Milanese, Milan, Italy
2008
Olympic Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Artrmx Cologne Vol.1, Fenz Kunstraum, Cologne, Germany
Crazy Boys, Palazzo Primavera, Terni, Italy
2007
Sine die, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Gibellina, Trapani, Italy
Musica per occhi, Marena rooms Gallery, Turin, Italy
Brave new world, Galerie Binz & Kraemer, Cologne, Germany
2006
Sefenblasentreffen, Glogauer, Berlin, Germany
La donna oggetto, Cavallerizza del Castello, Vigevano, Italy
2005
Anteprima XIV Quadriennale, Palazzo della Promotrice, Turin, Italy
2003
La nuova scena artistica italiana – 50º Venice Biennale, Santa Maria della Pietá, Venice, Italy
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