BIOGRAPHY
Born in Empoli in 1954, Massimo Giannoni lives and works in Florence. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence where, in 1979, he was awarded the Lubiam Prize (Mantua), with Hans Hartung as a tutor of the event, as the best student of all the fine arts academies in Italy.
After his first two solo exhibitions held at the Vivita Gallery in Florence (1985, 1987), Giannoni decided to move to Sydney, Australia, where he painted a series of commissioned portraits and, at the same time, worked on large abstract paintings, made with the watercolor technique on canvas paper and shown in a solo exhibition in 1989.
Before returning definitively to Italy, he moved temporarily to the United States, continuing to work as a portraitist on commission and as an abstract painter, exhibiting his works in Chicago in 1996 and 1997 at the Thomas Monahan Fine Arts.
Once he returned to Italy, where he was also a professor of engraving at the Art Institute in Florence, he began using oil paints, experimenting with a highly material technique, formed by high layers of color, between lumps and thick stratified spatula strokes of color which, drying over time, change and get dusty, allowing for ever-changing plays of light and generating a union between figurative and abstract painting. In this way, matter comes to life, transforming itself and acquiring a subjectivity of its own.
He is a pioneer, among Italian artists, in the choice of subjects such as historical book stores and libraries, stock exchanges, cabinets of natural science museums and chambers of wonders. His creations display environments with almost psychedelic lights, messy and overcrowded spaces, frenetic accumulation of elements that captivate the viewers and send them into his own experience, as well as the half-empty rooms in which a sofa or an armchair stands out, with some books on the ground next to them.
Among the solo and group exhibitions, we mention: Fuori tema/Italian feelings, curated by Marco Tonelli, as part of the XIV Rome Quadrennial, at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in 2005, the year in which Il paesaggio italiano contemporaneo was also inaugurated in the halls of the Palazzo Ducale in Gubbio; 1968-2007, Arte Italiana, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, in Milan, Palazzo Reale, in 2007. In 2011 he was among the ten artists selected by the Rome Foundation for the 54th International Art Exhibition, best known as Biennale, in Venice, Italy Pavilion. The same year he took part in the Mantua Literature Festival with the exhibition L’Aleph, at the Palazzo della Ragione. In 2013 he organized Mimesis, variazioni sul libro, curated by Sergio Risaliti, at the Uffizi Library in Florence, together with the other solo exhibition Durata dell’immagine, curated by Flaminio Gualdoni, at the Palazzo Giureconsulti in Milan. In 2015, he took part in the collective exhibition Linee di confine, curated by Marco Di Capua, at the Biliotti Museum in Rome, and in 2016 he exhibited the oil painting on canvas Muro del pianto at the Jewish Museum in Bologna, as a preliminary study for the large-scale triptych (200 x 600 cm) previously made for the solo exhibition Four triptychs, curated by Marco Tonelli at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome (2012). Ricercato equilibrio and Stock Exchange are both gallery shows from 2016, curated by Sergio Risaliti, in Florence, at the Galleria “Frediano Farsetti” and Azimut Group respectively. The solo exhibition Massimo Giannoni, again curated by Sergio Risaliti, in Singapore, dates from 2017. In 2019, on the celebrations for the anniversary of the Italian Republic, he inaugurated a solo exhibition at the United Nations Palace in Geneva. In 2020 he was invited to Quirinale Contemporaneo, and two canvases by him then became part of the collection of the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome. 2022 saw the exhibition Ab illo tempore, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi and Giovanna Caterina De Feo, at the Chamber of Deputies, Palazzo Valdina, Sala del Cenacolo.
In 2024, also in Rome, he became part of the exhibition projects curated by Renata Cristina Mazzantini: “MIT Contemporaneo”, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and “Contemporanei a Palazzo Borromeo” at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See. In the same year, his self- portrait “Autoritratto squilibrato” was included in the permanent collection of self- portraits at the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palazzo Pitti, in Florence.
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO SHOWS
2024 Simulacrum, Pontone Gallery, London.
2024 More interiors less landscapes, curated by Sergio Risaliti, 21 Gallery, Treviso.
2023 Solo exhibition, introduced by Sergio Risaliti, Giunti Odeon, Florence.
2023 L’inganno del Vero, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi and Marco Tonelli, Chiesa monumentale di San Francesco, Gualdo Tadino, Perugia.
2022 Deus ex Littera, curated by Costanza Casali, Palazzo Giusiana, Ivrea.
2022 Solo exhibition. Galleria Rubin, Arte Fiera, Bologna.
2022 Ab Illo Tempore, curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi and Giovanna Caterina De Feo. Sala del Cenacolo, Palazzo Valdina-Camera dei Deputati, Rome.
2022 Massimo Giannoni - Opere recenti. Galleria Rubin, Milan.
2020 Massimo Giannoni, Materia e luce. Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome.
2019 Beyond the past, United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
2019 Solo exhibition, Galleria Rubin, Arte fiera Bologna.
2018 La via dell’orto, curated by Paolo Biscottini. Galleria Rubin, Milan.
2017 Panopticon, curated by Sergio Risaliti. Partners & Mucciaccia Gallery,Singapore.
2016 Stock Exchange, curated by Sergio Risaliti. Gruppo Azimut, Florence.
2016 Ricercato Equilibrio, curated by Sergio Risaliti. Galleria Frediano Farsetti,Florence.
2015 The Wisdom of Silence, curated by Marcus Graf. Galleria Russo, Istanbul.
2014 Mondi Simultanei, curated by Lorenzo Canova, texts by Marco Tonelli.Galleria Il Castello, Milan.
2013 Durata dell' Immagine, curated by Flaminio Gualdoni. Palazzo Giureconsulti,Milan.
2013 Tutto in una Stanza, curated by Lea Mattarella. Galleria Russo, Rome.
2013 Solo exhibition, curated by Alberto Agazzani, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos,Greece.
2012 Four Triptychs, curated by Marco Tonelli. Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome.
2011 L'Aleph, Festival della Letteratura, curated by Alberto Agazzani. Palazzo della Regione, Mantua.
2011 I portolani di un neoilluminista, curated by Giuseppe Biasutti, texts by Rolando Bellini. Galleria Biasutti & Biasutti, Turin.
2010 Forme della memoria, curated by Alberto Agazzani. Galleria Russo, Rome.
2008 Mondi simultanei, curated by Lorenzo Canova, texts by Marco Tonelli.Galleria Russo, Rome.
2007 Solo exhibition, curated by Massimo Bignardi. Galleria Rubin, Milan.
2006 Solo exhibition, curated by Marco Tonelli. Galleria Il Segno, Rome.
2005 Solo exhibition. Studio d'Arte Tonelli, Brescia.
2005 Solo exhibition. Galleria Tornabuoni, Pietrasanta, Lucca.
2004 Solo exhibition. Galleria Rubin, Milan.
2000 Alfabeto dipinto, curated by Giovanni Pallanti. Libreria Seeber, Florence.
1998 Solo exhibition, curated by Marco Fagioli. La Corte Arte Contemporanea,Florence.
1997 Solo exhibition. Thomas Monahan Fine Art, Chicago.
1996 Solo exhibition. Thomas Monahan Fine Art, Chicago.
1989 Solo exhibition. Brown Street Gallery, Sydney.
1987 Solo exhibition. Galleria Vivita, Florence.
1986 Solo exhibition. Galleria Vivita, Florence.
GROUP SHOWS
2024 Journey from Hyperrealism to Abstraction. Mucciaccia Gallery, Singapore.
2023 Through the Mind’s Eye: an Anthology. Pontone Gallery, London.
2020 Natura morta, curated by Simona Bartolena, Armando Fettolini. Spazio Heart,Vimercate.
2020 Group exhibition. Rarity Gallery, Greece.
2018 Aequilibrium. Acqua, Terra, Aria, Fuoco, curated by Daniela Arionte. GAM-Ex Convento di S. Chiara. Wondertime, Catania, Sicily.
2016 Muro del pianto, Art City White Night, curated by Marco Tonelli. Museo Ebraico Bologna.
2016 Shakespeare in Rome, supported by British Council. Galleria Russo, Rome.
2015 Linee di confine, curated by Marco di Capua. Museo C. Bilotti, Aranciera Villa Borghese, Rome.
2014 Wonderwalls, curated by Caterina Seri. Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan.
2013 Mimesis, variazioni sul libro, curated by Sergio Risaliti. Biblioteca degli Uffizi, Florence.
2012 Biennale delle Chiese Laiche, curate by Silvana Costa, Bruno Bandini,Beatrice Buscaroli and Rolando Giovannini. Biblioteca Classense, Ravenna.
2012 Stanze d’Artista, curated by Galleria Russo. Biblioteca Angelica, Rome.
2012 Un secolo e 7, curated by Alberto Agazzani. Accademia di Belle Arti, Bologna.
2011 54° Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Città di Venezia, Padiglione Italia. 10 artists selected by Fondazione Roma, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi. Palazzo
Venezia, Rome.
2011 Small paintings, il piccolo formato. Biasutti & Biasutti, Turin.
2011 A misura d’Arte 1972-1982, curate by Renata Casarin. Palazzo Te, Mantua.
2011 Suite italiana. Hanhouse Gallery, Hangzhou (R.C.P.).
2010 Group exhibition. Gallerie Noordeinde, Den Haag, Holland.
2010 Il Circuito dell'Arte. Artisti, Gallerie, Musei, Collezionisti. Museo Pietro Canonica, Rome.
2010 Segni del Novecento, curated by Massimo Bignardi. MAT, San Severo, Foggia.
2009 Contemplazioni. Bellezza e tradizione del nuovo nella pittura italiana contemporanea, curated by Alberto Agazzani. Castel Sismondo and Palazzo del Podestà, Rimini.
2009 Lavori in corso, curated by Massimo Bignardi. F.R.A.C., Convento Francescano della SS. Trinità, Baronissi, Salerno.
2009 La collezione permanente 2 - Il Disegno, curated by Massimo Bignardi.F.R.A.C., Convento Francescano della SS. Trinità, Baronissi, Salerno.
2008 Arte e ambiente, curate by Enrico Crispolti and Massimo Bignardi. Certosa di Pontignano, Università degli Studi di Siena. Siena.
2007 Urgenza della città, curated by Massimo Bignardi. Grandi Magazzini Teatrali,Campobasso.
2007 1968-2007 Arte Italiana, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi. Palazzo Reale, Milan.
2007 Twentyfive, curated by Galleria Rubin, N.O. Gallery and Galleria Alessandro De March. Banca Akros, Milan.
2006 Il Silenzio... (cinque artisti di clausura si confessano). Museo Laboratorio Ex Manifattura Tabacchi, Sant'Angelo, Perugia.
2005 Il Paesaggio Italiano Contemporaneo, curated by Marco Meneguzzo. Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio.
2005 Fuori tema/ Italian feeling, XIV Quadriennale d’Arte, curated by G. Agnese,L. Caramel, V. Deho, G. Di Pietrantonio, M. Tonelli, G. Verzotti. Palazzo delle
Esposizioni, Rome.
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
2024 Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
2024 MIT Contemporaneo, curated by Renata Cristina Mazzantini. Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti, Rome.
2024 Contemporanei a Palazzo Borromeo, curate by Renata Cristina Mazzantini.Ambasciata Italiana presso la Santa Sede, Rome.
2021 Quirinale Contemporaneo, curated by Renata Cristina Mazzantini. Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome.
2019 Odunpazari Modern Museum, Erol Tabanca. Eskişehir, Turkey.
2019 Museo Ebraico di Bologna.
2015 Collezione di Archeologia e d’Arte del Sistema Museale dell’Università degli
Studi di Siena, curated by Enrico Crispolti and Massimo Bignardi. Palazzo San Galgano, Siena.
Exhibit of works
NAUFRAGIO、 Oil on canvas、200x300 cm、 2019
