Patrizio di Massimo

Patrizio di Massimo (1983, Jesi, Italy) lives and works in London. He graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art, London and the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, Milan. 

Over the past decade, di Massimo has cultivated a distinct aesthetic that merges figuration with elements from Italian history, particularly drawing inspiration from Baroque tones and dramatic portraiture. His artistic representations exhibit an uncanny and sometimes grotesque quality, exploring various aspects of human nature.

Following his 2013 solo exhibition at Gasworks in London, which delved into orientalist and otherizing attitudes prevalent in Victorian society and their complex and seductive existence in the present, di Massimo has shifted his focus towards a more universal exploration of human nature. His works ambiguously engage with the concept of masculinity, serving as personal interpretations of a broader cosmology that incorporates friends, family, and fictional characters. Whether engaged in conflict or embraced in intimacy, whether depicted in private domestic spaces or on imaginary stages, his subjects confront the real world through their vulnerability and the performative display of emotions. Despite being bathed in theatrical light or adorned with velvet brocade, these characters remain intimately connected to our own desires and frustrations.

His work has been exhibited in venues such as: Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin; ParaSite, Hong Kong; Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka; Museion, Bolzano; Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan; Triennale di Milano, Milan; Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli; Fiorucci Art Trust, London; M HKA, Antwerp; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Museo do Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino; Villa Medici, Rome; EVA International, Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art, Limerick; Gaswork, London; Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon. 

In 2012 he was selected as a finalist in the Premio Italia 2012, held at MAXXI, Rome. In 2009 he had his first solo presentation within the program Zilkha Auditorium at Whitechapel Gallery, London. He attended prestigious residences at De Ateliers, Amsterdam; Stipendium Kunstzeitraum, Munich; and Sommerakademie, Centre Paul Klee, Bern.  

Collections: Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art, Turin; Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris; Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin; David Roberts Art Foundation, London; Fiorucci Art Trust, London; Lewben Art Foundation, Vilnius; Malvina Menegaz Foundation for Arts and Culture, Castelbasso; Italian Embassy in London; Jiménez – Colón Collection; Ponce, Puerto Rico; Collezione Giuseppe Iannaccone, Milan; Fondazione CRC, Cuneo; Tajan, Paris.

Awards

2016
Selected as finalist for ‘Artisti per Frescobaldi’

2012
Selected as a finalist for Premio Italia 2012, MAXXI, Rome

2008
Artegiovane, Turin and Milan, special mention

Residencies

2012
Stipendium Kunstzeitraum, Munich

2009/2011
De Ateliers, Amsterdam

2010
Sommerakademie, Centre Paul Klee, Bern

2009
Fondazione Banna Spinola per l’Arte, Banna di Poirino

Solo Exhibitions

2023
Out like a Light, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Antologia/ Anthology (2013-2023), curated by Massimo Vitangeli and Ludovico Pratesi, Musei Civici di Palazzo Pianetti, Jesi

2022
As Snug as a Bug in a Rug, Rudolf Jansees, Brussels

2021
The Tail End of the Tale, T293, Rome
Il ciclo de La Risalita | Espressioni, curated by Stella Bottai, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli
Close at Hand, François Ghebaly, Los Angeles

2019
Patrizio di Massimo, curated by Massimo Vitangeli, Gallerie Nazionale Delle Marche, Urbino
Patrizio di Massimo, KURA, Milan

2018
Inside Me, ChertLüdde, Berlin

2017
Bread and Circuses, Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels
Predictions, Disegni Sector, Artissima, Turin

2016
Patrizio di Massimo, Vitrine, NICC, Brussels

2015
Nipson anomemata me monan opsin (Wash the sins not only the face), The Monteverdi Gallery, Castiglioncello del Trinoro

2014
Are Ere Ire, T293, Rome
Lost in Lust, Fiorucci Art Trust, London
Soft Corners Lining White, Rowing, London
Me, Mum, Mister, Mad, Kunsthalle Lissabon, Lisbon

2013
Monologue for two, Fiorucci Art Trust, London (performance)
Inside Me, Present Future, Artissima, Turin
The Lustful Turk, Gasworks, London
Monologo per due, MdP1, Milan (performance)

2012
Voglio Vivere Così, T293, Rome
Il Turco Lussurioso / The Lustful Turk, Villa Medici, Rome
Buzzi’s Turandot (In the Shape of Notes), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (performance)

2011
Modus Operandi, White Fish Tank, Ancona

2010
The Negus said: Give me the lion keep the stele!, Art Statements, Art 41 Basel
Col sole in fronte, T293, Naples

2009
Patrizio di Massimo, Zilkha Auditorium, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London

2008
Patrizio di Massimo, Italian Wave, Artissima, Turin

Group Exhibitions

2024
A soft edge to break a sword, ChertLüdde Potsdamer Straße 97, Berlin
Wash the sins, not only the face, Curated by Sarah McCrory, Monteverdi Tuscany, Val D’Orcia
Italia 70 – I Nuovi Mostri (The New Monsters), Curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Milan
Rifrazioni. 15 curatori x 15 artisti, Accademia Nazionale di San Luca, Rome

2023
Motherboy, Curated by Stella Bottai and Gray Weilebinski, Giò Marconi gallery, Milan
Superfici Irregolari, Collezione Giuseppe Iannacone, Chiesa della Compagnia della Disciplina della Santa Croce, Napoli
Sensing Painting, Curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, in collaboration with Fondazione CRC Cuneo Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli
Pittura italiana oggi, Triennale di Milano, Milan
My Demons My Angels, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Mirrors of the Portrait: Centre Pompidou Collection, Vol. III, West Bund Museum, Shanghai
Domus contemporanea, curated by Andrea Viliani and Margherita De Pilati, Galleria Civica Trento
ALEA IACTA EST, curated by Milovan Farronato; Vistamare, Milan

2022
Espressioni con Frazioni, Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli
Presentation of contemporary collection, Centre Pompidou, Paris
Works from the collection, Sof:Art, Bologna, Italy
Tom of Finland Arts & Culture Festival, London, UK
Kathmandu Triennale 2077, curated by Cosmin Costinas, Hit Man Gurung and Sheelasha Rajbhandari, Kathmandu Triennale, Kathmandu

2021
Painting in Person. The new Collection of Fondazione CRC, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Marcella Beccaria, Complesso Monumentale di San Francesco, Cuneo
The sublim in nature, curated by Daniel Malarkey, Cork Street, London W1S 3NJ

2020
Garden of Six Seasons
, curated by Cosmin Costinas, ParaSite Art Space, Hongkong
Shaking the Habitual
, Galeria Duarte Sequeira, Braga
Portraits Forever
, Tajan, Paris
What I see. New Figurative Art in Italy
, curated by Alfredo Cramerotti and Margherita de Pilati, Galleria Civica Trento, Rovereto
Via dell’Inferno
, curated by Herald St and Stella Bottai, Galleria Spazia, Bologna

2019
ÜberMauer
, BAM-Biennale Arcipelago Mediterraneo, Organized by Fondazione Merz, Palermo
Guten Morgen, Europa!
, curated by David Jablonowski, A Tale of a Tub, Rotterdam

2018
Nightfall, Mendes Wood, Brussels
Total Anastrophes, Stromboli, Volcano Extravaganza
Take Me (I’m Yours)
, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Christian Boltanski and Chiara Parisi, French Academy at Villa Medici, Rome
Prego signori si accomodino
, curated by Geraldine Blais, Lia Pasqualino Noto’s studio – house, via Dante 310, Palermo
Somatechnics – Transparent travelers and obscure nobodies
, Museion, Bolzano
EVA International
, Ireland’s Biennal of Contemporary Art, Limerick
Total Anastrophes
, Dhaka Art Summit, Volcano Extravaganza

2017
Through the Looking Glass
, Palazzo Capris, Turin
An ear, severed, listens
, ChertLüdde, Berlin
Take me (I’m Yours)
, Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan
Grim Tales
, Cassina Projects, New York
Sette Messaggeri,
Marselleria, Milan
The Absent Artist
, Netwerk, Aalst
Storie e Opere
, Fondazione Malvina Menegaz per le Arti e le Culture, Castelbasso

2016
Ritiro
, Lucie Fontaine’s Kayu, Bali and Java
Artisti per Frescobaldi, Galleria d’Arte Moderna (GAM), Milan
Lonesome Wife
, Seventeen, London
Prediction
, Mendes Wood MD, São Paulo
Mundus Muliebris
, CURA.basement, Rome

2015
Ennesima. Una mostra di sette mostre sull’arte italiana
, Triennale di Milano
The Ultimate Vessel
, Koppe Astner, Glasgow
Impossible Love
, Projektraum Viktor Bucher, Vienna
Movi(e)ing Museum
, Aurora Museum, Shanghai
Signori prego si accomodino
, Studio Casa Scatturin – Carlo Scarpa, Venice
I am here but you’ve gone
, Fiorucci Art Trust, London
Natural Beginners
, La Rouvraie, Paris

2014
Diamanti, Careof DOCVA
, La Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan
GLITCH. Interferenze tra arte e cinema
, PAC, Milan
Anatomy of Anxieties
, Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong
Domesticity V
, Lucie Fontaine’s Kayu, Bali
Tra storia e memoria
, Sotterranei di Rocca Costanza, Pesaro
Don’t You Know Who I Am? – Art after Identity Politic
s, M HKA, Antwerp
Ritratto dell’artista da giovane
, Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli
Camel Blues
, Kinman, London
Little Messages for Modern Shut-Ins, Aran Cravey
, Los Angeles
A Venus do Ébano
, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro

2013
From script to reading to exhibition to performance to print
, Rowing, London
Le Ragioni della Pittura. Esiti e prospettive di un medium
, Fondazione Malvina Menegaz per le Arti e le Culture, Castelbasso
Souvenir, organized by Lucie Fontaine
, Galerie Perrotin, Paris
The 338 Hour Cineclub
, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
De Puristes et de Fauves, Shanaynay, Paris
It May Be That Beauty Has Strengthened Our Resolve, Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong
A House of Leaves. Third Movement
, David Roberts Art Foundation, London

2012
D’après Giorgio, Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico, Rome
Hombres entre las ruinas, TEOR/èTICA, San José
Fuoriclasse – 20 anni di arte Italiana nei corsi di Alberto Garutti, GAM, Milano
Ceci n’est pas du cinema!, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino
La storia che non ho vissuto (testimone indiretto), Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli
Estate: a project by Lucie Fontaine, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York
Prospettive Italiane – Percorsi, Visioni, Orizzonti, Palazzo Borghese, Roma
Maison Opera, Le Commun, Bâtiment d’art contemporain, Geneva
Ritual without Myth, Royal College of Art, London
Premio Italia Arte Contemporanea 2012, MAXXI, Rome

2011
Essere Italiano, Musei Civici di Palazzo Buonaccorsi, Macerata
Hantologie des colonies, Espace Khiasma, Paris
Une légende en cache une autre, Bétonsalon, Paris
Para/Site Open 2011, ParaSite, Hong Kong
Ceci n’est pas du cinema!, Castello di Rivoli e Museo Nazionale del cinema, Torino
Alighiero e Boetti day, Teatro Regio, Torino
Il Bel Paese dell’Arte. Etiche ed Estetiche della Nazione, Gamec, Bergamo
All Cannibals?, me Collectors Room, Berlin
Psychopomp counsel, De-Ateliers, Amsterdam
Prague Biennale 5, Prague
Matter of Action, O’Artoteca, Milan
Talenti emergenti, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence
Tous Cannibales, Maison Rouge, Paris
Social Identity, Italian Video Art today between ethic and esthetic, Crane Arts, Philadelphia

2010
See Reason, Stedelijk Bureau Museum of Amsterdam
Se vuoi che questa storia continui…, Neon Campobase, Bologna
VideoReport Italia 2008/2009, Galleria Civica di Monfalcone, Monfalcone
More Pricks than Kicks, David Roberts Art Foundation, London
Voyages d’Italie, Magasin, Grenoble
Evading Customs, Le Dictateur, Milan
Let us compare with mythologies, Witte de With, Rotterdam
You, We + Ablo, Rotonda della Besana, Milan
I, FAI Villa Necchi Campiglio, Milan
21×21: 21 artisti per il 21° secolo, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin
A Performance Cycle, Nomas Foundation, Rome
Art in the auditiorium, Foundation Proa, Buenos Aires
Tristes Tropiques, The Barber Shop and Novo Museo Tropical, Lisboa
Tutta la memoria del mondo, Gam, Turin

2009
Disegni Europei, Galleria OREDARIA Arti, Rome
Hypnotic Show, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
Hypnotic Show, Kunstverein, Amsterdam
The object of the attack, David Roberts Art Foundation, London
Art in the Auditorium, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo
Degree Show, Slade School of Art, London
Playlist, Neon campobase, Bologna
Video!, Henie Onstad Art Centre, Hovikodden
Eppur si muove, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Guarene
Desiring Necessities, John Hansard Gallery, Southamptos
Documents, Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’arte, Turin
Senza rete, Complesso di S. Spirito in Sassia, Rome

2008
…Cast the first stone, Chert Gallery, Berlin
Flux capacitator, Extraspazio Gallery, Rome
The Interim Show, Slade Research Centre, Woburn Square
One of this things is not like the other things, Unosunove, Rome
The shortest short story ever written…, Form Content Project Space, London
I desired what you were, I need what you are, Maze Gallery, Turin

2006
Salon Primo, Museo della Permanente, Milan

2004
Arrivederci e grazie, Viafarini, Milan

Curated exhibitions

2010
More Pricks Than Kicks, David Roberts Art Foundation, London

Panels and lectures

2014
‘Every cloud has a silver lining. Renata Salecl in conversation with Patrizio di Massimo’, Freud Museum, London

2013
‘Playback’, Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera, Milan

2012
‘Ritual without Myth’ (with Anders Kreuger), Royal College of Art, London

2011
‘Patrizio di Massimo, Viaggio in Italia’, MiArt art fair, Milan
‘Patrizio di Massimo, Orestiade Africana and other stories’, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam

Selected Press and Publications

2023
“‘Motherboy’ is the exhibition in Milan that celebrates, criticizes but above all reconstructs the figure of the ‘mama’s boy'” by Francesca Faccani, Vogue Italia, online, 27 Nov 2023
“Schön im Schlaf” by Beate Scheder, TAZ, print/online, 17 June 2023
Catalogue: “Patrizio di Massimo. Antologia / Anthology (2013–2023)”, published by Quodlibet, ISBN 9788822920409, 2023

2020
“Patrizio Di Massimo at Kura, Milan” by Barbara Casavecchia, ArtReview, 01 January 2020, online.
“Un’ora con Patrizio di Massimo Pittore” by Clara Mazzoleni on Rivista Studio, Issue n° 42, February 2020, pp. 124-131.

2019
Catalogue: “Patrizio di Massimo”, Ed.: Stella Bottai, Patrizio Di Massimo, published by cura.books, Rome. ISBN: 978-88-99776-24-4
“L’irriverente mondo di Patrizio di Massimo” by Elisa Mencarelli on AD.LUOGHI, 21 October 2019, online
“Il gioco delle coppie. Patricio di Massimo a Milano” by Claudia Santerino on Artibune, 17 October 2019, online
“Patrizio di Massimo at KURA” by Maria Chiara Valacchi on Artforum, 13 September 2019

2018
“Pittura lingua viva. Parola a Patrizio Di Massimo” by Damiano Gullì on Artribune, 6 September 2018
“Patrizio di Massimo – Inside Me at ChertLüdde” on Mousse, May 2018, online
“Patrizio di Massimo” on Cactus,  Issue 06, online, pp. 164-169
“Patrizio di Massimo. La pittura è tutto” by Laura Cherubini on L’Officiel Art Italia, Issue n.3, April 2018, pp. 80-85

2017
“Patrizio di Massimo”, on L’Uomo Vogue, 19 October 2017, online, pp. 122-124

2016
“Patrizio di Massimo – Why I Paint”, on Phaidon as featured in Vitamin P3, 10 November 2016, online
“Patrizio di Massimo” by Michele Robecchi on Vitamin P3, October 2016, pp. 182-183, online

2014
“Patrizio di Massimo in conversation with João Mourão and Luis Silva” on Cura, Issue 17, Summer 2014, pp. 104-115.
“Guilty pleasures at home and far away” on Frieze, Issue 164, Summer 2014, pp. 162-163

2013
“Patrizio Di Massimo: The Lustful Turk” by Jennifer Thatcher, ArtReview, December 2013, print, p. 126.

2012
Catalogue: “UNA TURANDIADE BUZZINIANA”,  Walther König, Köln, 2012; texts by Anders Krüger · Alessandro Rabottini · Katharina Horn; ISBN 978-3-86335-233-2

2010
“Emerging: Patrizio Di Massimo” by Rebecca Geldard, MAP Magazine, No 24, November 2010, print, p. 26-27.