VALERIO ADAMI
Artist
VALERIO ADAMI (1935 – ) was born on March 17, 1935 in the Italian city of Bologna. He begun to study painting at the age of ten and in 1951 he was accepted into the Brera Academy in Milan (Accademia di Brera) where he studied draughtsmanship in the studio of Achille Funi.
Italian painter and printmaker, he is a world renowned exponent of Pop Art and one of the few continental artists to receive critical acclaim in this genre of contemporary art. His first solo exhibition came in 1959 in Milan.
Since the beginning, mystery, dream and poetry appeared in his work, while gradually he started emphasizing on the line and the space denoting Metaphysical art and Giorgio de Chirico. During the 50s he came into contact with the artistic life of the rest of Europe. He met representatives of the abstract movement as well as the new figurative art which intended to present visual reality. In the 60s he participated in major exhibitions: at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, Documenta III in Kassel and the Venice Biennale.
Valerio Adami, in a peculiar Italian version of Pop Art, defines his painting as a field of experiences integrated into an inner psychological spectrum. In his work, the pictures-thoughts are presented unaltered, threatening, with impressive sharpness. The object acquires an aesthetic and expressive value and his interest to create a pictorial narrative is expressed through the free combination of stylistic directions.’
Art historian Dore Ashton stated: ‘’Armed with his respectable education, at a time when the ‘high’ art of the first postwar period was being attacked by the young generation, the young artist, succumbed to the temptation to communicate with the wider world through the use of a cool, ironic version of the general language […] the work of Valerio Adami does not hesitate to introduce allegorical and literary enigmas […] there is a perception of a painting style honoring above all the memory (or imagination).”
There were many retrospective exhibitions of Adami’s work all over the world such as those is Paris, the Centre Julio-Gonzalez de Valence (Spain), Tel Aviv, and Buenos Aires. He has also participated in many biennales and art fairs. Numerous books, articles and directories support and promote his work, which has been discoursed and studied by some of the greatest philosophers of our time, such as Jacques Derrida and Jean-Francois Lyotard, as well as by renowned authors like Carlos Fuentes and Italo Calvino.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Valerio Adami, Galerie Templon, Paris, France
Valerio Adami – Immagine e pensiero, Dep Art Gallery, Milan, Italy
2019
Camilla et Valerio Adami, Espace Jacques Villeglé, Saint Gratien, France
The 80s, Galerie Templon, Paris, France
2018
Adami : lignes de vie, Musée Jean Cocteau, Collection Séverin Wunderman, Menton, France
2017
Valerio Adami, Galleria L’Incontro, Chiari, Bs, Italy
Valerio Adami – The Narrative Line, The Mayor Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2016
Valerio Adami, Secession, Vienna, Austria
Transfigurations, Chapelle Saint-Sauveur, Saint-Malo, France
De la ligne à la couleur, Le Musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch, Issoudun, France
Valerio Adami, Galerie Daniel Templon Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Valerio Adami, Fondazione Marconi, Milan, Italy
2015
Great retrospective Valerio Adami’s 80th birthday, Turin Museum, Turin, Italy ; Mantua Museum, Mantua, Italy
Valerio Adami, Centre d’art contemporain à cent mètres du centre du monde, Perpignan, France
2014
Valerio Adami, Disegnare, Dipingere, Galeria André, Roma, Italy
Valerio Adami, Centre d’art graphique de la Métairie Bruyère, Parly, France
2013
Mosaïques, Ravenna Museum of Art, Ravenna, Italy
Valerio Adami, Aquarelles, Galerie Biasutti, Turin, Italy
2012
Tableaux et dessins, Galerie Hass Ag, Zürich, Switzerland
New Painting – Photographic Work from the Sixties, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Figure nel tempo, Galleria Tega, Milan, Italy
Œuvres graphiques, Nev, Ankara, Turkey
Valerio Adami, les années 1960, Galerie Laurent Strouk, Paris, France
2011
Quadri di lettura, Padiglione Italia, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Drawings, Galleria Usher arte, via della Zecca 15, Lucques, Italy
Paintings, Claudio Poleschi Arte Contemporanea, Lucques, Italy
Watercolours, Lucca Center of Contemporary Art, Lucques, Italy
Opere 1971 – 2010, Museo Provinciale di Lecce, Lucques, Italy
Galerie IUFM, 11th contemporary art biennale of Lyon, Lyon, France
2010
Pinacoteca Comunale Casa Rusca, Locarno, Italy
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Miami, USA
Dessins, Impasse Beaubourg, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
2009
Valerio Adami: Postlude, The Mayor Gallery, London, UK
2008
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
2007
Jusqu’ici, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
2006
Valerio Adami, Galleria Biasutti Giampiero, Turin, Italy
Adami d’après Adami, Museum of Contemporary Art, Lisbon, Portugal
2005
Valerio Adami, Fondation d’entreprise espace écureuil pour l’art contemporain, Toulouse, France
2004
Préludes et après-ludes, Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Valerio Adami – Rétrospective, Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece
2002
Marlborough Gallery, New York City, USA
Valerio Adami, Marlborough Monaco, Monaco
Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Finland
2000
Valerio Adami – Opere 1990–2000, Galleria dello Scudo, Verona, Italy
1999
Pop Art, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Teheran, Iran
La raccolta Spajani, GAMeC – Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy
1998
Adami, Umberto du marino, Giuliano in Campania, Italy
Museo de Bellas Artes de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
1996
Palazzo delle Stelline, Milan, Italy
Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
1994
Magazzini del Sale, Sienne, Italy
Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy
Valerio Adami, rétrospective, Bochum Museum, Bochum, Germany
1990
IVAM, Centro Julio Gonzales, Valencia, Spain
1986
Valerio Adami, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
1985
Valerio Adami, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1984
Marisa Del Re Gallery, New York City, USA
1983
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France
Fuji Television Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1979
Museo d’Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico
Retrospective, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
1978
Dessins, Transgaarden de Hellrup, Copenhagen, Denmark
1976
Galerie Maeght, Barcelona, Spain
CAPC musée d’art contemporain, Bordeaux, France
1975
Galerie Maeght, Zürich, Switzerland
1973
Valerio Adami – Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
1972
Galerie Maeght, Zürich, Switzerland
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf, Germany
1970
Rétrospective, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Galerie Maeght, Zürich, Switzerland
1966
Galleria Schwartz, Milan, Italy
Galleria Marconi, Milan, Italy
Brussels Museum of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium
Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1964
Galerie Krugier, Geneva, Switzerland
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
Figurez-vous… Adami, Erro, Guyomard, Klassen, Palais des Arts et du Festival, Dinard, France
2018
Io sono una poesia. Parole sui muri e le arti negli anni Sessanta tra Modena e Reggio Emilia, Musei Civici di Modena, Modena, Italy
Testimonianze – Composizioni Materiche E Oggettuali Dagli Anni ’60 Ad Oggi, Galleria d’Arte 2000 & Novecento, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Pictures without Shadows – A selection from the Kemp Collection, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany
2017
40th anniversary. Twentieth Century Art Collection. 1977-2017, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Alicante (MACA), Alicante, Spain
HOP!, Musée d’Ixelles, Bruxelles, Belgium
Exposition de l’été, Galerie Popy Arvani, Paris, France
Giugno Italiano, nm>contemporary, Monaco, Monaco
Landscapes. Declinazioni in giallo e in verde, Galleria d’Arte 2000 & Novecento, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Nummeriert Und Handsigniert – Ausgewaehlte Graphik Und Skulptur, Die Galerie – Frankfurt, Germany
Georges Pompidou, Une aventure du regard et de l’art, Domaine national de Chambord, France
La Nouvelle Figuration Européenne : 1964 – 1976, Galerie du Griffon, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Mondalité, Fondation Boghossian-Villa Empain, Bruxelles, Belgium
2016
ROSSO, Anna Maria Consadori, Milan, Italy
Sternstunde – 100 Zeichnungen, Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
Italia Pop. L’Arte Negli Anni Del Boom, Fondazione Magnani Rocca, Parme, Italy
Minimenta 2016, Galerie Popy Arvani, Paris, France
Perdidos en la ciudad/ La vida urbana en las colecciones del IVAM, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM), Valencia, Spain
Italian Pop, Tornabuoni Art London, London, UK
Adami, Del Pezzo, Schifano, Tadini (50 anni dopo…), Fondazione Marconi, Milan, Italy
Juste pour le plaisir (A&B), Centre d’art contemporain à cent mètres du centre du monde, Perpignan, France
2015
The Silo, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York City, NY, USA
Cart(E), Galleria Cart, Monza, Italy
1965-2015. 50 anni dallo Studio Marconi alla Fondazione Marconi, Fondazione Marconi, Milan, Italiy
Arte contemporáneo en la colección Himalaya, Museo de Albacete, Albacete, Spain
Figuration Narrative : Paris 1960-1975, Art Collection S.à r.l, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
INTIMATE SPHERES, MA Galerie, Paris, France
2014
Figuration narrative, Adami, Erro, Klasen, Monory, Morteyrol, Velickovic, Atelier Gabrielle, Salernes, France
Estampes et œuvres sur papier, Galerie Atelier 28, Lyon, France
2013
Collection LGR, MAMAC, Nice, France
Foire Européenne d’Art Contemporain, Parc des expositions, Strasbourg, France
2010
Arte Svelata, Palazzo Magnani, Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy
2009
Riccardo Licata e gli amici di Venezia e Parigi, Palazzo della Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin, Italy
Pop, Polit und Pin ups. Pop Art Grafik aus der Sammlung Beck, Städtische Galerie Bietigheim-Bissingen, Bietigheim- Bissingen, Germany
Fixsterne: 100 Jahre Kunst auf Papier, Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany
Hot Spots, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ; Milan, Turin, Italy ; Los Angeles, USA ; Zürich, Switzerland
Passion d’art, Collection privées Musée Éphémère, Montélimar, France
Italics: Italian Art between Tradition and Revolution 1968–2008, Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago, Chicago, USA
2008
La Figuration narrative, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Signe écriture signe, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, Liège, Belgium
Time & Place, Milano–Torino 1958–1968, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Camilla et Valério Adami, Elsa Triolet and Louis Aragon’s house, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France
2007
Arte italiana 1968–2007 Pittura, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
2006
Selecció del fons de la galeria, Art Vall, Andorra la Vella, Andora
Italian Pop, Mayor Gallery, London, UK
Artists and Their Models, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, China
Arbeiten auf Papier, Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
Marlborough Monaco, Monaco
2005
Anthropography III, Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece
Obras Maestras del Siglo XX en las Colecciones del IVAM, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, Segovia, Spain
Hommage à Matisse, Artiscope, Brussels, Belgium
Bologna contemporanea, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
Eye of the Storm: The IMMA Collection, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Pop Art Italia, Galleria Civica di Modena, Modena, Italy
2004
Suggestioni astratte e figurative, Galleria d’Arte 2000 & Novecento, Reggio nell’Emilia, Italy
Walter Benjamin und die Kunst der Gegenwart / Schrift – Bilder – Denken, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany
Christmas Art Gifts, Artiscope, Brussels, Belgium
Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece
2003
Anthropogeography – The Human Figure at the Beginning of the 21st Century, Frissiras Museum, Athens, Greece
Marlborough Monaco, Monaco
2000
Une ville – une collection, Centre de la gravure et de l’image imprimée, La Louvière, France
1996
Festival de Spoleto, Perugia, Italy
Acquisitions récentes du Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art, Casino Luxembourg, Forum d’art contemporain, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
1995
46th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1989
Une histoire de collection : dons 1984–1989, Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada
1988
Gran Pavese, The Flag Project, M HKA Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium
1987
Hommage à Ferrari, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France
1985
13th Paris Biennale, Paris, France
1978
Le Disque, médium artistique : du futurisme à l’art conceptuel, Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal, Canada
From Nature to Art, from Art to Nature, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1977
Documenta IV, Kassel, Germany
1968
Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
1964
Documenta III, Kassel, Germany
I Massacri privati, Galleria Schwartz, Milan, Italy
1961
Italian Artists, Cambridge Art Association, Boston, USA
1960
Young Italian Painters, Kamakura Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Japan
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, Germany
Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
Musée des beaux-arts, Bruxelles, Belgium
Musée d’art moderne, Liège, Belgium
Museum van Heedendaagse Kunst, Gand, Belgium
IVAM – Museo de Arte Moderno, Valence, Spain
Fondaccion Miro, Barcelone, Spain
Museum of Modern Art, Minneapolis, US
Museum of Modern Art, Pittsburg, US
Mc. Crory Corporation, New York City, US
Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland
Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum, Turku, Finland
Maija and Urpo Lahtinen Foundation, Villa Urpo, Tampere, Finland
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
Fonds national d’art contemporain, Paris, France
Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, France
Musée d’art moderne de Grenoble, Grenoble, France
Musée d’art moderne, Saint-Étienne, France
Musée Cantini d’art moderne de Marseille, Marseille, France
Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Musée Picasso, Antibes, France
Musée de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
Frissiras Museum, Athènes, Greece
Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israël
Museo d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
Museo d’Arte Moderna Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
Galleria d’Arte Moderna, BergamO, Italy
Rotterdam Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Musée Bernardo, Lisbon, Portugal
Museo de Arte Moderno, Caracas, Venezuela
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
Artist’s Work
