Pier Paolo Calzolari

Pier Paolo Calzolari was born in Bologna in 1943, and he now lives and works in Lisbon. After a period in Venice (the artist recollects the city’s Byzantine art and the quality of the light), he returned to Bologna where he held his first solo exhibition at Studio Bentivoglio in 1965. The following year he made works from found objects (Fabula Due). The artwork-performance Il Filtro e Benvenuto all’Angelo was presented in 1967, the year in which he began to participate in events with Arte Povera artists; La casa ideale (1968) was one of his notable works from this time. Up until 1972 he travelled between Paris, New York and Berlin. His modus operandi was characterised by the alchemical process of transforming elements and the investigation of materials such as tobacco, musk, lead, luminous materials and frozen bars (Lago del cuore, Piombo rosa). He experimented with unusual supports such as flannel for his painting and he involved the audience in his work, letting daily life and aesthetics interact (Usura, amore e misericordia, 1972–1974). He moved to Milan, Turin, Vienna in 1982 and Montefeltro in 1984. His work on space-time expanded to include different disciplines: the visual arts, dances and performances. He has exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in Italy and abroad, among them Centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Priest (1996); Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Villa delle Rose, Bologna (1999); MAMBO, Bologna (2011); and Madre, Naples (2019).

Source: Magonza Editore