Paola Pivi
Born in Italy in 1971, Paola Pivi's artistic practice is varied and enigmatic.
For Pivi, art is an expression of reality liberated to its fullest potential, conveying the deepest emotions through a variety of materials. Her art often features recognizable objects such as airplanes, polar bears, and pearls. However, Pivi modifies these objects in unexpected ways, encouraging her audience to reconsider their preconceived notions of what these objects represent. Through this approach, she creates a unique form of utopian extravagance, continuously exploring new expressive forms and pushing the boundaries of artistic creation.
Pivi's art is a statement on the human experience, exploring the borders between reality and imagination, the ordinary and the extraordinary.
She has received several awards, including the Golden Lion for the best national pavilion at the 48th Venice Biennale and a fellowship at the American Academy in Rome in 2011.
Her works are part of prestigious permanent collections, including those of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation and the Castello di Rivoli in Turin, and the MAXXI – National Museum of the 21st Century Arts in Rome.
She has exhibited in major museums and galleries, including Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (1999); P.S.1 MoMA, New York (2000, 2001, 2003, 2007); MACRO, Rome (2003, 2010); Brown University, Providence (2004); MCA - Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2005); CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2005); White Columns, New York (2005); MassArt - Massachusetts College of Art, Boston (2006); Hayward Gallery, London (2005); Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (2007); Portikus, Frankfurt (2008); Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2008); Tate Modern, London (2009); Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2010); Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai (2012); Dallas Contemporary (2016); The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach (2018); Museo MAXXI, Rome (2019); Arken Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen (2020); The High Line, New York (2022); The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2022); Musée d’Art Contemporain [mac] - Musées de Marseille, Marseille (2023).