Antonello
Viola

In his works on canvas, paper or glass, Antonello Viola traces a chromatic perimeter where, through a process of accumulation, stratification and sedimentation, the canvas becomes a place devoted to meditation and the research of the absolute. The artist converts invisible into visible with thin layers of paint that are then scraped, removed and deleted. The painting's quiet surface is animated by signs that reveal what lies underneath, the deep, pulsating matter that ultimately gives shape to the work. The artist's visual experiences and the memory of them are absorbed by this process of stratification and sublimated in the colour layers. Through the material density of his work, Viola establishes a new relationship with space, a renewed dialogue between the inner dimension of the work and the environment that surrounds it, in which the artist does not act instinctively or empirically, but moves from a specific project.

This simple shape is intended to hold the colour in its perimeter, a fence whose boundaries are instead constantly exceeded by the vibrating energy of the act of painting. Viola establishes a new relationship with the modern tradition of monochrome painting, where the reduction of the pictorial vocabulary corresponds to a positive and constructive understanding of the world, which perception is renewed through the energy of colour. His most recent works have been characterised by the use of quite varied materials: Japanese paper, glass, gold leaf and oil pigments; single and multiple formats which are presented in careful compositions.

Exhibitions

Among the main solo shows we remember: 2022, Aperto confine sulla Gorgone di Sartorio, Galleria Nazionale Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome (I) and ORO.SPAZIO.VIOLA – Antonello Viola incontra un’opera di Filippo Lippi, Galleria Matteo Salamon, Milan (I); ; 2021, La forma dell'oro, BUILDINGBOX, Milan (I); 2018, Antonello Viola, duo show with Eduard Habicher, Galleria Alessandro Casciaro, Bolzano (I); 2017, Opere su carta, Civico Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Anticoli Corrado, Rome (I); 2016, Antonello Viola, SF Avvocati, Rome (I) and Le ragioni della leggerezza, Galleria Intragallery, Napoli (I); 2015, In versi – Guendalina Salini e Antonello Viola, Galleria Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea, Rome (I); 2014, The Solo Project, Galleria Il Segno, Basel (CH); 2013, Aperto con fine, Galleria il Segno, Rome (I); 2010, MONOcromalia, Goethe 2, Bolzano (I); 2009, Helio, Galleria Il Segno, Rome (I); 2007, Licht in der zeit, Carloni SpazioArte, Frankfurt am Main (D); 2006, Planetarisch, mit Francesco Bocchini, Goethe 2, Bolzano (I); 2005, Rosso e Viola, Galleria L’Affiche, Milan (I); 2004, Lavori recenti, Galleria Officina14, Rome (I); 2003, Antonello Viola – Icone Mediterranee, Carloni SpazioArte, Frankfurt am Main (D); 2002, Recent Paintings by Antonello Viola, Magnet Gallery, New York (US) and Antonello Viola, Galleria Peter Bauscke, Frankfurt am Main (D); 2001, Fragile rosso, Galleria Image, Italienisches Kulturinstitut, Vienna (A) and Galleria L’Affiche, Milan (I); 2000, Opere recenti, Galleria Spazio Blu, Rome (I); 1999, Antonello Viola, Galleria L’Affiche, Milan (I), Galleria Studio G7, Bravo Caffè, Bologna (I); 1998, Un’attesa, Galleria Fidia Arte Contemporanea, Rome (I); 1994, Energia della luce, Galleria Fidia Arte Contemporanea, Rome (I); 1993, Il ritmo della luce, Galleria Ferro di Cavallo, Rome (I); 1990, Antonello Viola – Lavori, Università della Laguna (E).
 
He also took part to several group exhibition: 2021, VITREA, Vetro italiano contemporaneo d’autore, Triennale Milano (I); 2020, MANIFESTA13, Marseille (F); 2019, LOOKING FOR UTOPIA, Novecento, Venice (I); 2017, The Artist/Knight, Kasteel Van Gaasbeek, Bruxelles (B), I martedì critici in mostra: Anni Zero – 2017, Temple University, Rome (I); 2016, Murano oggi. Emozioni di vetro, Murano, Museo del vetro, Venice (I), GLASS – Arte del Vetro oggi in Italia, Villa dei Vescovi, Luvigliano (I) and Un peso cubitale, Museo della Città, Rimini (I); 2015, In Abstracto, percorsi non oggettivi intorno alla pittura, Galleria Alessandro Casciaro, Bolzano (I); 2014, The Cosmic Spectrum, Montoro12 Contemporary Art, Rome (I), Storia di una galleria 1964–2014, Galleria Goethe, Bolzano (I), Ministero degli affari esteri, Collezione Farnesina (I), Alimento dell anima LXV Michetti Preis, Francavilla Al Mare, Pescara (I), III° Biennale di Viterbo (I), ART IS REAL Una collezione impermanente, Rome (I); 2013, Carta Canta Nel Tempo, Galleria Lombardi, Rome (I); La bellezza necessaria, LXIV Michetti Preis, Francavilla Al Mare Pescara (I) and Altrove. Luogo o poesia, Catania (I); 2012, Al principio del vedere, Palazzo del Podestà, Castell'arquato, Piacenza (I), Fragile per sempre, Palazzo Incontro, Rome (I), Opere di Grande Formato, Galleria Goethe, Bolzano (I) und MAMM Museo dell'Altro e dell’Altrove, Rome (I); 2011, Tra cielo e terra, Fondazione Carisbo, Bologna (I), Palazzo Barolo, Turin (I), Tra cielo e terra, Museo Marino Marini, Florence (I); 54° Biennale di Venezia, Palazzo Venezia, Rome (I); Blu, Galleria Goethe, Bolzano(I); 2010, Antonello Viola, Ab Factory, Rome (I); Segni di/versi, Galleria Il Segno, Rome (I), Sistema Paese, Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Rome (I), Impresa Pittura, Museo CIAC, Genazzano, Rome (I) and Fondazione Puglisi Cosentino, Catania (I), Libra Arte Contemporanea, Catania (I), 24 x 24, Studio Abate, Rome (I), Crossroads, Il frantoio, Capalbio (I); 2009, Experimenta, Collezione Farnesina Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Rome (I), Dal Profondo, Università di Magonza, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Magonza (I) and Artisti Italiani, University of Beijing, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
 

Biography

Antonello Viola was born in 1966 in Rome; received his degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome in 1989; after a long period of study in Spain, he received a PhD from the Fine Arts Department of the University La Laguna. Teaches decoration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna since 1996. His work was exhibited in Rome, galleria Il segno; Milan, Galleria L’Affiche, Bolzano, Galleria Goethe; Frankfurt, Carloni Spazio Arte and Peter Bauschke Gallery; Wien, Gallery Image, Italian Cultural Institute; New York, Magnet Gallery. Lives and works in Rome and Bologna.