Piero Gilardi

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Biography

Born in Turin, 1942. In 1965 he first realized his famous nature Carpets (tappeti natura) works made of polyurethane that he's gonna expose at the gallery Sperone (Turin) in 1966, then in 1967 at the gallery Sonnabend (Paris) and at the gallery Fischbach (New York).

From 1968, he stop producing artworks by engaging in the path of art criticism and becoming the correspondent for the magazine Flash Art. Traveling in Europe and the United States, he has introduced in Italy the works of Richard Long, Eva Hesse, Jan Dibbets, Bruce Nauman, and collaborates in the realization of two international exhibitions: When Attitudes Become Form (Bern, 1969) and Op Losse Schroeven (Amsterdam, 1969) who show the artistic stakes of the moment (Arte Povera, Land Art, Antiform Art).

In 1969, he began to take part in a long activist and transcultural experience which aims at the theoretical analysis and the conjunction «Arte Vita» (Art Life). As a political activist and leader of the young culture, he leads various collective creativity experiences in urban and «global» peripheries, such as in Nicaragua and Indian reserves in the United States, as well as in Africa. He went back to his artistic activity during the 80's performing interactive installations that talk about our relationship to nature and the world, by offering the visitor the opportunity to be part of the work. These proposals seek, among other things, to raise awareness on ecological issues by grasping the contribution of technology and science to the art world; in 1988, he co-founded with Piotr Kowalski and Claude Faure the association Ars Tecnica in Paris.

From 2003, he promotes the project of the Living Art Park of the City of Turin where summarize all his experiences related to the dialectic Nature-Culture.
In 2012, his works are exhibited in a major traveling exhibition curated by Andrea Bellini (Castello di Rivoli, Turin ; Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven ; Nottingham Contemporary Art, Nottingham).

In 2017, the MAXXI in Rome, dedicates him a retrospective «Piero Gilardi. Nature Forever» which shows the different aspects of his work.