Piero Gilardi
Biography
Piero Gilardi (1942-2023)
He produced his first «nature-carpets» (tappeti-natura) using polyurethane foam, and showed than at the Sperone gallery (Turin) in 1966, then in 1967 at the Sonnabend gallery (Paris) and the Fischbach gallery (New York).
In 1968, he ceased producing artworks and embarked on a career as an art critic, becoming the correspondent for the magazine Flash Art. Travelling around Europe and the United States, he introduced Italy in the works of Richard Long, Eva Hesse, Jan Dibbets, and Bruce Nauman, and helped put on two major international shows: When Attitudes Become Form (Bern, 1969) and Op Losse Schroeven (Amsterdam, 1969), which both present the art tendencies of the moment (Arte Povera, Land Art, Antiform Art).
In 1969, start a lengthy activist and transcultural experience which aimed at theoretical analysis, and the "Arte Vita" (Art Life) conjunction. As a political militant and an organizer of young culture, he undertook different experiments involving collective creativity in urban and "worldwide" peripheral areas, in Nicaragua and in Indian reservations in the United States, as well as in Africa. He resumed his artistic activities in the 1980s, producing interactive installations which deal with our relation to nature and the world, offering visitors a chance to be part of the work. Those proposals sought in particular to raise awareness about ecological challenges, making use of the contribution of technology and science in the art world; with Piotr Kowalski and Claude Faure, he was the co-founder of the association Ars Tecnica in Paris in 1988. In 2003, he promoted the City of Turin's Park of Living Art project, which summed up all his experiences and experiments to do with the Nature-Culture dialectic. In 2012, his work was shown in a large travelling show (Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; Nottingham Contemporary Art, UK). In 2017, the MAXXI in Rome held a retrospective exhibition, Piero Gilardi. Nature Forever, showing the various aspects of his work.
His work is part of prestigious collections such as MoMA (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), FRAC (Basse-Normandie, Caen ; Poitou-Charentes, Angoulême) ; Artothèque (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Limoges), Modern Art Gallery (Milan), Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (Turin), Giorgio Morandi Foundation (Bologna), Ludwig Foundation (Vienna), MAMCO (Geneva), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci (Prato), Museo Rufino Tamayo (Mexico City), Russian Museum (St. Petersburg).
Selected works
Piero Gilardi
Dalie nell'orto , 2021
polyurethane foam under plexiglas cover
50 x 50 cm (19.69 x 19.69 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA22115
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Piero Gilardi
Cachi maturi , 2021
polyurethane foam under plexiglas cap
70 x 70 cm (27.56 x 27.56 in)
unique artwork
Private collection, Paris, France
N° Inv. GILA22113
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Piero Gilardi
Rose Vandeane , 2021
polyurethane foam under plexiglas cover
50 x 70 cm (19.69 x 27.56 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA22109
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Piero Gilardi
Bosco dei cervi , 2021
polyurethane foam under plexiglas cover
50 x 70 cm (19.69 x 27.56 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA22108
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Piero Gilardi
Zuccaia , 2021
polyurethane foam under plexiglas cover
50 x 70 cm (19.69 x 27.56 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA22107
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Piero Gilardi
Conchiglia spiaggiata , 2020
polyurethane foam, under plexiglas cover
40 x 40 cm (15.75 x 15.75 in)
unique artwork
Private collection, Milan, Italy
N° Inv. GILA21092
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Piero Gilardi
Aporrhai , 2020
polyurethane foam, under plexiglas cover
50 x 50 cm (19.69 x 19.69 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA21089
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Piero Gilardi
Tucano in volo , 2020
polyurethane foam, under plexiglas cover
51 x 51 x 20,5 cm (20.08 x 20.08 x 7.87 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA20058
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Piero Gilardi
Neve in scioglimento , 2019
polyurethane foam
150 x 150 x 21 cm (59.06 x 59.06 x 8.27 in)
unique artwork
Private collection, Strasbourg, France
N° Inv. GILA19021
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Piero Gilardi
Papaja in giardino , 2018
polyurethane foam, under plexiglas cover
100 x 50 cm (39.37 x 19.69 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA21086
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Piero Gilardi
Idette , 2017
drawing on paper framed under glass
40 x 30 cm (15.75 x 11.81 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA20077
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Piero Gilardi
Campanelle nell'agrumeto , 2012
polyurethane foam, plexiglas cover
70 x 70 cm (27.56 x 27.56 in)
unique artwork
N° Inv. GILA22106
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Gallery exhibitions
Museum exhibitions
Lyon Biennale
Venice Biennale
Galleria Sperone, New York
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
G8 Summit, Venice
Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie de La Villette, Paris
Caorso
Galerie Sonnabend, Paris
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Museum Without Borders Art–Design, cur. Katia Baudin, Dunkerque-Krefeld, Haus Lange, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Krefeld, Germany, 2024
Humain Autonome : Déroutes, cur. Nicolas Surlapierre, Marianne Derrien, Sarah Ihler-Meyer et Salim Santa Lucia, Frank Lamy, MAC/VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, France, 2024
Car CrashPiero Gilardi, Parco Arte Vivente, Turin, Italy, 2023
Car CrashPiero Gilardi, Parco Arte Vivente, Turin, Italy, 2023
Car CrashPiero Gilardi, Parco Arte Vivente, Turin, Italy, 2023
Lifes, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA
PIERO GILARDI. Tutto ciò che è, è nella natura, City of Livorno Museum, Italy
Gilardi: Tappeto-Natura, Magazzino Italian Art Foundation, New York, USA
Collection MAMCO, Geneva
Vita Nuova. Nouveaux enjeux de l'art en Italie, (cur. Valérie Da Costa), MAMAC, Nice, 2022, photo : Jean-Christophe Lett
Regards hors-champ et paysages, La Fab. / collection agnès b., Paris, France, 2020, photo: Rebecca Fanuele.
non si puo' essere incolti al punto da amare solo cose di alta qualità, (cur. Valérie Da Costa) Martina Simeti's gallery, Milano, Italy, 2020
Piero Gilardi & Joshua Petherick - Pastorale, Robert Heald, Wellington, UK, 2019
Piero Gilardi & Joshua Petherick - Pastorale, Robert Heald, Wellington, UK, 2019
Biopolitics, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Germany, 2018
Biopolitics, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Germany, 2018
Anren Biennale, view of World Wide Protest, Chengdu, China, 2018
Nature forever, MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy, 2017
Nature forever, MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy, 2017
Nature forever, MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy, 2017
Nature forever, MAXXI - Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy, 2017
Mostra Decorum, view of Tappeto Natura Angurie (1967), Shanghai, China, 2014
Piero Gilardi - Mezzo secolo di ecologia della mente, Guido Costa Projects, Torino, Italy, 2014
Piero Gilardi - Mezzo secolo di ecologia della mente, Guido Costa Projects, Torino, Italy, 2014
View of Work shop O.G.M. FREE, Milano, Italy, 2014
Collaborative Effects, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK, 2013
Collaborative Effects, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK, 2013
Collaborative effects 1963 - 1995, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 2012
Collaborative effects 1963 - 1995, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 2012
Collaborative effects 1963 - 1995, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 2012
Leçon de Choses, CCCOD - Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France, 2010
Leçon de Choses, CCCOD - Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France, 2010
Lyon Biennale, installation view of Inverosimile (1990), Lyon, France, 2003
45th Venice Biennale, Italy, 1993
Galleria Sperone, view of Inverosimile installation, New York, USA, 1991
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, view of Banano danzante, arbre electronique, Paris, France, 1989
Demonstration of the Teatro politico di strada against the G8 Summit in Venice, Italy, 1988
Ninfee, Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie de La Villette, Paris, France, 1988
Performance during a demonstration against nuclear power, Caorso, Italy, 1987
Galerie Sonnabend, Paris, France, 1967
Ettore Sottsass Junior with Piero Gilardi
Videos
EXHIBITION
"Nature Forever", Piero Gilardi's exhibition at MAXXI, Rome - Part II
CONVERSATION
Conversation between Piero Gilardi and Valerie Da Costa in the exhibition "Dalla Natura all'Arte" at Galerie Michel Rein, Paris
Press
Challenges
Art Paris 2024 - Ode à la diversité
2024
Parco Arte Vivente
Car crash. Piero Gilardi e l'arte povera
2023
Le Monde
Art Basel 2023, imperméable aux secousses du monde
2023
The Art Newspaper
Tout l'art du Monde à Art Basel
2023
Le Quotidien de l'Art
Art Basel : Piero Gilardi, Michel Rein
2023
The Guardian
Piero Gilardi obituary
2023
Artribune
Anticipatore e visonario. Ecco perché Piero Gilardi non va dimenticato
2023
Quotidien de l'Art
Gilardi, activiste de la nature
2023
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Publications
Politiques de la végétation - pratiques artistiques, stratégies communautaires, agroécologie
Publisher: Eterotopia
2019
Piero Gilardi. La tempesta perfetta
Publisher: Prearo
2018
Piero Gilardi. Nature forever
Publisher: Quodlibet
2017
Piero Gilardi. La mia biopolitica
Publisher: Prearo
2016
Commons Art
Publisher: Prinp Editore
2014
Piero Gilardi
Publisher: JRP|Editions
2012
Piero Gilardi - Not for Sale
Publisher: les presses du réel
2003
