Paolo Patelli | Il Coraggio della Pittura

Paolo Patelli is a leading figure in abstract art and, in the 1970s, was associated with the so-called Italian ‘pure painting’ movement, whose work is based on the physical, material and gestural act of painting, understood as an existential and poetic imperative. Throughout his long career, the artist has explored a rhythmic and rigorous style of painting — renowned for the modular repetition of mixed media and collage on fixed formats — capable of oscillating between the dramatic intensity of blacks and reds and the delicate luminosity of his more recent works, always guided by the pure concept of the act of painting. Born in Istria in 1934, he boasts a solid academic background: a graduate in Pharmacy, he taught painting at New York University, the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice and at prestigious institutions in Great Britain, as well as contemporary art history at Ca’ Foscari. Patelli has forged a consistent and tireless artistic career, which was celebrated in 2005 with a major retrospective at the Revoltella Museum in Trieste.

Exhibitions by the artist at Studio la Città
1971 – Sguardo a Nord Est | Group exhibition
1977 – Paolo Patelli | Solo show
1978 – Opere Su Carta | Group exhibition
1979 – Procedimento-Process | Group exhibition
1981 – Paolo Patelli | Solo show
1981 – 100 In 1 Riassunto di Cento Mostre | Group exhibition
1983 – Senza Tema | Group exhibition
1988 – Il Grande Circo 1973-1987. 15 Anni di Arte Italiana alle Fiere | Group exhibition
1988 – Grandi Carte | Solo show
1989 – Prima Prova | Group exhibition
1991 – Immergersi all’Interno | Group exhibition
1993 – Inventario – Artisti in Via Dietro Filippini | Group exhibition
1994 – Praticamente Argento: 25 Anni di Attività – Da Aricò a Weinstein | Group exhibition
2018 – Senza Tema. Carta | Group exhibition
2023 – Mostra Virtuale | Solo show
2024 – Il Coraggio Della Pittura| Solo show