Massimo Vitali 1944 —
Biography
Massimo Vitali (Italian, b.1944) is renowned for his large-scale color photographs depicting the masses at leisure. In his beach scenes, ski resorts and tourist destinations, Vitali balances both formal and narrative details, re-interpreting historical landscape painting through the panoramic lens of photography.
Massimo Vitali was born in Como, Italy, in 1944. He studied photography in London and worked as a photojournalist in the 1970s, later becoming a camera operator. In more recent years his interests have turned to art photography, with work shown in Arles, Paris, London and G teborg, at the Hasselblad Foundation.
Vitali, a photojournalist turned movie cameraman, launched these paired photo projects in the wake of a 1994 national election that prompted him to question the sanity of his fellow Italians. While on a Tuscan beach vacation, he says he "made the decision to have a closer look at my compatriots," and the results are the richly descriptive leisure landscapes gathered here.
Sociology at its most seductive, Vitali's study of Italians at play may have been sparked by a moment of shocked skepticism, but it feels generous rather than judgmental...He may have set out to investigate the Italian citizenry, but he ended up with a privileged view of us all: gregarious, lost, foolish, expectant, all too human.
Vitali has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries internationally, and his work is included in the collections of the Reina Sofia, Madrid, Guggenheim Museum, New York, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.
An important source for modern and contemporary American & European Art in East Hampton, New York & worldwide, Janet Lehr Fine Arts' spectacular wide-ranging inventory consists of unique paintings, drawings, large & small scale sculpture, monotypes, prints and photographs by Ansel Adams, Milton Avery, Richard Avedon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Fernando Botero, Cartier-Bresson, Marc Chagall, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Willem De Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn, Thomas Eakins, Childe Hassam, David Hockney, Winslow Homer, Wolf Kahn, Jeff Koons, Fernand Leger, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Thomas Moran, Henry Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, Cindy Sherman, Charles Sheeler, Bert Stern, Alfred Stieglitz, Andy Warhol, Carleton E Watkins, Tom Wesselmann and Andrew Wyeth.
To bookmark Janet Lehr Fine Arts Gallery website: http://www.janetlehrfinearts.com
View synoptic biography below.
East Hampton, Main Beach |
72 x 86 inches |
Synoptic Biography
BORN:
1944
Como, Italy
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2009
Massimo Vitali Vered Gallery East Hampton, NY "Beaches and More"
2008
"Massimo Vitali with Mike Figgis: Piazza di Spagna a collaborative installation by the filmmaker and photographer"; Somerset House, London, UK
"Massimo Vitali"; Galeria Senda, Barcelona, Spain
"Massimo Vitali" Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
"New Photographs: Massimo Vitali; Crown Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
"Massimo Vitali"; M+B Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA 2007
"Vistas: Massimo Vitali"; ArtCore Gallery, Toronto, Canada
"Massimo Vitali"; Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2006
"Massimo Vitali: New Work" MBFA, Los Angeles
"Massimo Vitali"; Hilger Contemporary, Vienna, Austria
"Massimo Vitali"; M+B, Los Angeles, CA
"A New Series of American Beaches"; Brancolini Grimaldi Art Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
"Playas, Discotecas y Supermercados, Galeria Senda Barcelona, Spain
"Recontres Internationales de la Photo"; Arles, France
Crown Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium
2005
"Massimo Vitali: New Work"; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
"Fotografien 1995-2005: Vitali"; Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria
"Massimo Vitali"; La Fabrica, Madrid, Spain
2004
"Massimo Vitali"; Aula de Cultura BBK, Bilbao, Spain
"Massimo Vitali"; Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecca, Prato, Italy
"Massimo Vitlai"; Galerie Hilger, Vienna, Austria
"Landscape with Figures"; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
"In Light"; MB Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
Guidi & Schoen Arte Contemporanea, Genova, Italy
Museum PMMK; Oostande, Belgium
Nextdoor. Artgalleria, Roma, Italy
Crown Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium
2003
Galleria Cons Arc, Chiasso, Switzerland
La Cour d'Ecole, Cinametique de Corse, Porto Vecchio
Isabella Brancolini Arte Contemporana, Florence, Italy
Cons-Arc, Chiasso, Italy
La Cour d'Ecole, Cite Pietramarina, Ville di Pietrabugno, Francia, France
2002
"Public Places Private Lives"; The Photographers Gallery, London, England
Crown Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Fotohof, Salzburg, Austria
2001
Museum of Modern Art/Hasselblad Foundation, Goteborg, Commission
Barbara Gillan Gallery, Miami, FL
Arndt & Partner, Berlin, Germany
Serieuse Zaken, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Museum of Modern Art / Hasselblad Foundation, Gotenburg, Sweden
Crown Gallery, Bruxelles, Germany
La Cour d'Ecole, Centra Culturel Una Volta, Bastia, Corsica, France
La Biennale di Venezia, June, Italy
Gallery Hotel Art, Firenze, Italy
2000
Hotel des Arts, Toulon, Commission,
Espace Malraux, Chambery, Commission, July
Espace Malraux, Chambery, March
Arte e Personae, Florence, Italy
Crown Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium
Fotohof, Slazburg, Austria
1999
Le Quartz, Brest, June
Galerie du Jour Agnes B, Paris, February
Recontres Internationales de la Photo, Arles, July, catalog
Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, May
Atheneum, Universite de la Bourgogne, Dijon, March
1997
Photographer's Gallery, London, December
Studio Guenzani, Milano, November
1995
"Spiagge Italiane," Gallerie ConsArc, Chiasso, Switzerland,
December, catalog
1994
"East German Panoramas"; Historisches Archiv der Stadt, Koeln,
September
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008
"Human/Nature: Recent European Landscape Photography: Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO
2007
"Summer"; Neuhoff Edelman Gallery, New York, NY
"The Painters of Modern Day Life: A Collection of Photographs Donated by the Caisse de Dépôts"; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris France
2006
"20/30 Vision: Anniversary Celebration"; Bonni Benrubi Gallery,
New York, NY
"Aura of the Photograph"; The Samuel P. Harn Musuem of Art, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL
"Hot Pics '06"; Katonah, New York
Hereford Photography Festival, Great Britain
Hay Festival, Hereford Photography Festival, Presentation Book: "So Now Then" Talk, Hay on Wye, Great Britain
Photomeetings Luxemburg, Neumunster Abbeye
Tate Modern, London, UBS Collection, United Kingdom
"The Age of Metamorphosis" European Art Highlights from the Centro Pecci
Collection, MoCA Shanghai
"Images d'un Territiore," Centre Culturel Francais des Damas, Syria
"Ballerman, The Exhibition," Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany
"See Into Liquid," Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, Colorado
"Beyond Delirious," CIFO Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, Florida
"See Into Liquid." Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, Colorado
"Different Realities," Crown Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium
"Images d'un Territoire," Les Chateau d'eau Toulose, France
"Photo Meetings Luxumborg 2006," Gallerie Claire Fontaine, Luxembourg
"Images d'un Territoire," Galerie le Lieu, Lorient, France
"Suoni e visioni 3," Mueo d'arte Contemporanea Villa Croce, Genova
"Highlights from Ham Museum of Photography," Samuel P. Ham Museum of Art, Gainesville, Georgia
2005
Europe in Art: A HVB Group Project"; National Museum of
Contemporary Art, Bucuresti, Romania
"Photographic Reality"; Crown Gallery, Brusselles, Belgium
"Landschaft als Metapher"; Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Germany
"Rite of Assembly" Martin Weinstien Gallery, Minneapolis, MN
"Come la Neve al Mare," Guidi & Schoen, Genova, Italy
"Collezione Permanente," Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Italy
"6º Premio Cairo," Palazzo della Permanente, Milan, Italy
"Beyond Delirious: Architecture in Selected Photographs from the Ella Fontanals
Cisneros Collection," Miami Art Central
"Est-ce ainsi que les Hommes Vivent," Grilles de Jardin de Luxembourg
"Mare Nostrum," Pinacoteca Provinciale, Bari, Italy
"La Dolce Crisi," curated by Bonami-Cannarutto Villa Manin, Udine, Italy
"10 Ans de Commandes Photographiques," Citadelle de Saint Florent, Corse, France
"Il Paesaggio Italiano Contemporaneo," Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio, Italy
"Italia. Doppie Visioni," Palazzo Realle, Milan, Italy
"57 on 57th Street: Holiday Show," Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
"Artcore/Fabrice Marcolini," Toronto, Canada
2004
"57 on 57"; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
Galleria Next Door, Rome, Italy
"In Light"; MB Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
"Italia. Doppie Visioni." Scuderie del Quin
"Sguardi Gardesani." Museo Civico, Riva del Garda, Italy
"Collection Agnès B. Les Aattoirs-Frac Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
"Nous Remontons de la 'Caffe' Toutes le Photographies." Galerie du Jour Agnès B., Paris, France
"Italy Space and Places." Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY
"L'idea di Paesaggio nella fotografia Italiana dal 1850 ad Oggi." Palazzo Santa Margherita, Modena, Italy
2003
"Water Water Everywhere"; Andrea Meislin Gallery, NYC
"By the Sea"; Yossi Milo gallery, New York, NY
"Vacant Communities"; Fondazione Adriano Olivetti, Rome, Italy
"Flash: Sports & Swimsuits"; Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
"CMYK Part II"; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, NY
"2003 Beaufort: Kunst am Meer"; Ostende Triennale Beaufort, Ostende, Belgium
"Painting Pictures"; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
"Le pari de l'art contemporain, une culture d'entreprise"; Musée des Tapisseries / Palais Vendôme, Aix-en-Provence (Collections Vacances Bleues, Marseille)
"Undergang"; Bergen Kunsthall - No. 5, Bergen, Norway
"L'idea di Paesaggio Nella Fotografia Italiana dal 1850," Galleria Civica, Modena, Italy
"L'attimo Fuggente tra Fotografia e Cinema." Pinacoteca Agnelli, Torino, Italy
"Agrupèmonos Todos, ARTIUM Centro Museo Vasco de Art Contemporánea, Vigo, Spain
"Melting Pop," Palazzo delle Papesse Centro d'Arte Contemporanea, Siena Italy
"Painting Pictures," Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
"La Montagna Disincntata," Tour Fromage, Aosta, Italy
"Summer Holiday," Galerie Bernhard Knaus, Mannheim, Germany
"Alta Densità." Brancolini Grimaldi Arte Contemporanea, Florence, Italy
2002 "Paris Photo 2002"; Caroussel de Louvre, Paris, France
"Camere con Vista," Il Filatoio di Caraglio, Italy
"Continuità: Arte in Toscana 1968-1989, Palazzo Fabroni, Pistoia, Italy
"Cache-Cache, Camouflage," MUDAC Musée de Design et d'Arts Appliqués
Contemporains, Lausanne, CH
"Trade," Nederlands Foto Institut, Rotterdam, NL
2001
"Summer Salon IX"; Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC
"Mediterraneo um Nouvo Muro?"; Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal
"Efferro Provos"; Colmbo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
"Arkens Samling"; Arken Museum, Arken, Denmark
Centro Trevi, Bolazano, Mutamenti+Analogie, Italy
"Painterly Photography"; Blaine Fine Arts, London, England
"Kunst und Kur," Kunthaus Meran, Italy
"Trade," Fotomuseum, Winterthur, CH
"Mutamenti+Analogie," Centro Trevi, Bolzono, Italy
"Biozones," Forum Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, Spain
"Contemporary Artists of the Mediterranean," Culturgest, Lisboa, Portugal
"Collection 3," FRAC Alsace, France
2000
"Tempo!"; Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
Centre George Pompidou, Paris, Reopening Exibition, Jan, Le Temp Vite.
"la collection de photographie d'agnes b"., Centre National de la photographie, Paris, France
"Arte y Tempo," Centre de Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, Spain
"Toi, Paris, tu m'as pris dans tes Bras," Galerie du Jour Agnes B., Paris, France
PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, NY
"Kuenstler fuer die Natur," WWF, Munich
"Desirs de Rivages,"1 Biennale Internationale de la Photographie Maritime,
Musee Nationale de la Marine, France
"NoConfines," Musei di Porta Romana, Milan, Italy
"Stadt, Land, Mensch," Arndt & Partner, Berlin, Germany
"Studio Guenzani, Milan, Italy
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