Mimmo Paladino biography
- MIMMO PALADINO PAINTER
Mimmo Paladino is a renowned Italian painter, sculptor and printmaker. Born in Paduli, near Benevento in 1948, he is considered one of the main exponents of the Italian Transavanguardia, an artistic movement that peaked in the 1980s. The Transavanguardia, theorized and promoted by Achille Bonito Oliva, aimed to represent a return to painting after the conceptual experiments of the 1970s.
From a young age, Mimmo Paladino was introduced to the world of art thanks to his paternal uncle, Salvatore, who was a painter. This sparked an early interest in art, which further developed during his years at the Benevento Art High School and during visits to the Lucio Amelio Gallery in Naples, where he met the painter Antonio Del Donno.
In 1964, together with Del Donno, he visited the Venice Biennale for the first time, becoming fascinated by American pop artists. In 1968, Mimmo Paladino held his first exhibition at the Carolina Gallery of Portici in Naples, where he was introduced by a young Achille Bonito Oliva. From that moment on, Bonito Oliva accompanied Mimmo Paladino throughout his career as an art critic, including his participation in the Transavanguardia.
Following the artistic trends of the time, dominated by a predominantly conceptual orientation, Mimmo Paladino became interested in photography and exhibited photographic works at the New Instruments Gallery in Brescia.
In the 1970s, after moving to Milan, Mimmo Paladino experienced the city's artistic fervor, reflecting on new directions his work could take. It was during this period that he began to explore painting and figurative painting, abandoning the predominantly conceptual approach. He began to exhibit in important group shows, including the Venice Biennale in 1980, where the Transavanguardia was officially presented.
His works, such as The Garden of Forking Paths and Flashing and a Door, have been exhibited in various European cities, marking the beginning of his international success.
Paladino's passion for drawing evolved over the years into a great passion for printmaking. He experimented with various techniques such as etching, aquatint, woodcut, and linocut, achieving extraordinary results in this artistic field. He also created his first artist's book titled EN DE RE in 1980, which marked a further development in his career.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Mimmo Paladino continued to explore new artistic directions and held numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide. He exhibited in important institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and created monumental installations in public spaces.
His works, characterized by a combination of figurative and symbolic elements, have generated great interest both nationally and internationally. Mimmo Paladino has also collaborated with the theater world, creating set designs for various productions. His art has embraced various media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and installations, showing great versatility and creativity throughout his career.
Today, Mimmo Paladino's works are present in important international museums and are considered an integral part of the contemporary Italian artistic heritage.