Gianni Politi was born in 1986 in Rome, where he lives and works today.
His practice, mainly as a painter, is deeply rooted in both the classical and
modern pictorial traditions of his native Italy, and his work strives to narrate
the struggle of being a contemporary painter today.
His desire to understand the relationship between past and present is a
driving force behind his painting, which shifts between abstract and
figurative images—and from very large to very small canvases.
His large abstract paintings are often reflections on struggle, some literally
inspired by military battles, others concerned with issues of contemporary
society; the paintings are made by slashing and cutting works already made,
and reassembling the different pieces onto larger canvases thus creating
deeper new entities in a swirling dynamic.
In whilst for the portraits of a bearded man (a study of the 1770 painting by
Gaetano Gandolfi) the artist relies on personal experience, investigating his
role as both son and father as he produces the same figure from memory over
and over again, in a different style every time.
Politi’s work has been shown in numerous Italian institutions including the
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, MACRO, Rome, and Galleria
d’Arte Moderna, Palermo. Politi has had solo exhibitions in Italy, New York
and Honk Kong.
Gianni Politi (b. 1986, Rome) lives and works in Rome. His recent projects
include a performance at Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 2021; a show curated by
Sarah McCrory of sculpture and painting at Monteverdi, Siena; bronzes and
paintings at Fonderia Battaglia, Milan, 2018; paintings at McNamara Art
Projects, Hong Kong, 2018; bronzes at 56 Henry Street, New York, 2018; and
shows at Nomas Foundation, Rome, 2015; MAXXI, Rome, 2015; Galleria
Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, 2014; Istituto di Cultura Italiana,
Prague, 2014.