„Manau, kad apskritai šios bienalės, Šiluvos meno bienalės, tema – „Paliesta žemė” – keliais aspektais gali būti panaši į mano tapybą. Mano kūryba remiasi materija ir šviesa: jos variacijomis ir begalinėmis išraiškos, konceptualumo, o kartais ir sakralumo galimybėmis. Šiame renginyje, vykstančiame tokioje sakralioje vietoje kaip Šiluvos Marijos šventovė Lietuvoje, meno ir dvasingumo sąjunga tampa tinkamiausiu būdu gilintis ir sekti” (Daniele Bongiovanni).
«I think that, in general, the theme of this biennial, Šiluva Art Biennial – “Touched Land”, can be similar in several respects to my painting. My artistic work is based on matter and light: on its variations and on its infinite expressive, conceptual and sometimes sacred possibilities. In this event, which takes place in a sacred place such as the Marian Shrine of Šiluva, in Lithuania, the union between art and spirituality becomes the most suitable way to deepen and follow (Daniele Bongiovanni).
DANIELE BONGIOVANNI – SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Daniele Bongiovanni, painter, was born in Palermo on 11 April 1986. He received a Bachelor (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) with honours at the Academy of Fine Arts of Palermo. Respectively with a thesis entitled “Attraverso Kokoschka”, analysis of Oskar Kokoschka’s expressionism, and with a thesis entitled “Bianco”, focused on a concept of deconstruction in western painting from the 16th to the 20th century.
His painting focuses on the natural space and the human figure. His subjects, although inspired by the reality, have an idealized and rarefied configuration, characteristics motivated by a deep conceptuality. «It’s the result of a remarkable evolution of his research in the direction of a radical will to essentialize, or if you want to sublimate, the figurative language. That is, a progressive awareness of the importance of elaborating his compositions not only as representations inspired by external reality but also, above all, as an expression that emerges directly from the constituent elements of painting, that is to say, the delicate and complex primary interrelation between the two-dimensional physical space of the support and the modalities of the colouring» (Francesco Poli).
Over the years he realizes several thematic cycles that he presents in museums and galleries of major Italian and foreign cities, in Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and elsewhere. He exhibits also in numerous international contemporary art events one of which is the Venice Biennale. His major solo exhibitions include: “Collezione Pelle Sporca”, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in the context of the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009); “Mundus”, CD Arts Gallery, Lugano (2016); “Mundus Other”, Centro Svizzero, Milan (2016); “InEtere”, Palazzo della Luce, with the collaboration of the Fondazione Videoinsight®, Turin (2016); “Recent Works”, Palazzo Ransila, Lugano (2016); “Aesthetica Bianca”, Embassy of Italy in London (2017); “Exist”, Palazzo Broletto, Pavia (2018); “Con Pura Forma”, Raffaella De Chirico Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2019); “Epoch”, The Wall Space Gallery, Falkirk, Scotland (2020).
Daniele Bongiovanni’s work has been shown as part of major group exhibitions at numerous public and private institutions, including: Fondazione Whitaker, Palermo (2013); CAOS – Officine per lo Spettacolo e l’Arte Contemporanea, Turin (2014); Independents Liverpool Biennial (2014); CS Gallery, Caroline Springs, Victoria (2015); DCU – Dublin City University (2015); LCB Depot, Leicester (2015); Palazzo Bollani, Venice (2015); PoCo Muse – Porter County Museum, Valparaiso, Indiana (2015); Rxhibition, New York City (2015); Villino Corsini – Villa Doria Pamphilj, Rome (2015, 2017); ZAC – Zisa Zona Arti Contemporanee, Palermo (2015); MACRO Testaccio, Rome (2016); MACA – Museo Arte Contemporanea Acri, Italy (2017); RISO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea della Sicilia, Palermo (2017); The Venice Biennale (2017); MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma (2018, 2019); Museo Tecnico Navale, La Spezia (2018); Palazzo Sant’Elia, Palermo (2018); Being Human Festival, London (2019, 2020); East Africa Art Biennale, Dar es Salaam (2019); Bangkok Biennial (2020); Design Museum, London (2020); Fondazione Malvina Menegaz per le Arti e le Culture, Castelbasso, Italy (2020); 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire (2020); Latuvu Art Contemporain, Bages, France (2021); Taos Center for the Arts, New Mexico (2021).
Additionally, he takes part in projects and research programs of many academic institutions, including: Queen Mary University of London (2019, 2020); Royal College of Art, London (2020); McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario (2021); University of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire (2021).
Many have curated his solo exhibitions and written about him, among others: Giosuè Allegrini, Giorgio Di Genova, Stefania Maccelli, Allie O’Hanley, Francesco Poli, Marzia Ratti, Alessandro Rizzo, Gregorio Rossi, Rebecca Russo, Chiara Serri, Claudio Strinati, Ayshia Taskin, Ermanno Tedeschi, Simon Adam Yorke, Susanna Zatti.
His works are included in numerous public collections in Italy and abroad, among which we remember: Ca’ la Ghironda Modern Art Museum, Zola Predosa, Italy; Casa del Mantegna, Mantua; Fondazione Aria, Pescara; Fondazione Arte Scienza Videoinsight®, Turin; Fondazione Malvina Menegaz per le Arti e le Culture, Castelbasso, Italy; art collection of the Italian Embassies in Abu Dhabi, Helsinki, London, of the Italian Consulates in Chicago, Hong Kong, of the University of California, Berkeley, of the University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”.