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Paola Pivi

Born in Italy in 1971, Paola Pivi’s artistic practice is diverse and enigmatic.

For Pivi, art is an expression of reality liberated to its fullest potential, conveying the most profound emotions through diverse materials. Her art often features recognisable objects like airplanes, polar bears, and pearls. However, Pivi modifies these objects unexpectedly, encouraging her audience to reconsider their preconceived notions of what they represent. Through this approach, she creates a unique form of utopian extravagance, continuously exploring new expressive forms and pushing the boundaries of artistic creation.

One of Pivi's most captivating series is her Pearls artworks. Accumulation of lines of pearls, these paintings decline a nuancier of colors going from the ivory to the black whose declinations of tints celebrate the various colors of the skin. To realize them, Pivi appropriated the result of the “work” of a multitude of oysters. She has also seized on the similarity between the painter’s work on a canvas and the action of an oyster that deposits layer after layer of nacre on the pearl.

Pivi's art is a statement on the human experience, exploring the boundaries between reality and imagination, ordinary and extraordinary.

Pivi has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including I Want it All, curated by Jose Carlos Diaz, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, USA (2022); You Know Who I Am, curated by Cecilia Alemanni, High Line Line commission, New York, USA (2022); Lies Lies Lies, Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, USA (2021);World Record, MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo, Italy; Art with a view, The Bass Museum Miami Beach, USA (2018); I did it again, Savannah College of Art and Design, USA (2018); Ma’am, Dallas Contemporary, USA (2016); Tulkus 1880 to 2018, FRAC Bourgogne, France (2014); You started it ... I finish it, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia (2014); Share, But It’s Not Fair, Rockbund Art Museum, China (2012); How I roll, Public Art Fund New York, USA (2012); It’s a cocktail party, Portikus, Germany (2008); It just keeps getting better, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2007); My religion is kindness. Thank you, see you in the future, Fondazione Trussardi, Italy (2006). Pivi has exhibited internationally at institutions including Palais de Tokyo, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Centre Pompidou, France; Fondazione Prada, Biennale di Venezia, Italy; Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Germany; Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Modern, United Kingdom; Malmö Konsthall, Sweden; MOMA PS1, USA; Yokohama Triennale, Japan.

Paola Pivi
TBT, 2021
Plastic dark pink faceted pearls
35 × 35 × 20 cm / 14 × 14 × 7 7/8 inches Dimensioni totali approx 58 x 50 x 20 cm / Overall dimensions approx 23 x 20 x 7 7/8 inches

Paola Pivi
DREADS, 2020
Natural pearls
26 × 26 × 19.9 cm / 10 1/4 × 10 1/4 × 7 inches Dimensioni totali approx 45 x 40 x 16 cm / Overall dimensions approx 17 3/4 × 15 3/4 × 6 1/4 inches

Paola Pivi
TBT, 2020
Dark pink smooth plastic pearls
35 × 35 cm / 13 3/4 × 13 3/4 inches Dimensioni totali 62 x 57 x 20 cm / Overall dimensions: 24 1/2 x 22 1/2 x 7 7/8 inches

Paola Pivi
I AM HERE BECAUSE OF YOU, 2019
Plastic pearls
33.6 × 34.8 × 22.8 cm / 13 1/4 × 13 2/3 × 9 inches Approx. overall dimension: 42 x 40 x 22.8 cm (16 1/2x15 3/4x9 inches)

Paola Pivi
I LOVE BEING PEARLS, 2019
Plastic pearls
35 × 36 × 24 cm / 13 3/4 × 14 1/6 × 9 1/2 inches Approx. overall dimensions: 58.5 x 53.5 x 24 cm / 23 x 21 x 9 1/2 inches

Paola Pivi
BAD IDEA, 2017
Urethane foam, plastic, feathers
250 × 120 × 100 cm / 98 7/16 × 47 1/4 × 39 3/8 inches

Paola Pivi
YELLOW AGAIN?, 2016
Aluminium, ostrich feathers, motor
Ø 170 × 41 cm / Ø 66 15/16 × 16 1/8 inches Ø 63 cm/24 13/16 inches wheel

Paola Pivi
BIGGER THAN MY EYES, 2016
Aluminium, peacock feathers, motor
Ø 240 × 42.2 cm / Ø 94 1/2 × 16 5/8 inches Ø 64 cm/25 3/16 inches wheel

Paola Pivi
RED MEANS STOP, ACTUALLY, 2016
Aluminium, turkey feathers, motor
Ø 110 × 41.5 cm / Ø 43 5/16 × 16 5/16 inches Ø 52 cm/20 1/2 inches wheel

Paola Pivi
MELLOW NIGHT, 2016
Aluminium, pheasant feathers, motor
Ø 175 × 39.5 cm / Ø 68 7/8 × 15 9/16 inches Ø 22 cm/8 11/16 inches wheel

Paola Pivi
TBT, 2016
Aluminium, turkey feathers, engine
Ø 130 × 40.4 cm / Ø 51 × 16 2/3 inches

Paola Pivi
I LOVE SPINNING, 2016
Aluminium, turkey feathers, engine
Ø 130 × 40.4 cm / Ø 51 × 16 2/3 inches

Paola Pivi
IT'S A WHITE WHATEVER, 2016
Aluminium, ostrich feathers, engine
Ø 210 × 41.5 cm / Ø 82 × 16 1/3 inches

Paola Pivi
I AM A PUNK BIRD, 2016
Aluminium, pheasant red tip feathers, engine
Ø 120 × 40.4 cm / Ø 47 1/3 × 16 2/3 inches

Paola Pivi
THEY TOOK MY HORSE, 2016
Aluminium, turkey feathers, engine
Ø 125 × 41.8 cm / Ø 49 1/3 × 16 1/2 inches

Paola Pivi
PONY TAIL, 2016
Aluminium, pheasant feathers, engine
Ø 170 × 40.8 cm / Ø 67 × 16 inches

Paola Pivi
PEOPLE TELL ME I LOOK LIKE A JELLY FISH, 2016
Aluminium, turkey feathers, engine
Ø 110 × 41.6 cm / Ø 43 1/3 × 16 1/2 inches

Paola Pivi
LITTLE BABY OWL, 2016
Aluminium, guinea-fowl feathers, engine
Ø 70 × 42.3 cm / Ø 27 3/5 × 16 2/3 inches

Paola Pivi
MELLOW NIGHT, 2016
Aluminium, feathers of pheasant, engine
Ø 210 × 39.5 cm / Ø 82 × 15 1/2 inches

Paola Pivi
IT'S MY BIRTH MARK, 2016
Natural pearls
25.5 × 25.5 × 20 cm / 10 × 10 × 7 7/8 inches Overall dimensions approx 45.7 x 36.8 x 16.5 cm /18 x 14 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches

Paola Pivi
TBT, 2016
Swarovski multifaceted, clear crystals
28.8 × 27 × 19.8 cm / 11 1/3 × 10 5/8 × 7 5/6 inches

Paola Pivi
LITTLE BABY OWL, 2016
Aluminium, guinea fowl feathers, motor
Ø 67 × 42.3 cm / Ø 26 3/8 × 16 5/8 inches Ø 32 cm/12 5/8 inches wheel

Paola Pivi
UNTITLED (PEARLS) (PLEASE HELP ME), 2014
Natural pearls
22.2 × 22.2 × 20 cm / 9 × 9 × 7 1/2 inches

Paola Pivi
SHARE, BUT IT'S NOT FAIR, 2012
Fabric, cotton
500 cuscini - Dimensioni variabili / 500 pillows -Variable dimensions

Paola Pivi
IT'S A COCKTAIL PARTY, 2008
Steel, aluminium, pumps, water, wine, orange juice, black ink, glycerinn, asperula, coffee, orgeat, facial tonic
9 macchine, ognuna 520 x 70 x 165 cm circa

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (PERLE), 2008
Clear and cut plexiglas pearls
42 × 42 × 24 cm / 16 17/32 × 16 17/32 × 9 29/64 inches

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (PERLE), 2008
Clear and cut plexiglas pearls
110 × 110 × 24 cm / 43 5/16 × 43 5/16 × 9 29/64 inches Dimensioni totali approx 130 x 123 x 25 cm / Overall dimensions approx 51 1/4 × 48 3/8 × 9 3/4 inches

Paola Pivi
OLD IS GOLD, 2007
Ribbons, steel structure
196 × 80 × 82 cm / 77 11/64 × 31 1/2 × 32 9/32 inches

Paola Pivi
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF ONE, 2006
Photographic print installed on aluminium
180 × 271 cm / 70 55/64 × 106 11/16 inches

Paola Pivi
WHIPPED CREAM, 2006
Photographic print installed on aluminium
140 × 190 cm / 55 1/8 × 74 51/64 inches

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO, 2005
Photographic print mounted on Dibond
153.5 × 121 cm / 60 7/16 × 47 41/64 inches

Paola Pivi
UNTITLED, 2005
Photographic print installed on aluminium
95.5 × 143 cm / 25 25/32 × 56 19/64 inches

Paola Pivi
UNTITLED, 2005
Photographic print installed on aluminium
93.5 × 142.2 cm / 36 13/16 × 55 63/64 inches

Paola Pivi
UNTITLED, 2005
Two photographic prints installed on aluminium
75.5 × 110 cm / 29 23/32 × 43 5/16 inches ciascuno

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (ZEBRE), 2003
Photographic print on aluminum
340 × 408 cm / 134 × 160 5/8 inches

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (MASSIMO), 2003
Photographic print on Dibond
100 × 150 cm / 39 3/8 × 59 1/16 inches

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (STRUZZO), 2003
Photographic print on Dibond
125 × 156 cm / 49 7/32 × 61 27/64 inches

Paola Pivi
ALICUDI, 2001
Photographic print on aluminium
127 × 165 cm / 50 × 64 61/64 inches

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (PERLE), 1998
Glass beads faceted transparent purple
12 × 12 × 17 cm / 4 23/32 × 4 23/32 × 6 11/16 inches

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (CAMION), 1998
Photographic print on aluminium
193 × 131 cm / 75 63/64 × 51 37/64 inches

Paola Pivi
SENZA TITOLO (PERLE), 1998
Swarowski crystal pearl
13 × 12 × 19 cm / 5 1/8 × 4 23/32 × 7 31/64 inches Dimensioni totali approx 23 x 19 x 20 cm / Overall dimensions approx 22 1/2 x 19 1/2 x 7 inches