Four Organs
Massimo Bartolini. Four Organs, Fondazione Merz, Torino, Italy, 2017
All images courtesy Andrea Guermani and Fondazione Merz
The Artist
Massimo Bartolini, born in Cecina in 1962, where he currently resides and works, has a multifaceted background. He studied as a surveyor in Livorno (1976-1981) and graduated from the Florence Academy (1989). He is a professor of visual arts at UNIBZ Bolzano, NABA (New Academy of Fine Arts, Milan) and Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna.
His repertoire spans a wide array of languages and materials, encompassing performative works involving temporary actors, the public, or the architectural space, complex sound sculptures, photographs, videos, and large-scale public installations.
He has participated in the La Biennale di Venezia (1999, 2009, 2013), Documenta 13 (Kassel, 2012) and Manifesta 4 (Frankfurt, 2002). Bartolini’s work is in permanent collections of National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; MAXXI Arte Collections, Rome; Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin; Fundaciò La Caixa, Barcelona; Museum Voorinden, Wassenaar; Olnick Spanuand Magazzino Italian Art Collection, New York.
Massimo Bartolini will be the representing artist of the Italian Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennial in 2024.