Paola Angelini

Paola Angelini (born 1983) was born in San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy, where she still lives and works. Her work centers around the study of painting by exploring the possibilities of language within the practice of painting and using it as a tool of research. She draws inspiration from found and personal images, as well as historic artworks, focusing on the subject within the image and its composition, which becomes both the genesis and the core of each of her works. While the study of the image provides her initial vision, her objective in exploring the medium of painting is the research of the visual language within images. In recent years, the space in which she is situated has become more important to her work, shaping and forming her paintings after she completes her research process. This can be seen in her works from her three-month residency during the spring and summer of 2014 at the Nordic Artists’ Center (NKD) in Dale, Sunnfjord. Dale is situated in striking natural surroundings, midway between a fjord and mountains in the Dalsfjorden, within a small rural community with a population of 3,000. Some of her works created at Dale, such as "Landskapet" (Landscape) or "Study of Forest," show the influence of her surroundings and represent a shift in her practice to portray nature in an increasingly figurative manner; the brushstrokes in these works seek to authentically mimic reality. Angelini's process of painting is spatial and temporal, where different spaces and time frames coexist within her paintings.

After attending the Visual Arts workshop at IUAV University in Venice with Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard in 2011, she exhibited at the Norwegian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in an exhibition entitled "Baton Sinister." In 2017, she obtained a Master's in Fine Arts at KASK Conservatorium in Ghent (BE). Angelini has received various awards, including the Level 0 award during Art Verona (2014) selected by the Mart Museum of Rovereto. In 2014 and 2016, she participated in the Artist in Residency program at the Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale (NKD), Norway, as well as the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa residency in Venice. Among her solo shows are "Le forme del Tempo," curated by Veronica Caciolli, at Museo Palazzo Pretorio, Prato (2017); "La Conquista dello Spazio" at Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino (2017); "Regio," curated by Arild H. Eriksen, at Galleria Massimodeluca, Mestre – Venice (2014); "Landskapet," the end of residency exhibition at the Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale (NKD), Norway (2014); and "Blue Memory" at Rod Bianco Gallery, Oslo (2012).