Paolo Ventura was born in Milan in 1968. His father, Pietro, was a famous illustrator of children’s books in the ’seventies and ’eighties. He studied at Brera fine arts academy and worked as a fashion photographer for many years, collaborating with acclaimed fashion magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire and Vogue before moving to New York.
In his tiny studio in Brooklyn, he started to put together and photograph little dioramas inspired by the Second World War, producing the images that were shown in his first solo show, at Hasted Hunt Kraeutler Gallery in 2006. In the following year the BBC included his work in a documentary on the history of photography, The Genius of Photography.
Ventura began to construct handcrafted scenes populated by puppets, little stage sets painstakingly made by hand using recycled materials evoking days gone by, in which the photograph represents the final act in a complex creative process. His scenes sometimes become true photo sets, in which the artist becomes a part of the fantastic world he creates, portraying himself or his family as characters in the stories he creates in his photographs, combining them with painting and collage.
The complex process of creation of his works involves a fascinating combination of historical research, handcrafting, manual work, scenographic composition, photography and painting.
Ever since his days in New York, Paolo Ventura has exhibited in prestigious galleries in the US and Europe and major museums have purchased his works. Upon returning to Italy, where he lives in Anghiari, near Arezzo, and in Milan, he continued to create his stories and scenes, producing stage sets for prestigious theatres, such as those he created for the musical “Carousel” at the Lyric Opera in Chicago or for Leoncavallo’s opera “I Pagliacci” at Turin’s Teatro Regio.
2023
Senigallia, Palazzo del Duca, Senigallia, Italy
Milano, per filo e per segno, Weinstein Hammons Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
Le Passe-Muraille, Galerie XII, Paris, France
2022
Racconti Brevi, Teatro Franco Parenti, Milan, Italy
2021
Autobiografica (con ex voto), VisionArea Art Space, Rome, Italy
Racconti Immaginari, Villa Torlonia, San Mauro Pascoli, Italy
Grazia Ricevuta, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada
La città nuova, Galleria Marcorossi artecontemporanea, Milan, Turin, Verona, Italy
War and Flowers, Galleria Consadori, Milan, Italy
2020
Carousel, CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia, Turin, Italy
Ex Voto, Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Quarantine Diary, Weinstein Hammond Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
The Automaton, Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary
An Invented World, Galerie XII, Los Angeles, USA
2018
The silent City, Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Racconti Immaginari, Silos Armani, Milan, Italy
Racconti di Guerra, MAG – Museo Alto Garda, Riva del Garda, Italy
2017
Eclipse, Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York, USA
The Last Days of Vacation, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Pagliacci, CAMERA – Centro Italiano per la Fotografia, Turin, Italy
2016
Mystique Narratives II, Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Obras de la Colecciòn Cotroneo, Sala Municipales de Exposiciones, Valladolid, Spain
Mystique Narratives, Flatland Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2015
Un Mondo Infinito, Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, Netherlands
La Città Infinita, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
Short Stories, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2014
L’Homme à la Valise, Fotokino, Marseille, France
Träume, Die Galerie, Munich, Germany
L’archivio Ritrovato di V.P., Palazzo dei Pio, Carpi, Italy
2013
The Infinite City, Atlas Gallery, London, UK
Il Mago Futurista, MART – Casa d’Arte Futurista Depero, Rovereto, Italy
The Infinite City, Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, New York, USA
Lo Zuavo Scomparso, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
Il Teatro della Memoria, FAR – Fabbrica Arte Rimini, Rimini, Italy
La collezione di Kim e Paolo Ventura, Museo della Città, Rimini, Italy
2012
Recent Works, Italian Academy at Columbia University, New York, USA
Lo Zuavo Scomparso, MACRO, Rome, Italy
Behind the Walls, Forma Galleria, Milan, Italy
The Funeral of the Anarchist, Obsolete, Los Angeles, USA
2011
The Automaton of Venice, Hasted Kraeutler Gallery, New York, USA
Behind the Walls, Photographica Fine Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland
L’Automa, Museo Fortuny, Venice, Italy
Selected Works, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
Winter Stories, Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, Charleston, USA
2009
Winter stories, Hasted Hunt Kraeutler Gallery, New York, USA
Winter Stories, Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, France
Winter Stories, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy
Fabulous Fictions, The Hague Museum of Photography, The Ague, Netherlands
Winter Stories, Central Exhibition Hall, Moscow, Russia
2008
Storie D’Inverno, FORMA – Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Milan, Italy
Winter Stories, Hasted Hunt Gallery, New York, USA
2007
Souvenir de Guerre, Maison de la Photographie Npdc, Lille, France
Viaggio nella Memoria, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
2006
In Tempo di Guerra, FORMA – Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Milan, Italy
Souvenir de Guerre, Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles, France
War Souvenir, Hasted Hunt Gallery, New York, USA
War Souvenir, Lazia Nowa, Krakov, Poland
War Souvenir, A-3 Gallery, Moscow, Russia
2024
Arte Fiera, Bologna, Italy
2023
Sacred Landscape, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy
2022
The Italians, The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Miami, USA
L’Europa non cade dal cielo. Reflections through Contemporary Art, Galleria delle Prigioni, Treviso, Italy
Home is where the Art is. From the Poort-Visser Collection, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Inquattro, Marcorossi artecontemporanea, Milano, Pietrasanta, Torino, Verona, Italy
What a wonderful world, MAXXI, Rome, Italy
Foto in gioco!, La Venaria Reale, Venaria Reale, Italy
Objectivity: Metaphorical and Material Lives of Photographs, Minneapolis Institute of Art’s, Minneapolis, USA
Napoleon, Forte di Bard, Bard, Italy
2021
Além de 2020. Arte italiana na pandemia, MAC – Museu de Arte Contemporânea, Sao Paulo, Brazil
The Families of Man, Museo Archeologico Regionale, Aosta, Italy
Music Box, Weinstein Hammons Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
True Fictions, Fondazione Palazzo Magnani, Reggio Emilia, Italy
2019
New 20th Anniversary Exhibition, The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Miami, USA
Make Believe: Fantasy, fairy tales and Magic from five contemporary photographers. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA
Fotografi a Roma. Commissione Roma 2003-2017 e le acquisizioni al patrimonio fotografico di Roma Capitale, Palazzo Braschi, Rome, Italy
Giostre! Storie, immagini, giochi, Palazzo Roverella, Rovigo, Italy
2018
Of Individuals and Places, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
New Perspective, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
Age of Love, DongGang International Photo Festival, Seoul, South Korea
Photologies, Biennale de la Photographie, Aubagne, France
New Perspective, La Triennale, Milan, Italy
2017
Variazioni su un tema, Galleria Antonio Verolino, Modena, Italy
Season Preview, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Alfabeto Fotografico Romano, Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Palazzo Poli, Rome, Italy
Fifteen Countries: On Loan from the Collection of Martin Z. Margulies, AIPAD, New York, USA
Tonalità tangibili, Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin, Italy
Là dove interviene il Disegno: La Fotografia, Fondazione Bottari Lattes, Turin, Italy
2016
20 Years, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
Photomed – Festival of Mediterranean Photography, Sanary-sur-Mer, France
La via Emilia. Strade, viaggi, confini, Fotografia Europea 2016, Reggio Emilia, Italy
2015
Photo Festival Gacilly, La Gacilly, France
Bienal Internacional Fotografica Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
Italia Inside Out. I fotografi italiani, Palazzo della Ragione, Milan, Italy
Questa è guerra, Palazzo del Monte di Pietà, Padova, Italy
2014
La Guerra che Verrà Non è la Prima 1914-2014, MART – Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto, Italy
Turning Point, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
La Mémoire Traversée, Eléphant Paname – Mois de la Photographie in Paris, Paris, France
Festival Internazionale di Fotografia di Roma, MACRO – Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy
Historia, Miradas de Artistas, Marco – Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Histoire, Regards d’Artistes, Hotel des Arts – Centre du Conseil General du Var, Toulon, France
2013
Next Stop Italy, The Phillips Collection, Washington, USA
2012
Do You Remeber the First Time?, Atlas Gallery, London, UK
New Aquisitions from the MACRO Collection, MACRO – Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy
La Collezione di Italo Zannier, PArCO – Galleria D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea Armando Pizzinato, Pordenone, Italy
La Fotografia della Collezione Trevisan, MART – Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Rovereto, Italy
The Silent Village, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague, Czech Republic
2011
Sembianze, Galleria D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, San Marino
54° Biennale di Venezia, Padiglione Italia, Venice, Italy
Otherwordly, Museum of Art and Design, New York, USA
New Yorker Fiction/Real Photography, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, USA
2009
Manipulating Reality, CCC Strozzina – Centro di Cultura Contemporanea a Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
Collection from Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Instituto Itaù Cultural, Sao Paulo, Brazil
La Photographie Italiens des Annees 50 a Nos Jours, Centre National de l’Audiovisuel, Luxembourg
Photography From the Permanent Collection, Lowe Art Museum, Miami, USA
New York Photographs, Hasted Hunt Gallery, New York, USA
2008
Contemporary Photographic Views, Weinstein Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
Inside the Human Space, Isola di San Servolo, Venice, Italy
The New Original Photo, Interalla Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Una Historia Privada, Theatro Circo Price, Madrid, Spain
Ellis Island and Beyond, Aperture Gallery, New York, USA
Roma, Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
Una Storia Privata, Museo Bilotti, Rome, Italy
2007
NYC, Phillips De Pury Gallery, New York, USA
Hunter and Hanted, Sara Tecchia Gallery, New York, USA
On the Wall, Aperture Gallery, New York, USA
Luci su Milano. New art acquisitions of Unicredit Bank, Milan, Italy
Une Histoire Privée, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
PUBLIC COLLECIONS
Boston Museum of Fine Art, Boston, USA
Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione, Rome, Italy
Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome, Italy
Koo House Museum of Art & Design, South Korea
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., USA
Lowe Art Museum, Miami
MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy
Maison Européen de la Photographie, Paris, France
Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, Miami
MART Contemporary and Modern Art Museum of Trento and Rovereto, Italy
The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, USA
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Canada
Museo Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy
Museo di Palazzo dei Pio, Carpi, Italy
Museo di Roma, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali – Palazzo Braschi, Rome, Italy
Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., USA
Unicredit Bank Collection, Milan, Italy
Turin, 22 may - 25 july 2025
Verona, 17 May – 25 July 2025
Milan, 15 May - 25 July 2025
Verona, 16 November 2024 – 8 February 2025
