Biography
Portrait of Paolo Cotani, photography owned by Evelina Cotani
Portrait of Paolo Cotani, photography owned by Evelina Cotani

All the typical contradiction of a specific discourse about painting gather me from inside 

- Paolo Cotani

Born in Rome in 1940, Paolo Cotani started his career by moving to London.
Far from Noe-Advantgarde and far beyond Post-Modernism, Paolo Cotani releases the matter, as if his bandages, then belts, could finally dissolve their bond with the painting and ratifying the end of a pact which inextricably ties them since 70s. A turning point in the name of a total spatiality sees an artwork that does not give up its function: like a modern bas-relief it converses with the wall imposing its rarefied sign like in the Tensioni, where two metal bars are enough to sustain the belts and to simulate an only apparent weight. Cotani overcomes the difference between the artwork and the environment. 
From 1964 to 1970 he held courses on "Techniques and materials of the historical vanguards" at the Chelsea College of Arts and worked for various theatrical installations absorbing those cultural influences that determined his artistic research. Defined by Giorgio De Marchis as "the most English of young Roman neo-abstract painters", in 1968 Cotani had his first solo show at the Cavalry Gallery in Rome and in 1970 he was presented with David Russell at the CCAC Gallery in Oakland, California. In the early 1970s, he joined the group of artistic research on the analysis of syntactic language tools, known as the Grado Zero of Painting. Since 1971 on, Cotani has taken part to many group shows both in Italy and abroad. The meeting with the critics Giorgio Cortenova is decisive for his artistic path as well as the various trips to the US in the 1980s, which mark another moment of strong reflection on "overcoming the 70's". His friendship with Ralph Gibson, an important photographer, will turn Cotani's attention to photography, that will become a new important part of his work. The exhibition at Palazzo Ducale di Senigallia was under preparation at the time Cotani died in January 2011.
Exhibitions
Works
Solo & Group Show
Bende, Paolo Cotani, 2019, Installation view at Primo Marella Gallery
Paolo Cotani, Bende, 1976, acrylic and elastic bandages, 100 × 100 cm - retro

Paolo Cotani CV

Born in 1940, Rome, Italy

 

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions (selected)

2016
La scelta linguistica: Paolo Cotani - Lucio Pozzi, Palazzo Sforza Cesarini, Rome, IT

2015
La pittura, Erica Fiorentini Arte Contemporanea, Rome, IT

2012
La Tensione del Segno, Galleria Delloro, Rome, IT

2011
Una Retrospettiva, Palazzo Ducale di Senigallia, Senigallia, IT

Una Retrospettiva, Delloro Arte Contemporanea, Rome, IT

2009
The Russian Tea Room, Delloro, Arte Contemporanea Roma, Rome, IT

L’Aragosta è un mostro delicato, Galleria Lagorio, Brescia, IT

2008

Chorus Line, Galleria Il Ponte, Florence, IT

2007
Paolo Cotani. Tensioni 1971-2007, Galleria Erica Fiorentini, Rome, IT

2006
Consonanze. Paolo Cotani e un’opera di Giulio Turcato, Fondazione Zappettini, Milan, IT

2005
L’Oro e il Blu. Cotani-Zappettini, Galleria Plurima, Udine, IT

Cotani-Zappettini, Associazione Culturale Arco d’Alibert, Rome, IT
Translating Rooms. La stanza interiore, P. Cotani - G. Botta, Understudio, Rome, IT

2004
Opere 2003-2004, Galleria Mara Coccia, Rome, IT
L’immagine negata, Universidad de Castilla La Mancha, Cuenca, ES

2003
On Paper, Attraverso il disegno. P. Cotani-M. Rossano, Galleria A.A.M., Rome, IT

2002
Cotani-D’Alonzo, Libreria Il Museo del Louvre, Rome, IT

Paolo Cotani. Messa a fuoco, Galleria Stamperia il Bulino, Rome, IT

1998
Galleria Stamperia il Bulino, Rome, IT

1996
Shadows, Galleria Franco Riccardo, Naples, IT
Opere recenti, Galleria Plurima, Udine, IT
Convergenze, Galleria A.A.M., Rome, IT

1995
Opere recenti, Galleria Masnata, Genoa, IT

1994
Framart studio, Naples, IT
Università Politecnica, Valencia, ES
Lo stile e il suo spettro, Palazzo Racani-Arroni, Spoleto, IT

1992
Ventagli cinesi. Papier col­lè, Galleria Arco d’Alibert, Rome, IT

1990
L’Arpa Celtica, Galleria Mara Coccia, Rome, IT

La costanza della visione, Palazzo Forti, Verona, IT

1989
Galleria Spazia, Bologna, IT
Galleria Plurima, Udine, IT
Opere recenti, Centro Culturale d’Arte Bellora, Milan, IT

1988
Galleria Mara Coccia, Rome, IT

1985
Galleria Emicla, Gaeta, IT

1984
Segni Erratici (P. Cotani-Anne e Patrick Poirier), Museo Civico, Viterbo, IT

1983
L’Imagerie metereologica, Mèta Arte, Bolzano, IT

1982
Spazi virtuali e mondani, Galleria Arco D’Alibert, Rome, IT
Paolo Cotani-Ralph Gibson, Castelli Graphics, New York, US

1981
Ut pictura Architectura, Galleria A.A.M., Rome, IT

1980
Galleria Unimedia, Genoa, IT

1979
L’Arco d’Oro e il continente Analogo, Galleria Arco d’Alibert, Rome, IT

Mostra Antologica, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, IT

1978
Riguardo le nuvole, Galleria Arco d’Alibert, Roma, IT

1977

Galleria La Bertesca, Genoa, IT

1976
Galleria Spagnoli, Florence, IT
Galleria Arnesen, Copenhagen, DK
Galleria Primo Piano, Rome, IT

1975
Galleria La Bertesca, Genoa, IT
Galleria La Bertesca, Milan, IT
Galleria La Bertesca, Düsseldorf, DE

1974
Galleria La Tartaruga, Rome, IT

Galleria Studio G7, Bologna, IT

1973
Galleria Morone, Milano
Galleria Godel, Rome, IT

Galleria Ferrari, Verona, IT

1972
Galleria Primo Piano, Rome, IT

1971
Galleria 2 EFFE, Trento, IT

1970
CCAC, Oakland, US
Galleria Grafica Romero, Rome, IT

1968
Galleria Ferro di Cavallo, Rome, IT

 

Group Exhibitions (selected)

2016
Pittura Analitica Anni 1970s, Mazzoleni Art, London, GB
Gli anni della Pittura Analitica, Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Verona, IT

2015
Pittura Analitica Ieri e Oggi (I parte), Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, IT

Pittura Analitica Ieri e Oggi (II parte), Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, IT

2013
La linea analitica dell’arte. Pittura Analitica, Valmore Studio d’arte, Vicenza, IT

2009
Le superfici opache della Pittura Analitica, Fondazione Zappettini, Chiavari, IT

2007
Dalla Pittura Analitica 4 protagonisti: Cacciola, Cotani, Pinelli, Zappettini, Galleria D’arte 911, La Spezia, IT
L’arte e la Tartaruga, Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna Vittoria Colonna, Pescara, IT

2004
Pittura ’70, Fondazione Zappettini, Chiavari, IT
Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna, Gallarate, IT

2000
Cartolina per Napoli, Palazzo Reale, Naples, IT

1999 
Le soglie della pittura, Francia-Italia 1968-1998, Rocca Paolina, Perugia, IT

1997
La carta, il colore, la parola, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Rome, IT

Arte astratta in Italia 60-90, Dumontkusthalle, Köln, DE

1994
I luoghi della creatività, Istituto Europeo del design, Rome, IT

1991
60-90 Trenta anni di avanguardie romane, Palazzo dei Congressi, Rome, IT

1990
Temporanea, Collezione d’arte italiana, Ambasciata d’Italia, Brasilia, BR

1989
Roma Punto Uno, Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, GB

1988
Abecedario, Galleria Il Segno, Rome, IT

1985
XI Quadriennale d’Arte, Palazzo dei Congressi, Rome, IT

1984
Artisti italiani anni ’60 e ’70, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, IT

1983
Bianco, semaforo dell’arte, Palazzetto dell’Arte, Foggia, IT

41 Presenze, Circolo Nuova ltalsider, Taranto, IT

1981
Identitèe Italienne. L’art en Italie de plus 1959, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR

1976
IX Biennale de Paris, Nice, FR

1975
Prima Biennale d’Arte Città di Imperia, Pinacoteca Civica, Imperia, IT

Analytische Malerei, Galleria La Bertesca, Düsseldorf, DE

1974
Grado Zero, Galleria La Bertesca, Milan, IT

1973
Proposte ’73, Studio d’Arte Condotti 85, Rome, IT

1972
Pittori Italiani, Sodertalje Museum, Stockholm, SE

1971
Top BoxArt, Illinois State University, Normal, US
Art Fairs
Publications