Biography
Agostino Arrivabene
Agostino Arrivabene offers an intimate look into his interpretation of the meaning of dreams and visions. The works in the exhibition become a medium through which viewers can explore their own psyche, embarking on a fascinating journey through hyper-uranic and symbolic dimensions strongly influenced by his mystical perspective and unique artistic sensibility.
Agostino Arrivabene was born in Rivolta d'Adda, in the province of Cremona in 1967.
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, but he acquired his true education through direct exposure to the paintings of the great masters of the past by observing their works in real life in the various museums of Europe and the world.
 
His attention is aimed at finding a common thread that could re-propose the poetics of the past and the search for "beauty", in the contradictory reality of his present time.
His artistic research developed under the sign and guidance of the ancient masters: in particular Leonardo Da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, Jean Van Eych, all the Flemish primitives and Rembrandt Van Ryn.
 
In a very personal anti-modern journey, the artist rediscovered, during his years of self-taught training, many of the traditional painting techniques (e.g. the artisanal preparation of colours).
Arrivabene's works are characterized by a strong visionary charge with a predilection for symbolist language and are made with precious materials, almost all of which have fallen into disuse, prepared by hand.
Among the various genres that Arrivabene explored, there is no shortage of bizarre subjects (especially animals) taken from the world of "Naturalia, mirabilia, et artificialia" (mainly Renaissance and Baroque catalogues). In fact, in his works we also find artefacts from the natural world (with clear reference to the Wunderkammern).
In the Nature Morte (Vanitates) Augustine gives vent to his most amazing (and perverse) imagination and his love for all the rare and unusual manifestations of nature. Remembering the transience of human things, in a cycle that becomes a true memento mori, the artist creates his modern and very personal Wunderkammer on canvas.
In his production, which ranges from figuration to landscape, the themes of evil, death and pain are a constant. The pain, however, is not portrayed out of morbid attraction but is always "functional" to a state of transition, of passage, which allows the subject to come into contact with other realities (sometimes materially represented by plants or flowers, other times only hinted at with strokes of light or dust on the canvas).
On the contrary, it also depicts true paradises in which blinding lights invade ecstatic figures awaiting an answer to cosmic questions.
 
In its historical context, Agostino Arrivabene's art fits into a period in which spirituality regained centrality. The end of the 20th century saw a revival of interest in mystical dimensions, influencing contemporary art. As the artist states: "My work is a constant dialogue between the sacred and the profane, a bridge connecting the divine and the human." His works, rich in symbolism, draw on the roots of the mystical tradition, creating a synthesis between the ancient and the modern. His style evokes sacred and medieval art, bringing these influences into the present to satisfy the contemporary desire for meaning and connection. To Agostino, nature is full of apparitions, it is a pagan cosmos whose phenomena influenced and fuelled his imagination. He incites us to contribute our personal experiences in an act of open interpretation. For him, as for us, the focus is on sensations, dreams, feelings, the world experienced by the soul in an individual and spiritual way.
Exhibitions
Video
Works
Solo & Group Show
Agostino Arrivabene

Agostino Arrivabene CV

Born in 1967, in Rivolta d'Adda, Italy.

 

EXHIBITIONS (selected)

Solo show

2024

La linea verticale, a cura di Giovanni Gardini, Raccolta Lercaro, Bologna, Italy
L'oniromante,  Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, italy

2023
Theasurus, a cura di Vittorio Sgarbi, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, Italy

2022

Superbia - nelle profondità dell' hybris . a cura di Silvia Scaravaggi. Museo civico di Crema e del Cremasco , sala Agello

2021

Luci e Ombre a Sutri. Da Mattia Preti a Fortunato Depero . A cura di Vittorio Sgarbi Museo di Palazzo Debbing. Sutri (VT)

2020

Resurrectio, a cura di Luigi Codemo, GASC, Galleria d'Arte Sacra dei Contemporani. Mi

Visitazioni, a cura di Domenico Maria Papa, Museo Civico Pier Alessandro Garda, Ivrea, (To)

2019

Contemplazioni - I Visionari. a cura di Vittorio Sgarbi, Musa, Musueo di Salò . Salò (BS)

2018

Scenografie e costumi per l'opera lirica Samson et Dalila, di Camille Saint Sense. Regia di Jean Louis Grindà, Opera di Montecarlo. Principato di Monaco

2017

L'ospite parassita, curated by Chatia Cicero and Alberto Zanchetta, MAC - Contemporary Art Museum, Lissone (MB) Italy

Naht Blitz, curated by Giuseppe Stagnitta , Convitto Delle Arti Noto Museum, Noto. (SR) Italy

L'ermeneutica del segno. curated by Daniele Lucchesi , Diocesan museum , Massa (MS)

2016

Ierogamy, Cara Gallery, New York (USA)

Anastasis, curated by Gianfranco Ferlisi and Alberto Mattia Martini, Mantegna's House, Mantua

2015

Anabasis, curated by Diego Galizzi, Bagnacavallo Museum, Ravenna, Italy

2014

Vesperbild, curated by Pietro C. Marani, Giovanni Bonelli Gallery, Milan. Italy

2013

Tó Páthei Máthos, curated by Gerd Lindner, Rosaria Fabrizio and Peter Weirmair, Panorama Museum, Bad Frankenhausen (DE)

2012

Theoin, curated by Carolina Lio, First Gallery, Rome. Italy

2011

Isterie Plutoniche, Antonia Jannone Gallery, Milan. Italy

2010

Urania, Manzoni Studies Centre, Manzoni's House, Milano

Deliri, 53° Festival of Two Worlds, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, Spoleto. Italy

2009

Metamorfosi, Forni Gallery, Bologna. Italy

2007

Il sole morente nella stanza azzurra, "Le Muse" Centre, Andria (BA). Italy

2005

Mirabilia naturae, curated by Philippe Daverio. Antonia Jannone Gallery, Milan. Italy

2004

Paesaggi. Le invenzioni di un visionario, curated by Giorgio Soavi, Antonia Jannone Gallery, Milan. Italy


Group show

2024
Attraverso i diluvi, Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy
#Serialmania. Immaginari narrativi da Twin Peaks a Squid Game, a cura di Luca Beatrice e Luigi Mascheroni, Mole Antonelliana, Turin, Italy
La commedia dell'arte. Quattro mostre per un racconto corale sulla vita, a cura di Vittorio Sgarbi, Castello dell'Abate, Castellabate, Italy
2021
Mostri. La dimensione dell'oltre, a cura di Silvia Scaravaggi, Museo Civico di Crema e del Cremasco, Sala Agello, Crema , Italy
Un viaggio lungo settecento anni, immagini per la Divina Commedia. a cura di Edoardo Fontana e Chiara Nicolini . Museo Civico di Crema e del Cremasco . Crema. Cr
A riveder Le Stelle . a cura di Barbara Codogno. in collaborazione con The BankContemporary Art Collection. Museo degli Eremitani . Padova (PD)
Atelier. a cura di Stefano Crespi. Centro Culturale Le Muse . Andria (BT)
2020
Immagine, voce al femminile. a cura di Enrica Cavallo e Stefano Crespi, Le Muse, Centro di Promozione Culturale. Andria (BT)
2019
La Raccolta senza veli, a cura di Anna Lisa Ghirardi. MUSA, Museo di Salò Civica raccolta del Disegno (BS)
Requiem, a cura di Eliana Urbano Raimondi e Ivan Cenzi. Galleria Mirabilia Roma
Corpo a Corpo. Omaggio alla tradizione classica con lo sguardo contemporaneo di 35 artisti internazionali. a cura di Carlo Sisi, Fondazione CR, fondazione Parchi monumentali di Villa Bardini
Peyron. Firenze
Museo della follia, a cura di Vittorio Sgarbi, Ex Cavallerizza, Lucca
Dedalo l'ombra del padre, a cura di Roberto Cresti, Centro culturale Le Muse, Andria (BA)
2018
Tecnica mista su carta, a cura di Davide Sarchioni, Centro culturale Il frantoio, Capalbio
2017
Et in Arcadia Ego, curated by David Molesky, William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art and Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California (USA)
Museo della Follia da Goya a Bacon, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, MUSA - Museum of Salò (BS)
Urpflanze, la natura dell'idea, curated by Alberto Mattia Martini, Doge's Palace, Massa
L'arte e la croce. Oltre l'immagine, curated by Daniele Lucchesi, Doge's Palace, Massa
In Contemporanea. Agostino Arrivabene, Bertozzi & Casoni, Angelo Filomeno. curated by Stefania Giazzi e Virginia Monteverde. spazio 46 di Palazzo Ducale .Genova
museo della follia, da Goya a Maradona, curated by V. Sgarbi, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta Napoli
Zona. 41 artisti e una poesia, Agenzia Net.uno .Spazio Bigli , Milano (Mi)
2016
Et in Arcadia Ego, curated by David Molesky, NUMU - New Museum di Los Gatos, California (USA)
Cortesie per gli ospiti, curated by Gianluca Marziani, Collicola's Palace, Spoleto
Frontiera dell'esistenza e dell'altrove, curated by Stefano Crespi, "Le Muse" Centre, Andria (BA)
Zoote, curated by Luca Beatrice, Benappi Gallery, Turin
2015
Eccellenza, curated by Flavio Arensi, Giovanni Bonelli Gallery, Milan
Eterogenesi della Forma, curated by Alberto Mattia Martini, Palazzo della Cultura, Catania
Cabinet Da-End, Galerie Da-End, Paris (FR)
Italia Docet Laboratorium, Barbarigo Minotto's Palace, Venice
Imago Mundi, curated by Luca Beatrice, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin
Il Tesoro d'Italia, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, Italy Pavilion, Expo, Milan
Arte e Follia, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, Palazzo della Ragione, Mantua
2014
Juxtapoz Italiano, curated by Matteo Sapio, Institute of Italian Culture, Los Angeles (USA)
Artisti in Transito, Giovanni Bonelli Gallery, Pietrasanta (LU)
The Drawingroom, curated by Peter Weiermair, Taxispalais, Innsbruck (AT)
Il volto, cinque secoli di storia per raccontare l'arte, MEB Art Studio, Borgomanero (NO)
Water Views, curated by M. Fazzini, Box Art, Verona
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