Vanni Cuoghi
Genoa 1966
He graduated in Decorative Painting from the Istituto Statale d’Arte di Chiavari and in Set Design from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. Between 1989 and 1992, he worked as an illustrator for several Italian magazines and attended the Disney Academy. Until 2002, he specialized in the decoration and fresco painting of church and noble palace interiors and exteriors, reinterpreting the stylistic features of the great Baroque decorative tradition. He has participated in numerous biennials in Italy and abroad, including the St. Petersburg Biennale (2008), the Prague Biennale (2009), the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), the Italy–China Biennale (2012), and the Biennale del Disegno di Rimini (2024). He has also taken part in public exhibitions at Palazzo Reale (2007), the Haidian Exhibition Center during the Olympic celebrations (2008), the Liu Haisu Art Museum (2008), the PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, Russia (2010), the Castello Sforzesco (2012), Fabbrica del Vapore (2015), and the Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium (2018). His works have been exhibited at major Italian and international art fairs, including Frieze London, MiArt, Arte Fiera, SCOPE New York, OFF Brussels, Daegu Art Fair, and KIAF Seoul. In 2012, commissioned by Costa Cruises, he created eight large-scale paintings for the cruise ship Costa Fascinosa, followed by six paintings for Costa Diadema in 2014. Since October 2015, he has held the Chair of Painting at the Accademia Aldo Galli. Among his major public solo exhibitions are Novus Malleus Maleficarum (2011), held at San Pietro in Atrio and the Pinacoteca di Palazzo Volpi; Aion (2013) at the Musei Civici Cremaschi; From Heaven to Earth (2016) at the Jewish Museum of Bologna; and The Invisible Sun (2017) at the Museo Francesco Messina. In May 2019, he inaugurated The Eye of the Storm, a solo exhibition at the Rossi & Rossi Gallery. In October of the same year, he opened Exiled Thoughts at the Fondazione Tito Balestra. In July 2020, he inaugurated Apnea, a solo exhibition curated by Elisabetta Sgarbi, held in the Silverware Rooms of the Royal Villa of Monza. In 2021, he opened Submariner, a solo exhibition at the Civic Aquarium of Milan, curated by Nicoletta Castellaneta and Ivan Quaroni. In 2022, he participated in the exhibition Eccentrici, apocalittici, pop. Inferno e delizia nell’arte contemporanea, curated by Ivan Quaroni, at the Galleria Civica di Trento; in Acque Chiare, Acque Scure at the Museo Civico di Noto, curated by Aldo Premoli; and in the Connexxion Festival, organized by Espoarte Magazine and curated by Livia Savorelli. In 2023, he participated in the group exhibition Fiat Lux, curated by Aldo Premoli, at the Diocesan Museum of Noto, and presented the solo exhibition Pliny. Greenhouse Effect at Villa Bernasconi, on the occasion of the bimillennium of the birth of the Roman writer Pliny the Elder. In 2024, he was invited by Demetrio Paparoni to participate in the biennial Interaction at the Made in Cloister Foundation. In the same year, one of his works, depicting monumental sage plants, was installed for five months beneath the Polyptych of Pentecost by Ambrogio da Fossano in the Church of Santo Spirito. In 2025, he participated in the exhibition Germinale with a large-scale installation in the Romanesque church of Church of Moleto. In 2026, he was invited by Margherita De Pilati and Ivan Quaroni to participate in the exhibition Anachronisms and Dyschronies: Italian Art from the 1980s to the Present Day at the Palazzo delle Albere.
He graduated in Decorative Painting from the Istituto Statale d’Arte di Chiavari and in Set Design from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. Between 1989 and 1992, he worked as an illustrator for several Italian magazines and attended the Disney Academy. Until 2002, he specialized in the decoration and fresco painting of church and noble palace interiors and exteriors, reinterpreting the stylistic features of the great Baroque decorative tradition. He has participated in numerous biennials in Italy and abroad, including the St. Petersburg Biennale (2008), the Prague Biennale (2009), the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), the 56th Venice Biennale (2015), the Italy–China Biennale (2012), and the Biennale del Disegno di Rimini (2024). He has also taken part in public exhibitions at Palazzo Reale (2007), the Haidian Exhibition Center during the Olympic celebrations (2008), the Liu Haisu Art Museum (2008), the PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, Russia (2010), the Castello Sforzesco (2012), Fabbrica del Vapore (2015), and the Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium (2018). His works have been exhibited at major Italian and international art fairs, including Frieze London, MiArt, Arte Fiera, SCOPE New York, OFF Brussels, Daegu Art Fair, and KIAF Seoul. In 2012, commissioned by Costa Cruises, he created eight large-scale paintings for the cruise ship Costa Fascinosa, followed by six paintings for Costa Diadema in 2014. Since October 2015, he has held the Chair of Painting at the Accademia Aldo Galli. Among his major public solo exhibitions are Novus Malleus Maleficarum (2011), held at San Pietro in Atrio and the Pinacoteca di Palazzo Volpi; Aion (2013) at the Musei Civici Cremaschi; From Heaven to Earth (2016) at the Jewish Museum of Bologna; and The Invisible Sun (2017) at the Museo Francesco Messina. In May 2019, he inaugurated The Eye of the Storm, a solo exhibition at the Rossi & Rossi Gallery. In October of the same year, he opened Exiled Thoughts at the Fondazione Tito Balestra. In July 2020, he inaugurated Apnea, a solo exhibition curated by Elisabetta Sgarbi, held in the Silverware Rooms of the Royal Villa of Monza. In 2021, he opened Submariner, a solo exhibition at the Civic Aquarium of Milan, curated by Nicoletta Castellaneta and Ivan Quaroni. In 2022, he participated in the exhibition Eccentrici, apocalittici, pop. Inferno e delizia nell’arte contemporanea, curated by Ivan Quaroni, at the Galleria Civica di Trento; in Acque Chiare, Acque Scure at the Museo Civico di Noto, curated by Aldo Premoli; and in the Connexxion Festival, organized by Espoarte Magazine and curated by Livia Savorelli. In 2023, he participated in the group exhibition Fiat Lux, curated by Aldo Premoli, at the Diocesan Museum of Noto, and presented the solo exhibition Pliny. Greenhouse Effect at Villa Bernasconi, on the occasion of the bimillennium of the birth of the Roman writer Pliny the Elder. In 2024, he was invited by Demetrio Paparoni to participate in the biennial Interaction at the Made in Cloister Foundation. In the same year, one of his works, depicting monumental sage plants, was installed for five months beneath the Polyptych of Pentecost by Ambrogio da Fossano in the Church of Santo Spirito. In 2025, he participated in the exhibition Germinale with a large-scale installation in the Romanesque church of Church of Moleto. In 2026, he was invited by Margherita De Pilati and Ivan Quaroni to participate in the exhibition Anachronisms and Dyschronies: Italian Art from the 1980s to the Present Day at the Palazzo delle Albere.