Gian Maria Tosatti. NOw/here

Gian Maria Tosatti (Rome, 1980; lives and works in Naples) is one of the most interesting Italian artists in recent years, who represented Italy at the 59. Venice Biennale in 2022. Tosatti’s work focuses on the notions of collectivity and memory, in their historical, political, and spiritual significance.
With an unprecedented intervention in the Shed space, Tosatti will offer viewers a chance to experience aspects of his practice that have never been introduced before. The exhibition consists of two series of works presented for the first time at Pirelli HangarBicocca. Although Tosatti deliberately developed the exhibition to answer the call for a retrospective project, he has created new works which epitomize the feelings that have influenced his research over the past two decades. The body of work is built around large-scale elements that embody a dialogue with the Zeitgeist (Spirit of the time), and the sentiment of the generation to which the artist belongs. The pieces are conceived as “mirrors,” open questions that directly confront the visitor.
Through this new body of works, Gian Maria Tosatti captures the essential aspects of the human condition at such a difficult moment in time, and of a society poised between catastrophe and evolution. An experience that visitors can undergo hic et nunc, and that unfolds without predetermination, free from any conditioning. The works reconnect with the very moment when reality reveals itself, as evoked by the exhibition title “NOw/here,” whose elements can be read individually, as “now” and “here,” or sequentially, as in “nowhere.” This project is a coherent continuation of the artist’s poetic journey, showing extensive references to many of his past works, from Testamento – devozioni X (2011), to the more recent Episode of Odessa (2020) and History of Night and Destiny of Comets (2022). In “NOw/here” Tosatti seems to confront History, interpreting it not as a chain of events, but as a feeling, while trying to capture the moment to which we belong.

His works and site-specific installations have been presented internationally: Tarlabaşi district, Istanbul (2021); Kuyalnik lake, Odessa (2020); A4 Arts Foundation, Cape Town (2019); Palazzo Biscari, Catania (2018); Museo Madre, Naples (2016); Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples; Museo Archeologico, Salerno; CCS Bard – Hessel Museum, New York (2014). In 2022, Tosatti represented Italy at the 59th. Venice Biennale. His works have also been included in major exhibitions such as Manifesta 12, Palermo (2018), or in group shows such as the exhibitions at the Italian Cultural Institute, New York (2019); Galleria Nazionale, Rome, Petah Tikva Museum of Art, Israel (2017); Fondazione Rivoli 2, Milan (2015); Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan; Museo Osvaldo Licini, Ascoli Piceno (2014); Mole Vanvitelliana, Ancona (2013); Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York (2011). Tosatti was awarded the Frescobaldi Prize (2020), the New York Prize (2017), the Ettore Fico Foundation Prize (2016) and the Terna Prize (2008). Gian Maria Tosatti is also a writer and journalist: he collaborates with several newspapers and has published a number of essays, including “Esperienza e realtà” (2021) and “New Man’s Land: Storia e Destino della Jungle di Calais” (2017). He is the artistic director of the Rome Quadriennale for the three-year period 2021-2024.

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