"Pegasus"

MARCO LODOLA

Marco Lodola was born in Dorno (Pavia). He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence and Milan, and concluded his studies by discussing a thesis on the Fauves, who with Matisse would be a point of reference for his work, as well as Fortunato Depero and Beato Angelico. At the beginning of the 1980s, around the Luciano Inga Pin Gallery in Milan, Marco Lodola founded the New Futurism movement with a group of artists, of which the critic Renato Barilli was the main theorist. Since 1983 he has exhibited in large Italian and European cities such as Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna, Lyon, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam. He has participated in exhibitions and projects for important industries such as Swatch, Coca Cola, Vini Ferrari, Titan, Grafoplast, Harley Davidson, Ducati, Riva, Illy (series of designer cups), Francis. Francis, Dash, Carlsberg, Nonino, Valentino, Coveri, Fabbri, I Mirabili, Shenker, Seat and Lauretana. In 1994 Maestro Lodola was invited to exhibit by the government of the People's Republic of China in the premises of the former archives of the imperial city of Beijing. In 1996 he began working in the United States in Boca Raton, Miami and New York. He participated in the XII Quadrennial of Rome and the VI Biennial of Sculpture in Montecarlo. His collaborations are various with contemporary writers including Aldo Busi, Claudio Apone, Marco Lodoli, Giuseppe Pulina, Tiziano Scarpa and Giuseppe Cederna, and with musicians: Max Pezzali's 883, Timoria, Jovanotti, Andy (Bluvertigo) and Syria. In the summer of '98, on behalf of Saatchi & Saatchi, he created the drawings for the posters in Piazza del Popolo in Rome, for Puccini's Opera Tosca. In 2000 Marco Lodola, who has always been linked to the theme of dance, was commissioned by the Teatro Massimo in Palermo to create Gli avidi lumi, four luminous totems six meters high, depicting significant episodes of the nine works on the programme. For the occasion, a video documentary by Sergio Pappalettera was created. The sculptures will remain located in the major city squares, as has already happened in Montecarlo, Riccione, Faenza, Bologna, Paestum and at the Visconti Castle in Pavia, San Paolo di Brasile and Cagliari. He was the author of the works awarded to the winners of the 2001 edition of the Nonino Literary Prize. In 2001 he was commissioned to take care of the image of the Venice Carnival. For the occasion, the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation organized the exhibition "Futurisms in Venice" with works by him and Fortunato Depero. In June 2002 he created the light sculpture "A tutto beer" dedicated to the figure of the great entrepreneur Wenceslao Menazzi Moretti, which was placed in the new city park of Udine, where the first factory of the famous beer stood. In 2003 he created the luminous Venerea as part of the Venere unveiled exhibition by Umberto Eco held at the Palazzo delle Belle Arti in Brussels, for which he also took care of the installation of the external facade and the "Controluce" exhibition at the Palazzo del Turismo in Riccione which in 2004 it was transferred to Sao Paulo, Brazil (Museo Brasileiro da Escultura Marilisa Rathsam), Rio de Janeiro (Museo de Arte Moderna), Mexico City (Polyforum Siqueiros), and to the Museo Regional de Guadalajara. In 2005 Marco Lodola created a poster for the Turin Winter Olympics, a collection of furniture for Mirabili, the pink jersey for the 88th Giro d'Italia, the logo for the broadcast "Speciale per voi..." by Renzo Arbore, as well as the new image of Roxy bar for Red Ronnie. In 2006 another light sculpture was placed at Mexico City International Airport, and for Christmas a sculpture in Piazza di Spagna (Rome). He also created the image for the centenary of Gandhi's peace movement. In 2007 he created the logo for the 50th anniversary of ARCI and the image of the 70th Maggio Fiorentino, the logo for the Myths of Music for Volkswagen, the image for the 100th anniversary of Fiat Avio and the 110th anniversary of the foundation of Juventus, and the Air One logo. In 2008 the façade of the Ariston and the Casino for the 58th San Remo Festival and the sets for the film "Questa notte è ancora nostra" with Nicolas Vaporidis were decorated with the lighting works of Marco Lodola. For the European Canoeing Championships in Milan he created a luminous canoe and for the Stav bus company he created 'Festivalbus', a bus decorated with some of his works. In October he created a light installation on the facade of Palazzo Penna in Perugia, on the occasion of the exhibition "Infinita città", curated by Luca Beatrice. In 2009 he set up the Rock'n'Music Planet in Milan's Piazza del Duomo, Europe's first rock museum, with 25 sculptures representing musical legends. Some of his works were used in the set design of the television programme "Academy" broadcast on raidue. He participated in the 53rd edition of the Venice Biennale with the installation "Balletto Plastico", dedicated to Futurist Theatre. In 2010 Maestro Lodola created the FIAT LUX light sculpture for the Mirafiori MotorVillage in Turin. He set up the scenography for some episodes of XFACTOR, for the film "Ti presento un amico" by Carlo Vanzina, with Raoul Bova and "Maschi contro Femmine" by Fausto Brizzi. He revisited the logo for the Montebianco tunnel. He designed the poster for Umbria Jazz 2010, participated in the Shanghai International Expo and created an icon-sculpture for the Hilton Hotel Group. In 2011 . He took part in the Venice Biennale with the installation "Ca' Lodola", curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, at the Ca' d'Oro on the Grand Canal. His works were chosen by fashion designer Vivienne Westwood as the setting for the a/w men's show during Milan Fashion Week. He collaborated with Citroen on an installation in Via della Spiga in Milan called "Citroen Full Electric". Exhibited in London. Collaborated with Dash and Unicef for the charity initiative against neonatal tetanus with the light sculpture Mother Nature, exhibited in Piazza Cordusio in Milan. His luminous sculptures are part of the set design for Red Ronnie's Roxy Bar web tv. In 2012 Marco Lodola exhibited at Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence in an exhibition dedicated to the Italian Renaissance curated by Luca Beatrice. With the Gruppo Nuovo Futurismo he exhibited in Rovereto at Casa Depero and in Milan at Spazio Oberdan. He collaborated with Sanrio-Hello Kitty for a charity project in favour of Emergency. Some of his works are in the set design for the programme Metropolis for the Comedy Central channel and The Apprentice with Flavio Briatore. He has exhibited in Geneva for the Bel Air Fine Art Gallery. He created the theatrical sets for the show 'Chiedo Scusa al Signor Gaber' by Enzo Iacchetti. In September 2013, the sculpture Red Dragon was inaugurated at Museo del Parco - Centro Internazionale di Scultura all'Aperto in Portofino. In October 2013 he placed the light sculpture Pegaso for Class Horses. Maestro Lodola also created the sculpture Excalibur for the 2013-2014 edition of X-Factor. In early 2014, he collaborated with Gianluca Grignani and RON on their album covers. In April 2014 he exhibited in Moscow for Harmont&Blaine with special guest Sofia Loren. In May 2014 he exhibited at MAM in Cosenza in collaboration with the Avangart gallery. In June 2014 he inaugurated a solo exhibition at the Evita Peròn Museum in Buenos Aires and at the Museo du Football in São Paulo on the occasion of the World Cup in Brazil. In autumn 2014 Marco Lodola created the 'Ponticino' lighting on the Ponte dell'Impero in Pavia. In 2015 he placed the sculpture 'Eden' in Piazza del Duomo in Milan for Mondadori. He is also present at EXPO ITALIA within the exhibition 'Tesori d'Italia' curated by Vittorio Sgarbi and at Spazio Gentile in Giovinazzo with Galleria Avangart. He illuminated the village of Castelnuovo Val di Cecina and set up the stage for Stadio's tour. He created the set design for the 11th edition of Andrea Bocelli's Teatro del Silenzio and for the film "Lasciati Andare" by Toni Servillo. In 2017 he set up the stage at Fortezza Santa Barbara in Pistoia for the Danilo Rea, Gino Paoli and Paolo Rossi concert. He placed two luminous sculptures in the city of Alessandria, dedicated to the figure of Napoleon and Borsalino. In 2018, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Milanese club Blue Note, he set up the facade and installed sculptures inside. In the summer of 2018, he exhibited a series of luminous sculptures at the Reggia di Caserta, in the exhibition "Tempus-Time" curated by Luca Beatrice.In November, he set up the facade of the Ariston theatre in Sanremo with luminous LED sculptures with an installation entitled "il volto degli altri". In 2019 he exhibited at the Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia for the exhibition The art of play. In June 2019 she exhibited at the 58th Venice Biennale with an 8 m high luminous sculpture named "Hello Goodbye" positioned in the spaces of the Arsenale. She opens 2020 with the exhibition "The garden of Luminous dreams" in the garden of Piazza Partigiani in Alassio at the famous "Muretto di Alassio" paying homage to Miss Muretto with the participation of Simona Ventura. In February 2020 he renewed the facade of the Ariston theater in Sanremo on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Festival, also paying homage to Domenico Modugno with a life-size sculpture at the entrance to the theatre. In June 2020 he brings a monumental luminous scenography to the Mart: dancers, mythological animals and other sparkling figures up to three meters tall surround the fountain in the square that gives access to the museum. In the heart of the Mart's architecture, his figures appear as iconic nocturnal apparitions. In December 2020, the "Luminous Nativity Scene" was inaugurated inside the Varano of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and, again in the Florentine museum complex, precisely in the Vasari Corridor, in 2021 one of his luminous sculptures was inserted, the only portrait of a living artist on display in that place, alongside those of names such as Raphael, Canova, Rembrandt, Rubens, etc. More recent times have been characterized by important collaborations with international fashion brands (Christian Dior, for whom he curated the window displays of numerous boutiques around the world - chosen by Maria Grazia Chiuri - Vivienne Westwood, Enriquez), by the monumental installation project lights created for the Football World Cup in Qatar (7 km of giant sculptures leading to the Doha stadium), from the exhibition in the Forbidden City in China (first Italian artist to have exhibited there), up to the creation of the Drappellone of the Palio di Siena in 2023 , accompanied by the luminous sculptures in Piazza del Campo (a gigantic Pegasus and a large Christmas Star), and by the exhibition in the museum complex of Santa Maria della Scala. An uninterrupted success, lasting 40 years and a growing and constantly rising fame, have consecrated Marco Lodola as one of the most important - perhaps the most important, certainly the best-known - Italian artist on a global level. He lives and works in Pavia.