Biography
Giovanni Frangi (Milan, May 12, 1959) is an Italian artist.
The Eighties
He began painting at a very young age. In 1982, he graduated from the Accademia di Brera. That same year, he participated in a group exhibition in Milan at the Rotonda della Besana, returning the following year with some pastels for the "Artisti e scrittori" exhibition. 1983 marked his first solo exhibition at the La Bussola gallery in Turin. In 1986, Frangi made a reappearance, introduced by Achille Bonito Oliva, at the Galleria Bergamini in Milan with a solo exhibition featuring canvases depicting windows, armchairs, chairs, and tables, which marked the invention of an artistic alphabet. In 1987, he exhibited at the Galleria Poggiali e Forconi in Florence, where he would present multiple monographic exhibitions in the following years. In 1989, Frangi's works appeared internationally for the first time at the Galerie du Banneret in Bern.
The Ninetie0s
In 1997, an anthology exhibition at Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano summarized Frangi's work around the dominant theme of landscapes, particularly the representation of highways and interchanges. That same year, he won the award at the XII Quadriennale di Roma and exhibited the "La fuga di Renzo" cycle in the Cenacolo room of Montecitorio. This marked the beginning of his collaboration with Giovanni Agosti. In 1998, at the Compagnia del Disegno in Milan, he exhibited "Il giorno e la notte," two paintings of the same format facing each other in the gallery space. This venue had previously hosted "Testori-Frangi-Milano" accompanied by an essay by Giovanni Testori, a crucial figure in Frangi's development, and in 1992, "Opere 1991-1992," with a text by Luca Doninelli. In 1999, Frangi set up "Il richiamo della foresta" at Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan, a forest composed of 13 canvases. That same year, at the Venice Biennale, Federico Tiezzi directed Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," featuring a forest backdrop by Frangi.
The Early 2000s
In 2000, the Lawrence Rubin gallery in Milan hosted "Giovanni Frangi. Sculture. Una mostra per l’estate," featuring large paper works and "Fiordifragola" in the garden, marking his debut as a sculptor. The same year, the Galleria dello Scudo in Verona presented "Viaggio in Italia." In 2001, the same gallery showcased "Come un’installazione" at Miart in Milan, with paintings of various sizes paired with floor-to-wall sculptures. In 2004, at the scuderie of Villa Panza in Biumo near Varese, "Nobu at Elba" came to life: a work comprising four large paintings and around twenty foam sculptures. The preparation of this monumental work is documented in an album of 132 sheets, almost like a travel diary. In 2005, at Antonella Cattani in Bolzano, he presented "Ti ci porto," an alpine story with a large waterfall, paintings on Tambac and Cacao backgrounds, and an installation of 14 painted stones. In 2006, in Florence, at Poggiali e Forconi, he opened "View master," featuring "Il fondo del mare" and "Il disgelo": two dioramas made of foam rubber, colored plastics, tree pieces, colored water tanks, a fan, and a sled, all visible only through holes in a black wall. In 2007, at Miart in Milan, in the Galleria dello Scudo space, Frangi presented "Underwater," submarine-themed paintings on emulsion-coated canvases painted with resins and pigments. Among these was "Noa Noa," a snake-shaped sculpture covered in fiberglass. In 2008, Feltrinelli published "Giovanni Frangi alle prese con la natura," a collection of Giovanni Agosti's writings on ten years of their collaborative works: from "La fuga di Renzo" to an unexecuted exhibition at the Serra Grande of the Boboli Gardens in Florence. That same year, Frangi exhibited in Frankfurt at the Raphael gallery with "12 Sassisassi. Eine organische Ausstellung. Skizzen, Tische, Bilder, Fotografien und Plastiken," focusing on the theme of stones. Also in 2008, he exhibited "Pasadena," a cycle of thirty carborundum prints, at the Gamud in Udine, inspired by the plants of the Huntington Botanical Gardens. This exhibition was later shown in several locations over the years. In 2009, Frangi created "MT 2425" in the San Lupo Oratory in Bergamo: the building's floor was covered in a silver polyurethane resin surface, and the vault was painted with an azure sky, reminiscent of an 18th-century fresco.
The 2010s
In 2010, Frangi exhibited "Giardini pubblici" at MART in Rovereto, a large canvas inspired by an image of Milan's public gardens at dusk, accompanied by variations on the theme in different techniques, akin to preparatory studies. Later that year, he presented "Divina–Wallpaper" at Credito Bergamasco in Bergamo: twelve botanical-themed paintings with real leaves on the floor, and "La règle du jeu" at Teatro India in Rome, featuring six large paintings with the same image varied in shadow play. In 2011, Frangi participated in the Padiglione Italia of the LIV Venice Biennale and revisited "La règle du jeu" with some additions at the Museo Diocesano in Milan. However, the highlight was "Straziante, meravigliosa bellezza del creato" at Villa Manin in Passariano di Codroipo, a poetic sequence of works created between 2006 and 2011. Before the end of the year, he presented "Albatros" at the Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea Montevergini in Siracusa, with paintings suspended like banners. In 2012, at Villa Morosini in Polesella near Rovigo, Frangi presented "Mappe," thirteen paintings inspired by the landscapes of the Po delta in old stucco frames. He then took "Fragile" to Sakshi gallery in Mumbai and exhibited "Il Rosso e il Nero" at the Galerie du Nord of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. In 2013, the rooms and cloister of the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo in Pisa hosted "Sherazade." In 2014, Frangi experimented with video in "River. Esperimento domestico" at Ferrarin Arte in Legnago. He also presented "Paradisi artificiali" at the Raphael12 gallery in Frankfurt and the banner "Mollate le vele" at MAXXI in Rome during the XII Seminario Nazionale di Jonas. The opening of the new Orto Botanico of the University of Padua coincided with "Alles ist Blatt," which brought together three cycles of works related to the depiction of the plant world. Additionally, 2014 saw his work at the Santa Gianna Beretta Molla church in Trezzano sul Naviglio near Milan, where Frangi's various pieces marked the perimeter of this new sacred space. Between 2014 and 2015, he presented "Lotteria Farnese," twenty banners supported by self-standing structures in the immense Sala della Meridiana at the Museo Archeologico in Naples. In 2015, at the M77 gallery in Milan, Frangi showcased "La legge della giungla," where Aurelio Picca read "Ninja," a verse story inspired by the artist's works. 2016 featured "Settembre," a series of works on paper at the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica in Rome, and "Usodimare" at CAMeC in La Spezia with works related to the water world. In 2017, for Pistoia Capitale Italiana della Cultura, Palazzo Fabroni hosted "Prêt-à-porter," reflecting on Frangi's use of color and black and white. With "Urpflanze" at Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo on Lake Como in 2018, Frangi reaffirmed his ongoing dialogue with the natural world. In 2019, he participated in a project at Palazzo delle Paure in Lecco, where his cycle of seven works, "Esercizio di lettura," interacted with a sacred panel by Lorenzo Lotto. "Vocali" was the exhibition organized in 2021 with the Stamperia Albicocco in Udine, featuring five prints inspired by the colors of the vowels in Arthur Rimbaud's famous poem. In 2022, he presented "Urpflanze Dieci incisioni al Carborundum" at the Brunitoio in Ghiffa, "Urpflanze Project room" at the Animaphix festival in Villa Cattolica in Bagheria, and "Vitaliana" at Palazzo Parasi in Cannobio, with a project dedicated to the Castelli di Cannero.
Recent Years
In 2023, he exhibited "Showboat" at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan in the Sala del Tesoro and the Gabinetto dei Disegni, tracing his creative journey through his printmaking activities and his story through catalogs and artist books.
In 2024, he will exhibit "Showboat" in Udine at the Stamperia Albicocco and "Le mille Vite di Showboat" in Arezzo at the Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna, presenting for the first time a cycle dedicated to the movement of swans in water and a large installation on tracing paper inspired by a painting by Bartolomeo della Gatta.
