Venice, 1919 – 2006.
Born in Venice into a family of workers and artisans, from the 1930s onwards Vedova began an intense activity as a self-taught artist, drawing figures and buildings. In 1942, the young Vedova joined the anti-Novecento movement known as “Corrente”.
An anti-Fascist, he worked for the Resistance from 1944 to 1945 and in 1946, he was one of the co-signers of the “Oltre Guernica” manifesto in Milan. In the same year in Venice he was one of the founders of the “Nuova Secessione Italiana” followed by the “Fronte Nuovo delle Arti”.
In 1948 he made his debut in the Venice Biennale, the first of many appearances in this event: in 1952 an entire room was devoted to his work, in 1960 he was awarded the Grand Prize for Painting and in 1997 the prestigious Golden Lion award for Lifetime Achievement.
In the early 1950s he created his celebrated cycles of works: “Scontro di situazioni” (Collision of Situations), “Ciclo della Protesta” (Protest Cycle), “Cicli della Natura” (Cycles of Nature). In 1954, at the second São Paolo Art Biennial he won a prize that would allow him to spend three months in Brazil, where he encountered an extreme, hard reality that would leave its mark on him. In 1961 he designed the sets and costumes for Luigi Nono’s “Intolleranza ‘60” (Intolerance ’60); in 1984 he would work with the composer again on “Prometeo”.
From 1961 onwards he worked on his “Plurimi” creating an initial Venetian series followed by works made from 1963 to 1964 in Berlin including the seven pieces forming the “Absurdes Berliner Tagebuch ‘64” (Absurd Berlin Diary ’64) presented at the 1964 Kassel Documenta where he also showed in 1955, 1959 and 1982. From 1965 to 1967 he worked on “Spazio/Plurimo/Luce” (Space/Plurimo/Light) for the Montreal EXPO.
He carried out intense teaching activities in various American universities followed by the Sommerakademie in Salzburg and the Academy of Venice. His artistic career was characterised by a constant desire to explore and innovate.
In the 1970s he created the “Plurimi Binari” in the “Lacerazione” (Laceration) and “Carnevali” (So-called carnivals) cycles followed by the vast cycles of “teleri” (big canvases) and his “Disks”, “Tondi”, “Oltre” (Beyond) and “…in continuum…” (…in continuum…) works. He won numerous prestigious prizes and awards. His important solo exhibitions included the major retrospective held at Castello di Rivoli in 1998 and, after his death in 2006, the sister shows at Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and the Berlinische Galerie (Berlin).
From: Fondazione Vedova
Selected solo shows
2024Rivoluzione Vedova, M9 – Museo del ‘900, Mestre-Venice
2023
Emilio Vedova. Tempo Inciso, Magazzino del Sale/Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
2022Vedova, oltre il colore. Etica ed estetica del segno, Centro Studi e Casa Museo Osvaldo Licini, Monte Vidon Corrado
2019Da Vedova a Vedova, CAMeC Centro Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, La Spezia
Emilio Vedova, Palazzo Reale, Milan
2018
Solo – Emilio Vedova, Museo del Novecento, Florence
Emilio Vedova dalle collezioni del Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Chiesa di San Giuseppe, Alba
2017
Emilio Vedova. De America, Magazzino del Sale/Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
2016
Emilio Vedova Disegni, Magazzino del Sale, Zattere, Venice
2015
Frammenti EXPO ’67. Emilio Vedova, Magazzino del Sale, Zattere, Venice
2014
Vedova in tondo, Magazzino del Sale, Zattere, Venice
2013
Emilio Vedova. I cosiddetti carnevali, Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
2012
Emilio Vedova. Lacerazione. Plurimi/binari ’77/’78, Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
2011
Emilio Vedova …in continuum, Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
2010
Emilio Vedova scultore, Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
Emilio Vedova 1961&1984, Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
2009
Emilio Vedova/Renzo Piano, Spazio Vedova, Zattere, Venice
2007
Ricordando Vedova, Galleria Poli Art, Milan
Vedova Monotypes, a cura di Sandro Rumney, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice
Emilio Vedova, a cura di Fabrizio Gazzarri, Sant’Erasmo – Torre Massimiliana, Venice
Emilio Vedova 1919-2006, curated by Angelandreina Rorro and Alessandra Barbuto, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome; travelling: Berlinesche Galerie Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur, Berlin, curated by Guido Fassbender
2006
Emilio Vedova, curated by Salvatore Ala, Galleria Salvatore + Caroline Ala, Milan
Vedova, Artestudio Clocchiatti, Udine
2005
Vedova, curated by Francesca Valente, Italian Institute of Culture, Chicago; travelling: Italian Institute of Culture, Toronto; Italian Institute of Culture, Los Angeles; Italian Institute of Culture, San Francisco; Italian Institute of Culture, New York
2004
Emilio Vedova, Galleria Georg Nothelfer, Berlin
2003
Emilio Vedova nelle collezioni bresciane, curated by Elena Pontiggia and Alessandra Corna Pellegrini, Salone dell’AAB, Brescia
Emilio Vedova. “Urto di verità” 1980-2000: opere scelte, Galleria d’arte l’Incontro, Milan
2002
Emilio Vedova. Absurdes Berliner Tagebuch ‘64, curated by Jörn Merkert and Ursula Prinz, Berlinesche Galerie, Berlin
Vedova. Incisioni 1968-87, Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Udine Formae Mentis, Udine
2001
Emilio Vedova, Galleria Salvatore + Caroline Ala, Milan
Emilio Vedova, Folini Arte Contemporanea, Chiasso
I luoghi del segno. Incisori Italiani Contemporanei. Emilio Vedova, curated by Gabriella Locci and Anna Maria Montaldo, Exma – Centro d’arte e cultura, Cagliari
1999
Emilio Vedova, curated by Salvatore Ala, Galleria Salvatore + Caroline Ala, Milan