Grizzana Morandi, 1943.
Lives and works in Rome.
Ontani stands out for the playful and ironic dimension of his works, often characterized by bright colors, contrasts and estranging mixes between sacred and profane, Western and Eastern culture, tradition and modernity. He creates works ranging from painting to sculpture to stained glass windows; from 1968 he began experimenting with photography, which often sees the artist himself as a protagonist in the guise of illustrious or fantasy characters, from Dante to Pinocchio, always seen with a playful eye. At the same time the realization of the “tableaux vivants” begins, in which the artist presents himself masked and becomes himself an “art object”.
He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1972, 1978, 1984, 1986, 1995 and 2003 and in Manifesta in 2008; after his international debut in 1977 at the Sonnabend gallery in New York, he made several exhibitions including in Brussels, Antwerp, Belgrade, Zurich, Paris, London and Munich. He has exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world such as the Guggenheim in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Frankfurt Knustverein and the Reina Sofia in Mardid.
In 2011 he received the McKim Award of the American Academy in Rome and in 2015 the “Presidente della Repubblica” dell’Accademia Nazionale di San Luca.
2021
LUIGI ONTANI. Alam Jiwa & Vanitas, GAM Galleria d’Arte moderna e contemporanea, Turin
2019
Galleria Massimo De Carlo, Milan
2018
Luigi Ontani – Opere scelte da una collezione, Galleria Giovanni Bonelli di Pietrasanta
2017
Accademia di San Luca, Rome
2015
Luigi Ontani – Chi è fuori è fuori chi è dentro è dentro, GAM Galleria d’Arte moderna e contemporanea, Turin
Luigi Ontani incontra Giorgio Morandi. CasaMondo, Casa Studio Giorgio Morandi, Grizzana Morandi
2014
GAMeC – Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Bergamo
2013
Luigi Ontani – Volta Faccia, Cortile Lagrange delle arti, Palazzo Cavour, Turin
2012
Luigi Ontani – AnderSennoSogno, Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen, Rome
2011
RivoltArteAltrove, Castello di Rivoli, Turin
2008
Gigante3RazzEtà7ArtiCentAuro, MAMBO, Bologna
2004
Genthara: Luigi Ontani, SMAK, Gent
2003
Le martyre de Saint Sebastien, Kunsthalle, Vienna
2002
Alnus Thai Aurea, Bangkok National Gallery, Bangkok
2001
GaneshamUSA 1965-2001, MoMA, New York