Albano Morandi

Biography

Albano Morandi was born in Salò on October 8, 1958. After attending the Artistic High School, he obtained a diploma in Set Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, studying under Toti Scialoja and Alberto Boatto. Morandi recalls that choosing Set Design allowed him to pursue a more structured study, closely aligned with his idea of contemporary art, as it represents the element that unites multiple artistic disciplines: music, painting, theater, and literature.
In 1981, his deep passion for theater, particularly for the works of Samuel Beckett, led him to found the “Teatro dell’Evidenza”, through which he staged various productions. The concept of evidence became the first essential and recurring element in Morandi’s artistic journey: highlighting the reality of the objects around us. The artist often recalls a phrase from one of Beckett’s novels that deeply resonates with him: “There is absolutely nothing unusual here as far as I can see. And yet I burn with curiosity and wonder.”
In 1984, Morandi held his first solo exhibition, titled Porta delle stelle, at the Centro d’Arte Santelmo in Salò, showcasing watercolors on prepared paper mounted on walls. A few years later, he created the series Paesaggi allucinati, a clear tribute to Osvaldo Licini, and Fiori assenti. In 1986, he participated in the XI Quadriennale di Roma, where he introduced the Formichieri Trampolieri, a series featuring a white creature depicted from various perspectives—front, top, and side—always set against a black background.
Between 1987 and 1988, he began creating his first sculptural objects, which he humorously called Disegno capitello colonna. The abstract forms present on the surface of these sculptures were not created in relief but rather highlighted through color, emerging from the background in negative. His artistic production continued to evolve in the early 1990s, introducing the Kamikaze series, considered a further development of Fiori Assenti. These works took on a more object-based approach, utilizing supports such as tables, boxes, and pallets.
In 1994, he began working on his first large-scale environmental installations, with the series Se solo potessimo cadere. In 1996, at the XII Quadriennale di Roma, he presented Officium, a monumental wall installation composed of multiple painted objects accompanied by six sculptures arranged in a row on a pedestal. This period marked the beginning of what Morandi calls Gesti Quotidiani (Daily Gestures)—small, repurposed objects such as old frames, chalkboards, notebooks, discarded wooden or cardboard boxes. Like a collector, he gathers, preserves, and reinterprets these materials, giving them a “new life.”
Morandi transforms these objects—stripped of their original function—into sculptural forms, offering the viewer a new perspective that evokes both recognition and surprise. These works contain an explicit lyrical component, enhanced by his ability to arrange small forms within a larger composition, creating a strong emotional impact on the observer. His ability to continuously explore new artistic directions while maintaining coherence and harmony is a defining characteristic of his work.
As critics have noted, Morandi’s artistic project is to use “the world of forms to transfigure the world of objects.” His career includes participation in two editions of the Quadriennale di Roma (1986 and 1996), winning first prize (ex aequo) at the 40th Premio Nazionale d’Arte Suzzara (2000), and contributing to the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007) in the collateral event JOSEPH BEUYS DIFESA DELLA NATURA. He has exhibited extensively in major cities across Europe, Asia, and the United States.
For over twenty-five years, he has curated exhibitions on behalf of various public institutions and associations. His most notable theatrical and performative collaborations include projects with composers Antonio Giacometti, Giancarlo Facchinetti, and Francesco Pennisi; musicians Tristan Honsinger, Gianluigi Trovesi, Luca Formentini, and Walter Beltrami; poets Attilio Lolini and Flavio Ermini; and directors Lorenzo Vitalone, Mariano D’Ammacco, and Mauro Avogadro.
He has taught Set Design and Painting at the Accademia Cignaroli in Verona, LABA – Libera Accademia di Belle Arti, and the Accademia di Belle Arti SantaGiulia in Brescia. Albano Morandi lives and works in Raffa di Puegnago (BS).

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

From the 1994/95 to 1995/96 Academic Year, he taught Pedagogy and Art Education and Stagecraft at the Accademia di Belle Arti Cignaroli in Verona.
From the 1999/2000 to 2011/2012 Academic Year, he was a professor of Pedagogy and Art Education and Scenography at LABA – Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Brescia.
From the 2012/2013 to 2016 Academic Year, he taught Painting at the Accademia SantaGiulia in Brescia.
Since 1984, he has held several key positions, including:
Coordinator of exhibitions organized by the Province of Brescia at Palazzo Martinengo and throughout the province.
Coordinator of the Civica Raccolta del Disegno in Salò, curating various exhibitions.
Artistic Director of LABA – Libera Accademia di Belle Arti in Brescia.
Art & Event Manager of the Accademia di Belle Arti SantaGiulia in Brescia.
Since 2000, he has been the founder and curator of Meccaniche della Meraviglia, the most significant contemporary art exhibition series in the Brescia area, now in its 19th edition.
He is currently the Artistic Director of the Fondazione Vittorio Leonesio/LeonesiArte and the Associazione Meccaniche della Meraviglia.

solo exhibitions

1984 – PORTA DELLE STELLE, Centro d’arte Santelmo, Salò (Catalog)

1985 – Galleria Giulia, Rome

1986 – Mèta Arte Contemporanea, Bolzano (Catalog)

1987 – Centro d’arte Santelmo, Salò (Catalog)
Galleria Arco d’Alibert, Rome (Catalog)
Galleria Piero Cavellini, Brescia (Catalog)
Studio G7, Bologna (with C. Fernicola) (Catalog)

1989 – OLTRE IL VISIBILE, Mèta Arte Contemporanea, Bolzano (Catalog)
Fernicola/Morandi, Studio Delise, Portogruaro

1990 – Galleria Giorgio Mazzocchi, Parma (with Fretta and Iacchetti) (Catalog)

1991 – FIORI ASSENTI, Galleria Arco d’Alibert, Rome

1992 – FIORI ASSENTI, Studio Reggiani, Milan (Catalog)
Frankfurter Westend Galerie, Frankfurt am Main (with Fretta and Furlani)
Gallere l’A, Liège
FIORI ASSENTI, Centro d’Arte Santelmo, Salò (Catalog)

1993 – Galleria Piero Cavellini, Brescia (Catalog)
Artline Galerie, The Hague
Zeitkunstgalerie, Kitzbühel

1994 – Galleria Peccolo, Livorno (Catalog)
Spazio Temporaneo, Milan (Catalog)
Museo d’Arte Moderna dell’Alto Mantovano, Gazoldo degli Ippoliti (Catalog)
SE SOLO POTESSIMO CADERE (KAMIKAZE), Galleria Tribeca, Milan (Catalog)

1996 – TRASH, Galleria Giulia, Rome (Catalog)
OFFICIUM, XII Quadriennale Nazionale d’Arte, Ala Mazzoniana, Stazione Termini, Rome (Catalog)

1997 – Galerie A. Schaffranka, Munich
PREGHIERA DI CARNE, Bagatta Wine Bar, Desenzano (Book)

1998 – OFFICIUM, Galleria Giorgio Mazzocchi, Parma (Catalog)
Spazio Temporaneo, Milan (Catalog)

1999 – RUMORE/SILENZIO/POESIA (Formenti-Patelli-Morandi), Galleria Rottloff, Karlsruhe

2000 – GESTI QUOTIDIANI (with Stefano Spagnoli), The Living Room – Special Projects in Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, California (Catalog)
SALOMÈ, Soprattuttolibri, Prato (Artist’s Book)
HOSTINA ERODOTOVA, Castello di Klatovy/Klenová, Czech Republic (Catalog)

2001 – Frankfurter Westend Galerie (with Casiraghi and Casentini), Frankfurt am Main
GESTI QUOTIDIANI, Palazzo Martini, Riva del Garda (Catalog)

2002 – IL BANCHETTO DI ERODE/HOSTINA ERODOTOVA, Museo Diocesano, Brescia / Salone Cassero, Prato (Catalog)
ANTIGRAZIOSO, A.S.G. Gallery, Origgio (VA) (Catalog)
A ME GLI OCCHI, Galleria Maurizio Corraini, Mantua

2003 – ALBANO MORANDI, Don O’Melveny Gallery, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California (Catalog)

2004 – DISSEMINAZIONI, Satura, Palazzo Stella, Genoa (Catalog)
NITI NITI/CARTEGGIO, POLONA MAHER & ALBANO MORANDI, Umetnostna Galerija Maribor, Slovenia (Catalog)

2005 – NITI NITI/CARTEGGIO, POLONA MAHER & ALBANO MORANDI, Civica Raccolta del Disegno, Salò (Catalog)
VIAGGIO E CONVERSIONE DI MONDRIAN DALL’OLANDA A PARIGI IN BICICLETTA, Galleria Roberto Peccolo, Livorno (Catalog)

2006 – AMBIGUO/ANTIGRAZIOSO, Galleria Miralli, Viterbo
E PLURIBUS UNUM, Bello Fresco smART Collection, with Lucio Pozzi, Venice Mestre
DE TOUTES LES COULEURS, LA PEINTURE, Le 10neuf – C.R.A.C, Montbéliard, France (Catalog)
MANIFESTO PER UN DADAISMO LUDICO LIRICO, Spazio Temporaneo, Milan (Catalog)
MANIFESTO PER UN DADAISMO LUDICO LIRICO, Centro Civico Calcinatello, Calcinato (BS) (Catalog)
GUZZETTI / MORANDI, Fusion Art Gallery, Turin

2007 – A DOOR TO THOUGHT, Galleria delle Battaglie, Brescia (Catalog)

2008 – AREA INCONDIZIONATA, Cavenaghi Arte, Milan
LA PASSIONE DELICATA, Galerie Remakers, The Hague (Catalog)
ALBANO MORANDI, Palazzo Rezzonico, Barlassina
ALBANO MORANDI, Frankfurter Westend Galerie, Frankfurt am Main (with Manlio Onorato)

2009 – DEPERO E DE(S)PERIMENTI LUDICI, Spazio Gianni Testoni la 2000+45, Bologna
DI TUTTI I COLORI, with Massimo Minini, Spazio LABA Casa dei Palazzi, Brescia

2010 – BREVE COMPENDIO DI STORIA DELL’ARTE PER CHI HA PERSO LA MEMORIA, Kunstforum Egna

2011 – FORMENTI/MORANDI, Open Space Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea, Catanzaro
ALBANO MORANDI ET ROBERTO DOLZANELLI, Galerie Koma, Mons, Belgium
DOPPIO GIOCO, with Paola Fonticoli, Il Triangolo Nero, Alessandria (Catalog)
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION, ex Chiesa dei SS Pietro e Marcellino, Caserma Goito, Brescia (Catalog)
NULLA DIE SINE LINEA, Galleria delle Battaglie, Brescia (Catalog)
CASA DELLA MEMORIA, Ken Damy Visual Art, Brescia (Catalog)
ALBANO MORANDI/PETER REILL, Galleria Maurer Zilioli, Brescia (Catalog)
LA CORSA DELL’OCCHIO, Spazio Temporaneo, Milan (Catalog)

2012 – DIALOGO LUDICO DI UN PITTORE LIRICO CON LA PROPRIA OMBRA, Galleria Milano, Milan (Artist’s Book)
SONG FOR STELLA, Galleria Maurizio Corraini, Mantua
PENSIERO DELL’OCCHIO, Vertigo Arte, Cosenza

2013 – SONG FOR STELLA, 121 + Corraini, Milan

2017 – IMMAGINI RUBATE A MEMORIA, Galleria Milano, Milan (Catalog)
MANIFESTO PER UN DADAISMO LUDICO LIRICO, Victoria Art Center, Bucharest
ANTOLOGIA, Fondazione Vittorio Leonesio, Puegnago del Garda (BS)

2018 – IL PARTITO PRESO DELLE COSE, Palazzo Bertazzoli, Bagnolo Mella (BS) (Catalog)
IMMAGINI RUBATE A MEMORIA, Galleria Niart, Ravenna (Catalog)

2019 – IL PARTITO PRESO DELLE COSE, Palazzo della Corgna, Città della Pieve (PG) (Catalog)

2021 – 1921/2021 OMAGGIO A JOSEPH BEUYS, Brescia Photo Festival, Spazio Contemporanea, Brescia (Artist’s Book)

2024 – ROSA NON È LA ROSA, Cervo Volante Galleria e Edizioni, Bassano in Teverina (VT) (Artist’s Book)

Group Exhibitions

1981 – L’OGGETTO SCHINCHIGNOSO, Ex Chiesa SS Filippo e Giacomo, Brescia (Catalog)

1983 – RISONANZA RESONANCE PARIS/ROME, Palazzo Venezia, Rome (Catalog)

1984 – ARTISTI MODERNI NEL SANTUARIO DELLA MADONNA DELLA ROCCA, Vobarno (BS) (Catalog)

1985 – KAOS, Museo Casabianca, Malo (Catalog)
ACQUISIZIONI 85, Civica Raccolta del Disegno, Salò
STRAPPI, INTEMPERIE, Biblioteca Civica, Roè Volciano (BS) (Catalog)

1986 – XI QUADRIENNALE NAZIONALE D’ARTE, Palazzo dei Congressi, Rome (Catalog)
SUL MORMORARE INCANTI, Civica Raccolta del Disegno, Salò (Catalog)
IL LIMITE INFINITO, Studio G7, Bologna; Spazio Temporaneo, Milan (Catalog)
APERTO, Galleria Tommaseo, Trieste (Catalog)
MATERIALI DI LAVORO, Associazione Artisti Bresciani, Brescia (Catalog)
BIANCHINI, MORANDI, PERRINI, Galleria Tommaseo, Trieste (Catalog)

1987 – UNDER 35, Artefiera, Bologna
ITALIENISCHE ZEICHNUNGEN: 1945/1947, Kunstverein, Frankfurt (Catalog)
DISEGNO ITALIANO DEL DOPOGUERRA, Galleria Civica, Modena (Catalog)
ACQUISIZIONI, Galleria Civica, Bologna
IL LIMITE INFINITO, Musei Civici, Rimini (Catalog)

1988 – VERIFICA: ASSONANZE DISSONANZE, Palazzo Monte Nuovo di Pietà, Brescia (Catalog)
GALLERISTI A PALAZZO, Centro di Cultura Ausoni, Rome (Catalog)

1989 – PAGINE LIBRI, Galleria Piero Cavellini, Brescia (Catalog)
FABBRICA, Ex Fabbrica d’Armi Beretta, curated by Galleria Minini, Brescia (Catalog)
ACQUISIZIONI 89, Raccolta del Disegno Contemporaneo, Galleria Civica, Modena

1990 – PREMIO MARCHE, Biennale d’Arte Contemporanea, Ancona (Catalog)

1991 – ARTE GIOVANE IN LOMBARDIA, Santa Maria della Pietà, Cremona (Catalog)

1992 – L’AZZURRO DEL CIELO, Galleria Mazzocchi, Parma; Galleria Zelig, Bari (Catalog)
G7 PRESENTA G7, Galleria Studio G7, Bologna

1993 – ARTE GIOVANE IN LOMBARDIA 2, Santa Maria della Pietà, Cremona (Catalog)
CRITICA IN OPERA, Sala Cassero, San Pietro Terme (Catalog)
XXXIII PREMIO SUZZARA, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Suzzara (Catalog)
THE RETURN OF THE CADAVRE EXQUIS, The Drawing Center, New York

1994 – ESPERIENZE D’ARTE A BRESCIA, GLI ANNI ‘80/2 – TENDENZE NON FIGURATIVE, Associazione Artisti Bresciani, Brescia (Catalog)
TRENT’ANNI DI STORIA E DI ARTE, Ex Chiesa dei SS Filippo e Giacomo, Brescia (Catalog)

1995 – QUATRE ARTISTES ITALIENS, Galerie Aricchi, Paris
SKULPTUREN (Acquisitions), Stadtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim (Catalog)
XXVIII PREMIO VASTO – DALL’ARTE POVERA AL POST-MODERNO, Vasto (Catalog)
CASCELLA FRETTA MORANDI, Frankfurter Westend Galerie, Frankfurt am Main
BASIC, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Trnava (Slovakia) (Catalog)

1996 – PREMIO C. FERRARIO, Palazzo Cicogna, Busto Arsizio (Honorable Mention) (Catalog)
XLVIII PREMIO MICHETTI, Francavilla al Mare (Catalog)
PELLEGRINI CHERUBICI, Chiesa della Pieve, Manerba del Garda (Catalog)
SOGNI DI CARTA, ASPETTI DEL DISEGNO IN LOMBARDIA, Museo Nazionale della Grafica, Ljubljana (Catalog)

1997 – ESCATOLOGICA, Spazio Temporaneo, Milan; Palazzo Bedoli, Viadana; Centro L. Di Sarro, Rome; Galleria Peccolo, Livorno (Catalog)
LA CIVICA RACCOLTA DEL DISEGNO, Palazzo Coen, Salò
SOGNI DI CARTA, ASPETTI DEL DISEGNO IN LOMBARDIA, Museo Etnografico, St. Petersburg; Civica Raccolta del Disegno, Salò (Catalog)
QUARANT’ANNI IN BLU, Galleria Blu, Milan (Catalog)

1998 – PALME D’AUTORE, Orto Botanico, Palermo; Istituto Italiano di Cultura per la R.A.E., Cairo, Egypt (Catalog)
SOGNI DI CARTA, ASPETTI DEL DISEGNO IN LOMBARDIA, Sala Napoleonica, Accademia di Brera, Milan (Catalog)
ESCATOLOGICA, Magazzini del Sale, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena (Catalog)
LA SCULTURA POSSIBILE, Premio Internazionale Guglielmo Marconi, Circolo Artistico di Bologna (Catalog)
PER CESARE PAVESE, Palazzo Loggia, Salone Vanvitelliano, Brescia (Catalog)

1999 – ÜBERRASCHUNG, Galerie Baumgarten, Freiburg, Germany
ITALIENISCHE REISE, Sommergalerie im Hofefeld, Hofefeld (Dresden), Germany

2000 – ARTE CONTEMPORANEA ITALIANA DALLA CIVICA RACCOLTA DEL DISEGNO DI SALÒ, Galerie Klatovy Klenová, Klatovy, Czech Republic (Catalog)
40° PREMIO SUZZARA, Galleria Civica Suzzara (Winner, 1st Prize ex aequo) (Catalog)
DELLO SPIRITUALE NELL’ARTE, Torre Avogadro, Lumezzane; Vittoriale degli Italiani, Gardone Riviera; Rocca di San Giorgio, Orzinuovi; Chiesa di Sant’Antonio, Breno (Catalog)
LA COLLEZIONE DELLA BANCA NAZIONALE DEL LAVORO, Chiostro del Bramante, Rome (Catalog)
PICCOLO, Flux Gallery, San Diego, California
VIA LUCIS, Sala dei Provveditori, Salò (Catalog)
MENSCHENBILDER, Sommergalerie im Hofefeld, Hofefeld (Dresden), Germany
ARTWEVE A NIGTWEVE, Fiera di Rimini, Rimini (Catalog)

Public Collections

Contemporary Drawing Collection, Galleria Civica, Modena, Italy
Civica Raccolta del Disegno, Salò, Italy
Gallery of Contemporary Art, Bologna, Italy
Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Rome, Italy
Banca Credito Italiano, Milan, Italy
Orto Botanico, Palermo, Italy
The Drawing Center, New York, USA Kunst Forum Egna, Egna (BZ);

MAIN THEATRICAL AND PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES

1981 – INVITO ALLA MUSICA, didactic-musical fairy tale (Text, Set, and Costumes)
BRÜSA LA VECIA, street performance
1982 – BRÜSA LA VECIA, street performance
1983 – CORPI DI TERRA CON ALI D’ARGENTO by Tommaso Guarino (Produced by Coop. Intrapresa Milan), directed by Lorenzo Vitalone (Set Design and Costumes)
BRÜSA LA VECIA, street performance
1984 – IL RE CHE DOVEVA MORIRE and L’ESECUZIONE CON DELICATEZZA, two operas by Giancarlo Facchinetti (Produced by Cento Giorni di Teatro in Valle Sabbia), co-directed with Lorenzo Vitalone (Set Design and Costumes)
BRÜSA LA VECIA, street performance
1985 – INCIDENTALMENTE TUA, by Honsinger/Morandi (Concept and Production)
LA CANTATA DEL CAFFÈ by J.S. Bach and IL RE CHE DOVEVA MORIRE by Giancarlo Facchinetti (Teatro Grande, Brescia) (Direction and Set Design)
1987 – LA MOGLIE CON LE ALI by Giancarlo Facchinetti and THE GOLDEN VANITY by B. Britten (Teatro Sociale, Montichiari), Set Design
HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT by Igor Stravinsky (Produced by Associazione Isola), directed by Mauro Avogadro (Set Design)
1988 – SENZA TITOLO by Renata Coltrini (Direction and Set Design)
LA PIUMA E IL PENDOLO by Morandi/Coltrini (Produced by Cento Giorni di Teatro in Valle Sabbia) (Direction and Set Design)
2006 – BECKETtiAMO, Galleria Nuovi Strumenti, Brescia, with 3rd and 4th-year students of the Scenography course at LABA – Libera Accademia di Belle Arti, Brescia
2007 – MANIFESTO PER UN DADAISMO LUDICO LIRICO, in JOSEPH BEUYS DIFESA DELLA NATURA, 52nd Venice Biennale, Collateral Events, Spazio Thetis, Arsenale, Venice
2008 – IL CANTO DELLA TERRA CIECA, Palazzo Martinengo, Brescia, with 2nd and 3rd-year students of the Scenography course at LABA – Libera Accademia di Belle Arti, Brescia
MANIFESTO PER UN DADAISMO LUDICO LIRICO, Villa Glisenti, Municipality of Villa Carcina
2009 – DAL BOMBARDAMENTO DI ADRIANOPOLI, in SULLA SOGLIA (on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Futurist Manifesto), Palazzo della Cultura, Cellatica
2010 – IL FIORE NEL FUCILE, Teatro S. Chiara, Brescia, with 2nd and 3rd-year students of the Scenography course at LABA – Libera Accademia di Belle Arti, Brescia
2011 – MAT-TAM, Galleria Corraini, Mantua
DIALOGO LUDICO DI UN PITTORE LIRICO CON LA PROPRIA OMBRA, with Massimo Minini, Piero Cavellini, and Walter Beltrami, Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia