visual and relational artist and writer
My art is about communication: experience, emotions, ideas.
Growing up in Milan I breathed Italian art, design, fashion, literature, Leonardo, Bramante and Lucio Fontana, but also saw the factories and social changes of the 1960s and 1970s. I went to school in the mountains as a child, learning how to walk and see.
In 1992, after being made redundant by the international advertising agency where I was a creative director, I switched to art. Focus and media varied through the years, but individuals, society and relationships have always been central to my work, whatever the project.
First a painter and a net-artist, I went on to digital photography and videos, made books, performances and relational projects, co-signed an essay about economy. Had exhibitions, international public art commissions, awards, video festivals: a minor artist of some repute.
For years I lived in Paris: great opportunity, new insights. That, added to my rather good English (and maybe my point of view), seemed to make my works better appreciated abroad than in Italy, at least until the pandemic. Two years later things look a bit different, we'll see.
My family name, Della Beffa, could be the source of my sense of humor (beffa means practical joke).
Want to know me better? Browse through this selection of my works. Download the curriculum. Ask.
Growing up in Milan I breathed Italian art, design, fashion, literature, Leonardo, Bramante and Lucio Fontana, but also saw the factories and social changes of the 1960s and 1970s. I went to school in the mountains as a child, learning how to walk and see.
In 1992, after being made redundant by the international advertising agency where I was a creative director, I switched to art. Focus and media varied through the years, but individuals, society and relationships have always been central to my work, whatever the project.
First a painter and a net-artist, I went on to digital photography and videos, made books, performances and relational projects, co-signed an essay about economy. Had exhibitions, international public art commissions, awards, video festivals: a minor artist of some repute.
For years I lived in Paris: great opportunity, new insights. That, added to my rather good English (and maybe my point of view), seemed to make my works better appreciated abroad than in Italy, at least until the pandemic. Two years later things look a bit different, we'll see.
My family name, Della Beffa, could be the source of my sense of humor (beffa means practical joke).
Want to know me better? Browse through this selection of my works. Download the curriculum. Ask.
| dellabeffa-cv-2022-august.pdf |
Artist's statement
My focus is on the details that make life interesting but are often overlooked. Then I wish to share what I've seen: it's my relational side.
I like to take everyday words and expressions to show their other, more literal face; in the same way I reveal what's behind a scene, an image, a famous tale. I work with photos, words, videos, interdisciplinary projects, drawings, colors, workshops, performances: whatever it takes.
I like to take everyday words and expressions to show their other, more literal face; in the same way I reveal what's behind a scene, an image, a famous tale. I work with photos, words, videos, interdisciplinary projects, drawings, colors, workshops, performances: whatever it takes.