Mimmo Paladino

Born in 1948, he held his first important exhibition in Naples, presented by Achille Bonito Oliva. This was the beginning of a professional career that placed him at the center of attention of public and critics the world over. In 1980 he exhibited in the section Aperto '80 of the Venice Biennale and in 1982 at Documenta 7 in Kassel. In 1985 the first retrospective of his work was set up in Munich and in 1992 he produced the permanent installation Hortus Conclusus in Benevento. After his large solo exhibition at Forte Belvedere in Florence in 1994 he became the first contemporary Italian artist to hold an exhibition in China, at the Fine Arts National Gallery in Beijing. The excellence of his work has also been recognized by the London Royal Academy, which in 1999 bestowed upon him the title of Honorary Member, while in 2002 the Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea "Luigi Pecci" in Prato dedicated the most complete retrospective ever organized by an Italian museum to him. His works are housed in public and private collections in Europe and America.