Marco Grassi
Was born in Milan in 1966. He studied at the Liceo Artistico B. Luini in Canuto and graduated with a degree in architecture in Milan. Today he lives and works in Mariano Comense.
In-between Mystery and Definition.
His paintings are framed in series
which feel the specificity of the moment in which they are painted. They speak quietly of Grassi’s mood, his time, story, and out look of the world.
The Subject and the scene...
The human form is at the center of Marco Grassi’s artistic practice. Renown for his seductive depictions of women, Marco Grassi’s models are at once delicate and determined. His portraits, suffused with vibrant colours, carry a complex sensibility. Devoting himself to portraiture, Marco Grassi succeeds in challenging the typical standards of this genre through abstract colourplay and directional composition.
The artist forgoes preparatory sketches, choosing to apply his pigments directly on the canvas with a palette knife. In doing so, Marco Grassi allows the medium to define itself, honoring its texture and character. In his recent works, backgrounds tend to gradually integrate themselves with the subject, softly blending the frenetic edges created by the palette knife. Marco Grassi’s style is defined by his layered work, each strata of colour holding a unique energy and significance. The onlooker is invited to penetrate these layers to discover the emotional complexity of the artist’s subjects. His female nudes are provocative and inviting, distinguishing themselves from traditional figure studies.
BIOGRAPHY
Marco Grassi was born in Milan in 1966. He studied at the Liceo Artistico B. Luini in Canuto and graduated with a degree in architecture in Milan. Today he lives and works in Mariano Comense.
For the past ten years Grassi has been faithful to the figurative style of his work, never allowing this to become an object of fashion or satisfying only a momentary taste. His language and subjects have remained constant and connected to his sense of vision and to the taste of his complex sensitivity. He depicts the fashionable female figure, dynamic color combinations, and a use of lacquering. Subjects have unjustly labeled him a contemporary Pop artist, but where Pop today stands for glamour – all sequins and shine, the dimensions of Grassi’s work extend beyond the fashionable.
Grassi’s subjects are delicate and attractive, but also energetic and resolute with constant attention to the form, subject, and his color techniques.
His paintings are framed in series – though not in accordance to the canonical sense of this term – which feel the specificity of the moment in which they are painted. They speak quietly of Grassi’s mood, his time, story, and out look of the world.
Grassi’s subjects are masked in some way, actors and figures, caught in the intense foreground, they tell of events starting from those encrypted by their creator, marked with their expressions, moments which can be traced back to the situations experienced by each viewer. Subject and viewer meet and play the game of their glances.
Regarding the technique, a relevant novelty can be observed. Grassi renounces an element which up until now was a decisive part of the architecture of every part of his work. In his most recent works we witness a complete absence of design: the sure and confident stroke with which he traced outer anatomic lines, showing stability in the whole of the figure, compared to a choice of bold colors which transforms and breaks down under the effect of the spatula and drippings, is less obvious. The figure loses the factor of certainty and sureness, a base which permits it to integrate itself completely in the complex weave of color, now depicted in a more decisive background and efficiently connected to the expression of faces and the intensity of their silence.
CURRICULUM VITAE | MARCO GRASSI
Marco Grassi was born in Milan, Italy in 1966
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 MAMA RAISED ME RIGHT
HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art) London, UK
FOCUS
Galerie LeRoyer, Montréal, Canada
2019 DON’T JUST BE A PRETTY FACE
HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art) London, UK
2018 KEEP ROCKIN’ SUPERSTAR Galerie LeRoyer, Montréal, Canada
WONDERLAND
Galleria Ca’ d’oro, New York, USA
MiXX project + atelier
2016 SUPERGOLDEN Ransom Art, London, UK
SUPERGOLDEN
Liquid Art System, Capri, Italy
2015 GOLD EXPERIENCE
Aspen Art Gallery, Aspen, USA
SUPERKIDS
Galerie LeRoyer, Montréal, Canada
CITY GIRLS
Niche Space, Los Angeles, USA
2014 GOLD
Franco Senesi Fine Art, curated by Marco Izzolino Royalty, Galleria Modì, Mendrisio, Italy
GOLDGIRLS
Komfort Gallery, Kazan, Russia
Helen Gallery, Ul’janovsk, Russia
2013 ICON KIDS
Stella Mccartney Space, Milan, Italy & New York, USA
ICONS
Gallery Vavilon, Samara, Russia
Presenze Loft Gallery, Corigliano Calabro, Italy GOLDENAMERICA, WFCUSA, Phoenix, USA
2013 SUPERGOLDENICONS, St Petersberg, USA THE GOLD EXPERIENCE
White Room, Capri, Italy
2012 COLOUR IN RETROSPECT Niche Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
OUR LADY
Franco Senesi Art Gallery, Positano, Italy
2011 YOUNGUYS
3401 Gallery, Miami, USA
THIRTEEN
curated by Igor Zanti, LEO’S Gallery, Lugano, Italy
THIRTEEN
curated by Igor Zanti, LEO’S Gallery, Monza, Italy
SUPERHEROES
Jamel International, Perth, Australia
WHY DONT YOU TAKE ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF MY HEART?
MA11, Atlanta, USA
2010 King’s Road Gallery, London, UK BE MY PRINCESS AGAIN
Gallery White Provision, Atlanta, USA
2009 GLAMOUR GRAMA T35, Milan, Italy
GLAMOUR GRAMA MA09, Atlanta, USA
2008 GIRLS SAVE THE PINK
Galleria Nuovospazio, Piancenza, Italy
GIRLS SAVE THE PINK
curated by Stefano Castelli, Villa Sartirana, Giussano, Milan
2007 PINK VELVET
curated by Maurizio Sciaccaluga, Novato Arte Contemporanea, Fano, Italy
2006 I LOVE ROMA
Galleria Laura Rossi International, Rome, Italy
SMALL
curated by Marta Casati, Galleria Magrorocca, Milan, Italy
2005 LOVE ME TENDER
curated by di Paola Noè, Chiesa di S. Pietro in Atrio, Come
2003 SELF-SERVICE
cuarted by Maurizio Sciaccaluga, Galleria Magrorocca, Milan, Italy
2002 AMSTE, Lissone, Italy 2001 GLOBALISLAMIZZIONE
Studio Gariboldi, Milan, Italy
2000 METROPOLITANI 2000
curated by Luca Beatrice, Studio Gariboldi, Milan, Italy
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 ART MIAMI AND CONTEXT MIAMI
Virtual exhibition, Galerie LeRoyer, Canada
MODEL UNIT AT MONAD TERRACE BY JEAN NOUVEL IN MIAMI BEACH
Galleria Ca’ d’oro, Miami Beach USA
2019 MARCO GRASSI AND CAROL KURTH: ALL I THINK ABOUT IS YOU
Galleria Ca’ d’oro, New York, USA
THE LOCAL ELEMENT
MiXX projects + atelier, Telluride, USA
REVERY
MiXX projects + atelier, Telluride, USA
EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
MiXX projects + atelier, Telluride, USA
THE SALON
MiXX projects + atelier, Telluride, USA
2018 GARDEN OF EDEN
MiXX projects + atelier, Telluride, USA
THE EDIT
HOFA Gallery (House of Fine Art) London, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS (CONT’D) 2017 FORZA
Galerie LeRoyer, Canada THE GOLD EXPERIENCE
Galleria Ca’ d’oro, New York, USA
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY MASTERS: NEW AQUISITIONS
Rosenbaum Contemporary, Boca Raton, USA
2015 RITRATTI
Galleria Doppia V, Lugano curated by Emma Gravagnuolo
2013 SYSTEM
Bellano, curated by Martina Corbetta
2011 54a Biennale di Venezia, Padiglione Italia curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, Venice
STORYBOARD
BonelliLab, Canneto sull’Oglio, Mantova, Italy
BRUTTA? NO SEMPLICEMENTE UNICA!
Teatro Filodrammatici Milano, curated by Diego Della Palna and Chiara Argentieri, Milan, Italy
FISIONOMIA DI UNA BELLEZZA IMPROPRIA Lo Gallery, Corigliano Calabro, Itay
2010 ATTENTION! BORDER CROSSING Museum of Contemporary Art PERMM
LORO CIUFFIENNA
Museo Venturino Venturi, Italy
2009 LOVE NEST Revel, Milano, Italy
UNDERCOVER
Galleria Wannabee, Milano, Italy
2008 CONTEMPORARY Superstudio, Milano, Italy
Convivio, Milan, Italy
2007 GIMME FIVE
curated by Ivan Quaroni, Galleria Novato, Fano, Italy
FILM ROUGE
curated by Chiara Argentieri, Galleria Grafique, Bologna
ART FAIRS
2020 CONTEXT Art Miami, HOFA Gallery, London, UK
ART MIAMI, Galerie LeRoyer, Montreal, Canada ART MIAMI, Contessa Gallery, Miami, USA
ART MIAMI, Liquid Art System, Italy
ART CENTRAL, Liquid Art System, Italy
ART WYNWOOD, HOFA Gallery, London, UK LA ART SHOW, HOFA Gallery, London, UK
2019 Art Aspen, ASPEN, USA
2019 CONTEXT Art Miami,
(HOFA Gallery, London), MIAMI, USA
LA ART SHOW
(HOFA Gallery, London) Los Angeles, USA
PALM BEACH MODERN + CONTEMPORARY (Galleria Ca’ d’Oro) Palm Beach, USA
2018 ART PALM BEACH
(Galleria Ca’ d’Oro) Palm Beach, USA
PALM BEACH MODERN + CONTEMPORARY (Galleria Ca’ d’Oro) Palm Beach, USA
CONTEXT Art Miami
(Liquid Art System) Miami, USA
2017 MARKET ART + DESIGN (Galleria Ca’ d’Oro) LONDON ART FAIR, London, UK
SCOPE New York, USA
2016 ART MIAMI, New York and Miami, USA SCOPE New York and Miami, USA CONTEXT Miami, USA
2015 ART MIAMI
SCOPE New York, USA
2013 ART MIAMI Miami, USA
ART MOSCOW Moscow, Russia SCOPE New York, USA
2012 ARTSHOW New York, USA
ARTSHOW Matalon Foundation, Milan, Italy
PUBLICATIONS
2015 IDOL Article “Marco Grassi and his ‘Gold Experience’” by
Oliver Korinek, July 2015
Arte a un Click Article “Fidelidad al estilo figurativo en los lienzos de Marco Grassi Grama” by Mila Abadia, June 2015
Artflex Article “HUG+Kids”, July 2015
2013 Artist Moods Article “Marco Grassi” by Sandra, October
Things Worth Describing Article “Beautiful girls painted by Marco Grassi” by Lindsey, February 2013
2010 Cimo-Asso Article “Marco Grassi: Solodrawing2010” by David Valsecchi