lucia pizzani

Bio & Statement

Lucia Pizzani (Caracas, 1975).

She holds a BA in Communications Studies, (Universidad Católica Andres Bello, Caracas), Certificate in Conservation Biology from CERC at Columbia University (New York) and Master in Fine Arts from the Chelsea College of Art and Design (London).

Recent collaborations and commissions include: Featured artist at Frieze London in the Smoke section, Performative lecture for SEEDS a public programme at the Serpentine Gallery, “Cultivo y Memoria” a commission for the Harewood Biennial, Leeds, LAVA a performance for Magasin3 Museum of Contemporary Art (Stockholm), Planet B Climate Change and the new sublime, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud where she was commissioned with new works for both Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 of this exhibition at Palazzo Bolanni in Venice, a new mural work invited by Sol Calero to exhibit in Cabilla a project at the TEA Museum in Tenerife, Casa Wabi and the Puerto Escondido Botanical Garden (Oaxaca, Mexico), LaunchPad Lab (Charente, France), and The Photographers Gallery (London).

Her work has recently been incorporated to the TATE Collection and Magasin3 Museum of Contemporary Art (Stockholm). It is also part of the Essex Collection for Art from Latin America ESCALA, Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros (CPPC), Catherine Petitgas Collection, Archivo Fotografía Urbana, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Colección Juan Yarur and Museum Of Latin American Art (MOLAA) among other private and public collections.

Recent Solo shows include:”Morada Vegetal” at Abra, Caracas, “Rites Seeds and Refuge” at Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, “Merunto: In the house of Spirits” at Bosse & Baum London, “Manto” for Madrid Gallery Weekend at Galería La Cometa, “Tiempo Membrana” at Hacienda La Trinidad” in Caracas and “Coraza” at Cecilia Brunson Projects London and Fundación Marso in Mexico City.
She has exhibited internationally in museum and spaces such as: MOCO Hotel des Collections (Montpellier) as part of “Mecaro: Amazonía in the Petitgas Collection”, Jardín Botánico Puerto Escondido (Oaxaca) where she has a permanent sculpture installation, TEA Centro de las Artes (Tenerife), Peckham24 Photography Festival in London, ArtExchange, Essex University (Colchester), Cecilia Brunson, Bosse & Baum, Aora Space, Stephen Lawrence Gallery and Photofusion (London), House of Egorn (Berlin), Noorderlicht House of Photography (Groningen), ARCO (Madrid), Loop Festival (Barcelona), Exit Art and Queens Museum (NY), Museo Jacobo Borges, Sala Mendoza, Abra, Espacio Monitor and Galería de Arte Nacional (Caracas), Universidad de los Andes, Galería Fernando Pradilla and ArtBo (Bogotá), Fundación Marso and Zona Maco Sur (Ciudad de México), Sindicato (Santo Domingo) and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo MAC (Santiago de Chile) among others. 

She has been featured in ARtForum, FT Magazine, Studio International, BBC News, Vogue, Monopol Magazine, Loose Associations (TPG), Hotshoe, Artishock Magazine and ArtNexus amongst other media.
Guest lectures and talks include: Leeds University, Studio Voltaire, Sothebys MFA and Latin American House in the UK and Fundación Cisneros and Instituto Armando Reverón in Venezuela.

Her work is on these recent surveys of Venezuelan art: “Arte Contemporaneo en Venezuela” Villanueva Editores, “Panorama, Arte Emergente en Venezuela” published by Telefónica Foundation and “Nuevo País de las Artes“ edited by Banesco. Shel is also part of “Remains – Tomorrow: Themes in Contemporary Latin American Abstraction” edited by curator Cecilia Fajardo-Hill.
 
Recent awards and bursaries include: Arts Council England Grants for the Arts (2017) for "Broader Implications" at Photofusion, Photofusion Hotshoe Award 14, (London, 2014) the Emerging Artist Award by the AICA, International Art Critics Association -Venezuelan chapter-, (Caracas, 2013), and the XII Premio Eugenio Mendoza (Caracas, 2013) with a following Residency at Hangar (Barcelona).

“Lucia Pizzani’s expressive practice involves the body and self always informed by materiality. One of her core concerns is the interrelationship between narratives of women in history and processes of metamorphosis in the natural world. She works across a variety of media - including photography, ceramics, videos, drawings, performances and installations. Having worked as part of the environmental movement in Venezuela for many years, she has always incorporated ecological elements into her artwork. 

Pizzani’s physical environment often provides her with both the inspiration, and physical materials, for her work. This has had a particular importance during recent artists in residencies she has done abroad. The travelling and sense of missplaced has been part of her life since an early age, while she bounced between Europe, North America and her home country. In the last years, from her London studio she combines materials and stories from different territories trying to reconciliate that distance. Her research and production is often hybrid, syncretic and with no defined temporality, allowing the works to have multi layered readings.”