Francesco Arena

Francesco Arena's exploration moves along two tracks: that of collective history, in particular national history, and that of the artist's personal history. His works, heterogeneous in terms of both volume and materials, examine the relationship with time and space, measured and constructed not only for their use but also as a representation of the individual or the society that produced them. Arena always imposes a code, a rule to follow; the numerical or linguistic data he uses are intended as a unit of measurement on which the sculpture is built. A weight, a distance, a surface or a phrase form the work and determine its shape or size.

works

In primo piano

Little God, 2025, stones, 18 x 18 x 28 cm

Vuoto, 2024, newspaper, ink, 42 x 30 cm, framed 62 x 50 x 4 cm

Ieri (vuoti), 2024, newspaper, 62 x 44 cm, framed 105 x 95 cm

Stone Head (beheaded), 2023, stone, charcoal, 19 x 17 x 30 cm

Altalena, 2022, bronze, rope, variable dimensions, bronze seat 60 x 33 x 3 cm, ed. 3 + 1 AP

Il progresso, 2022, stone, steel cable, clamps, book, 15 x 17 x 35 cm

Paesaggio 02, 2022, patinated bronze, 36 x 18 x 17 cm

La misura delle cose (barra l’uomo medio), 2022, polished bronze, 172,5 x 10 x 10 cm

Untitled (One Metre of Read Books), 2021, stone, books, nylon wire, 31,5 x 100 x 21,5 cm

Natural History (Square Metre and Coral), 2021, steel, branch of red coral, 100 x 100 x 5 cm

Natural History (Square Metre and Pearl), 2021, steel, pearl, 100 x 100 x 4 cm

Natural History (Cubic Metre and Coral), 2021, steel, coral, 100 x 100 x 100 cm

Trittico del sapere, 2021, mirror polished steel, 50 x 50 x 50 cm

La settimana, 2021, natural stone, weekly magazine, steel cable, 38 x 29 x 14 cm

Spigolo, 2021, bronze, 20 x 20 x 20 cm, plate depth 0,2 cm

Cubo con doppia eruzione, 2020, bronze, postcards, steel cable, 21 x 24,5 x 11 cm (with postcards)

Fiore curva, 2020, bronze, long-stemmed flower, 10 x 25 x 10 cm (block)

Endless, Nameless, 2020, metal, magnetic audio tape, variable dimensions

Monolite liquido nero, 2019, 100 liters of black liquid, metal, 20 x 100 x 100 cm

Scarpa, 2019, shoe, clay, incense, 20 x 30 x 10 cm

World with Cube, 2019, bronze, agenda, 30 x 49 x 17 cm

Europe with Cube, 2019, bronze, agenda, 33 x 20 x 16 cm

Argilla con giorno, 2019, clay, 50 x 20 x 20 cm

Square Meter with Holden, Fruits and Person, 2019, polished bronze, fruits, 5 x 100 x 100 cm

Metro di zucchero (90 giorni), 2018, bronze, sachets of sugar, 5 x 104 x 5 cm

Division of a Square (The Artist’s Family), 2018, brushed bronze, wires, 100 x 100 x 3 cm

Marble between 38 Years, 2018, agendas, marble, 22 x 17 x 17,5 cm

Cube – Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish, 2022, Carrara marble, 22,5 x 22,5 x 22,5 cm

Cube – Die Ermittlung by Peter Weiss, 2021, onyx, book, 23 x 23 x 23 cm

Cube – Holzfallen by Thomas Bernhard (A colpi d'ascia), 2017, Moroccan black stone, book, 19,5 x 19,5 x 19,5 cm

In primo piano

999 cm³ of Marble and 1 cm³ of Ash, 2017, Carrara marble, cigar ash, 10 x 10 x 10 cm, ed. 30

Tube (Wall), 2017, white bronze, 213 x ø 9 cm, 207 x ø 10 cm, ed. 3

Block (City), 2017, white bronze, 15 x 2 1 x 23 cm, 15 x 19 x 23 cm (distance 1 km), ed. 3

Ball (House), 2017, white bronze, ø 45 x 23 cm, ø 61 x 21 cm, (distance 20.95 m), ed. 3

Slab (Hand), 2017, white bronze, 29 x 20 x 3 cm each (distance 20 cm), ed. 3

video

Novantatremiliardi di albe
Italy, 2017, 22’
by Domenico Palma – Artecinema Produzioni

catalogue

Francesco Arena was born in Torre Santa Susanna, Brindisi, in 1978 and lives and works in Cassano delle Murge, Bari.
His works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, in both public and private venues: Fondazione Nicola del Roscio, Rome, 2023; Casa di Goethe, Rome, 2022; Palazzo d’Avalos, Procida, 2022; Palazzo Borromeo, Milan, 2022; MAXXI L’Aquila, 2022; Nogueras Blanchard Gallery, Barcelona, 2022; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2021; Museo Madre, Naples, 2021; Kyiv History Museum, Kiev, 2021; Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan, 2021; Metropolitan Museum of Manila, 2020; Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati, Switzerland, 2020; Sprovieri Gallery, London, 2019; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2018; PYFF, Ping Yao, Shanxi, China, 2018; Unlimited, Art Basel, 2017; Frac Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, 2012; Museion, Bolzano, 2012; Monitor, Rome, 2011; Peep Hole, Milan, 2011; Art Statement Art Basel, 2010. In 2022, the artist participated in the Bangkok Art Biennale with the work Daily Stone. In 2013, he took part in the Vice Versa exhibition project for the Italian pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale. In 2014, his work entitled Posatoi became part of the Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu Italian Art collection in Garrison, New York. In 2019, he was one of the winners of the Fifth Edition of the Italian Council promoted by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. Francesco Arena’s works are in major national and international museum collections such as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Philadelphia Art Museum in Philadelphia; the Magazzino Italian Art in Cold Spring (NY); the Castello di Rivoli; the MAXXI Museum in Rome; the Museion in Bolzano; the Madre Museum in Naples, the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. In 2019, Francesco Arena, 5468 days, his monographic catalogue which presents a selection of some sixty of his works realized between 2004 and 2019, was published by Skira. In 2024, he won the prestigious Pino Pascali Prize with the project 30 altalene.
He has been represented by the Studio Trisorio since 2017, where he had the exhibitions Passaggio, 2017 and Otto Angoli, 2021.
Francesco Arena è nato a Torre Santa Susanna, Brindisi, nel 1978, vive e lavora a Cassano delle Murge, Bari.
I suoi lavori sono stati esposti in numerose mostre personali e collettive, in spazi pubblici e privati: Fondazione Nicola del Roscio, Roma, 2023; Casa di Goethe, Roma, 2022; Palazzo d’Avalos, Procida, 2022; Palazzo Borromeo, Milano, 2022; MAXXI L’Aquila, 2022; Nogueras Blanchard Gallery, Barcellona, 2022; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 2021; Museo Madre, Napoli, 2021; Kyiv History Museum, Kiev, 2021; Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milano, 2021; Metropolitan Museum of Manila, 2020; Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati, Lugano, 2020; Sprovieri Gallery, Londra, 2019; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Svizzera, 2018; PYFF, Ping Yao, Shanxi, Cina, 2018; Unlimited, Art Basel, 2017; Frac Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, 2012; Museion, Bolzano, 2012; Monitor, Roma, 2011; Peep Hole, Milano, 2011; Art Statement Art Basel, 2010. Nel 2022 l’artista ha preso parte alla terza edizione della Biennale di Bangkok con l’opera Daily Stone. Nel 2013 ha partecipato al progetto espositivo Vice Versa per il padiglione italiano della 55ª Biennale di Venezia. Nel 2014 la sua opera Posatoi è entrata a far parte della collezione d’arte italiana di Nancy Olnick e Giorgio Spanu, Garrison, New York. Nel 2019 è tra i vincitori della quinta edizione dell’Italian Council promosso dal Ministero dei Beni Culturali. I lavori di Francesco Arena sono nelle collezioni dei più prestigiosi musei nazionali e internazionali: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Philadelphia Art Museum, Philadelphia; Magazzino Italian Art, Cold Spring (NY); Castello di Rivoli; Museo MAXXI, Roma; Museion, Bolzano; Museo Madre, Napoli; Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Napoli. Nel 2019 è stato pubblicato da Skira il catalogo monografico Francesco Arena, 5468 giorni che raccoglie una selezione di circa 60 opere realizzate dal 2004 al 2019. Nel 2024 ha vinto il prestigioso Premio Pino Pascali con il progetto 30 altalene.
Collabora con lo Studio Trisorio dal 2017, dove ha realizzato la mostra Passaggio, 2017 e Otto Angoli, 2021.

exhibitions

In primo piano

Il fulmine governa ogni cosa
September 22 — December 7, 2023
Fondazione Nicola Del Roscio
Rome

Francesco Arena, Gregorio Botta, Marco Tirelli

E la mia Patria è dove l'erba trema
September 20 — November 19, 2023
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea
Rome

La guerra è finita! La pace non è ancora iniziata
April 5 — September 17, 2023
Fondazione Imago Mundi
Treviso

Nasi per l’arte
March 25 — May 21, 2023
curated by Joanna De Vos e Melania Rossi
in collaboration with Fondazione Elena e Claudio Cerasi and Coopculture
Palazzo Merulana
Rome