Bruna Esposito was born in Rome in 1960, where she lives and works. In 1979 she graduated from the IV Liceo Artistico in Rome, where she studied with Carmengloria Morales. In 1980 she attended the Faculty of Architecture at La Sapienza University, Rome, and later studied aerial dance in New York with Batya Zamir. In 1984 she was selected to take part in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s Independent Studio Program. In the late 1980s she moved to West Berlin, where she was awarded two scholarships by IBA Berlin in 1987 and 1988, for the project and feasibility study for Two public biotoilets. She has worked with artists, poets and musicians including Paola d’Agnese, Federico Fusi, David Hammons, Enzo De Leonibus, Stefano Maria Longobardi, Kristine Lovejoy, Progetto Neola, Annie Ratti, Andries van Rossem, Barbel Rothaar, Stalker-Osservatorio Nomade and Penelope Wehrli. Her work draws on numerous material and sensorial elements, such as our sense of smell and hearing, and tends to be made using simple materials and techniques. Her practice includes drawing, photography and collage, as well as sculpture, video, installations, live performance, artistic actions and site-specific projects.
Awards and recognition for her work: in 1999 she was awarded the Golden Lion at the 48 Venice Biennal, for the group female’s Italian Pavilion dAPPERTutto, as well as the Italian Studio Program PS1 Award in New York. In 2000 she was awarded the Premio per la giovane arte italiana, (the Young Italian Artist Prize) by the Centro nazionale per le Arti Contemporanee (National Centre for Contemporary Art) in Rome. In 2011 she was shortlisted for the Italian Chamber of Deputies Award for the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy at the Palazzo Montecitorio in Rome; in 2021 the acquisition award by Premio Termoli.
International biennials / triennial / quadrennial include: XIII Havana Biennial, Cuba (2019); XIII International Biennial of Cuenca, Ecuador (2016); Prospect 1, New Orleans, USA (2008); Rome Quadrennial, Italy (1996 – 2008 – 2020/21); Gwangju Biennial, South Korea (2004); Istanbul Biennial, Turkey (2003); Venice Biennal, Italy (1999 – 2005); Sonsbeek9 in Arnhem, Netherlands (2001); Documenta X in Kassel, Germany (1997).
Solo exhibitions: Con questi chiari di luna, Museo Madre, Napoli, Italia, (2022-2023), Altri Venti – Ostro, Studio Stefania Miscetti, Roma, Italia; MIA, Cold Spring, New York, USA; Bienalsur, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2020-21); ¿Qué puede el humo hacerle al hierro?, MUNTREF, Buenos Aires, Argentina (2020); Perle Rare, Fondazione San Fedele, Milan, Italy (2019); Segnalibro. Quarta vetrina, Libreria delle donne di Milan, Italy; inconveniente, Fondazione Raccolta Cardinale Lercaro, Bologna, Italy; Bruna Esposito. Fiori nel mare, Colégio das Artes da Universidade de Coimbra, Portogallo; Bruna Esposito. e così sia…, MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy (2018); Allegro non troppo, Studio Stefania Miscetti, Rome, Italy (2017); Bruna Esposito. e così sia…, MAXXI Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo, Rome, Italy (2017); davvero, FL Gallery, (WIZARD GALLERY) Milan, Italy (2016); inconveniente, FL Gallery (WIZARD GALLERY), Milan, Italy (2014); Out of the Blue, Olnick Spanu Art Program, Garrison, Usa; Sassi Cantori, Museo d’Arte per Bambini, Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, Italy (2013); Dove è la vittoria, Inner room, Fusi&Fusi, Siena, Italy; In teca, Federico Luger Gallery, Milan, Italy (2011); Compro Oro, Edicola Notte, Rome, Italy (2007); Alla turca, FL Gallery, Milan, Italy (2006); Tulipano Nero, Z33 Hasselt, Belgium (2004); Passiflora, Museolaboratorio Ex Manifattura Tabacchi, Città Sant’Angelo, Italy (2003); Madre Patria, Castel Sant’Elmo, Naples, Italy (2002); Bruna Esposito, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea del Castello di Rivol, Italy (2002).
Selected group exhibitions: Classic Reloaded. Mediterranea, Bardo National Museum, Tunis, Tunisia; Villa Audi Mosaic Museum, Beirut, Lebanon; Villa des Arts, Rabat, Morocco (2018-19); Intuition, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy (2017); The Raft. Art is (not) Lonely, Mu.Zee, Ostend, Belgium (2017); L’altro sguardo. Fotografe italiane 1965-2015, Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy (2016); ArtClub#5, I Giovedì della Villa, Académie de France at Rome, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy (2016); Start up. Quattro agenzie per la produzione del possibile, Fondazione Baruchello, Rome, Italy (2016); Lallazioni. Bruna Esposito e Annie Ratti, Auditorium Parco della musica, Rome, Italy (2015); Au rendez-vous des amis, international convention exhibit, Alberto Burri, birth centenary, Palazzo Vitelli a Santo Egidio, Città di Castello, Italy (2015).
EDUCATION
1979/80 Architecture, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
1980/85 Dance training with Batya Zamir and Sally Gross, New York, U.S.A.
1989/90 CISIM-Mosaic School, Ravenna, Italy
GRANTS
1999 MoMA PS1, New York, U.S.A.
1988 I.B.A. Feasibility studies Two Public Compost Toilets, West Berlin, Germany
1987 I.B.A. Project Two Public Compost Toilets, West Berlin, Germany
1984 Independent Studio Program, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, U.S.A.
Awards
2020 Premio Mibact/divulgazione e acquisizione di Altri Venti – Ostro, Italy
2011 150° Unità d’Italia Celebration – Chamber of Deputies, Montecitorio, Rome, Italy
2010 Premio Terna Terawatt 03, Rome, Italy
2017 Osten Biennal, Osten , Belgium
2016 XIII Bienal de Cuenca – Bienal Internacional de Cuenca, Cuneca, curated by Dan Cameron (forthcoming)
2008 XV Quadrennial of Rome, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy; Something from Nothing, Prospect 1 Biennial, CAC – Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, U.S.A.
2006 Venezia-Istanbul Exhibition, ModernIstanbul, Istanbul, Turkey
2005 51st Venice Biennial, Arsenale Venice, Italy
2004 Gwanjiu Biennial, Gwanjiu, South Korea
2003 Istanbul Biennial, Public Compost Toilet, Istanbul, Turkey
2001 Italian Young Artist, Maxxi National Award, Rome, Italy; Sonsbeek 9, Arnhem, Holland
1999 P.S.1 Italian Studio Program, New York, U.S.A.; Venice Biennial Golden Lion (Italian group pavilion), Venice, Italy
1997 Documenta X , Kassel, Germany
1996 XII Quadrennial of Rome, Rome, Italy
1993 Lyon Biennial, Lyon, France
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022- Con questi chiari di luna, Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina, Naples, Italy
2022- Altri Venti, Ostro, Center of Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
2020 Altri Venti – Ostro, Roma, Italia, Studio Stefania Miscetti
¿Qué puede el humo hacerle al hierro?, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Muntref Centro de arte y naturaleza
2019 Perle Rare, Milan, Italy, Centro San Fedele
2018 Inconveniente, Bologna, Italy, Fondazione Raccolta Cardinale Lercaro
2017 Allegro non troppo, Rome, Italy, Studio Stefania Miscetti; Bruna Esposito. e così sia…, Rome, Italy, MAXXI Museum
2016 Davvero, Milan, Italy, Federico Luger (FL GALLERY)
2014 Inconveniente, Milan, Italy, Federico Luger (FL GALLERY)
2013 Sassi cantori, Siena, Italy, Museo d’arte per bambini Santa Maria della Scala, Tito Sarrocchi’s plaster gallery
Out of the Blue, Garrison, New York (US), Olnick Spanu Art Program, permanent collection
2011 Dove è la vittoria, Siena, Italy, inner room©, Fusi&Fusi
2007 Compro Oro, Rome, Italy, Edicola Notte
2006 Alla turca, Milan, Italy, Federico Luger (FL GALLERY)
2004 Bruna Esposito. Tulipano Nero, Hasselt, Belgium, Z33 House for Contemporary Art
2003 Passiflora – Sala degli attrezzi 2, Città Sant’Angelo, Italy, Museolaboratorio Ex Manifattura Tabacchi, permanent show
2002 Bruna Esposito, Rivoli, Italy, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea; Madre Patria, Naples, Italy, Castel Sant’Elmo
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Tempesta, Wizard Gallery, Milan, Italy
2023
Un presente indicativo, Galleria Nazionale d'arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
2022
Laboratorio 21, Museolaboratorio, Città Sant Angelo, Pe, Italy
2021
Io dico io, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Roma, Italia
2020
Fuori – Quadriennale d’arte 2020 di Roma, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma, Italia
HyperGames, Milan, Italy, Federico Luger (FL GALLERY)
2019
XIII Bienal de La Habana, Rio intermitentes, Matanzas, Cuba
Classic Reloaded. Mediterranea, Villa des Artes de Rabat, Rabat, Marocco
Bruna Esposito, Jorge Peris, Galerie Rolando Anselmi, Berlino, Germania
2018
Segnalibro. Quarta Vetrina, Milan, Italy, Libreria delle donne di Milano
Bruna Esposito, Sergio Sarra, Recanati, Italy, Pio Monti-Idill’io arte contemporanea
Segnalibro. No Man’s Library – La Biblioteca di tutti, Sassari, Italy, Ex Biblioteca Universitaria
L’altro sguardo. Fotografe italiane 1965–2015 dalla Collezione Donata Pizzi, Rome, Italy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Classic Reloaded. Mediterranea, Beirut, Lebanon, Villa Audi Mosaic Museum; Tunis, Tunisia, Bardo National Museum
Bruna Esposito. Fiori nel mare, Coimbra, Portugal, Colégio das Artes da Universidade de Coimbra
2017
Intuition, Venice, Italy, Palazzo Fortuny
The Raft. Art is (not) Lonely, Ostend, Belgium, Mu.ZEE.
2016
Art Club #5, I Giovedì della Villa – Questions d’Arts, Rome, Italy, Académie de France à Rome, Villa Medici
L’altro sguardo. Fotografe italiane 1965–2015 dalla Collezione Donata Pizzi, Milan, Italy, Triennale di Milano
Impermanencia. Mutable Art in a Materialist Society. XIII Bienal de Cuenca, Cuenca, Ecuador, Pumapungo Museum
Start up. Quattro agenzie per la produzione del possibile, Rome, Italy
2015
Light. Luce e leggerezza, Rome, Italy, Pio Monti Arte Contemporanea
iNNatural, Filanda di Pieve a Presciano, Italy, Made in Filandia
Lallazioni. Bruna Esposito e Annie Ratti, Rome, Italy, Auditorium Parco della Musica
La correzione del futuro, Lugano, Switzerland, Galleria Allegra Ravizza
Au rendez-vous des amis, Alberto Burri’s birth centenary, Città di Castello, Italy, Palazzo Vitelli a Sant’Egidio
Masterpieces from the Farnesina Collection. A Glance at Italian Art from the Fifties to the Present Day, Zagreb, Croatia, Museum of contemporary art; Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina, National Gallery of Sarajevo
2014
Camere XX Distance, Rome, Italy, RAM Radioartemobile
Intime conviction. Œuvres de la collection de Giuliana et Tommaso Setari, Vence, France, Fondation Émile Hugues, Château de Villeneuve
La Gioia. Through the eyes of three Italian art collectors, Brussels, Belgium, Maison Particulière art center
2013
Foto di gruppo. Galleria Pieroni, Zerynthia, RAM, 1970 – 2013, Rome, Italy, MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma
Nell’acqua capisco, 55th Venice Biennale, collateral event, Venice, Italy, Ateneo Veneto, Procuratie Vecchie
2012
La pelle che abito, Milan, Italy, Gallery Pack
Promemoria, Rome, Italy, RAM
Acting Out, Rome, Italy, MAXXI Museum
Retour à l’intime. La collection Giuliana et Tommaso Setari, Paris, France, La Maison Rouge
Ritratto di una città. Arte a Roma 1960 – 2001, Rome, Italy, MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma
Nessuno e niente scompaia, Rome, Italy, 1/9 unosunove arte contemporanea
2011
Traveling Companions, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljane
After, Rome, Italy, La Nuova Pesa
Passato/Presente, Genazzano, Italy, CIAC Centro Internazionale per l’Arte Contemporanea, Castello Colonna
Bruna Esposito, Lorenza Boisi, Milan, Italy, Federico Luger (FL GALLERY)
Nel Frattempo, Valeggio sul Mincio, Italy, Ex Mercato della frutta
Le scosse dell’arte per riabitare e guarire, L’Aquila, Italy, MU.SP.A.C
Premio Camera dei Deputati per il 150° anniversario dell’Unità d’Italia, Rome, Italy, Palazzo Montecitorio
2010
Frozen–In Tension, Munich, Germany, Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung
Spazio. Dalle collezioni di arte e architettura del MAXXI, Rome, Italy, MAXXI Museum
Trasparenze. L’Arte per le Energie Rinnovabili, Rome, Italy, MACRO Testaccio; Naples, Italy, Madre Museum
Deliverance, Siena, Italy, inner room
La scultura italiana del XXI secolo, Milan, Italy, Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro
Terre Vulnerabili. A Growing Exhibition, Milan, Italy, Hangar Bicocca
2009
Assenze/presenze 01. Il grande grido, Florence, Italy, Museo Marino Marini
Interior, Rome, Italy, La Nuova Pesa
Italics. Italian Art between Tradition and Revolution 1968–2008, Chicago, USA, Museum of Contemporary Art
2008
Mahrem. Footnotes on Veiling, Vienna, Austria, Kunsthalle Wien Project Space; Berlin, Germany, Tanas-Edition Block
Una storia private. Fotografia e arte contemporanea nella collezione Cotroneo, Rome, Italy, Museo Carlo Bilotti
15a Quadriennale d’Arte di Roma, Rome, Italy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni
Italics. Arte italiana fra tradizione e rivoluzione, 1968–2008, Venice, Italy, Palazzo Grassi
Something from Nothing. Prospect 1-New Orleans Biennial, New Orleans, USA, CAC-Contemporary Arts Center
Acromatica, Rome, Italy, Galleria Edieuropa
2007
Bagaglio da viaggio 2. Appunti da un luogo, Conde Duque, Spain, medialabmadrid
Vado fuori all’aperto, Vetriolo, Italy, Hortus Unicorni
Frail, Rome, Italy, Hyunnart studio
Mahrem. Footnotes on Veiling, Istanbul, Turkey, Santralistanbul, Bilgi University
Below the Light, Milan, Italy, Federico Luger (FL GALLERY)
Falso Movimento, Genazzano, Italy, Ciac, Castello Colonna
2006
Eco Oltremonte, Bregenz, Austria, Magazin4 Kunstverein
Manifesto Bianco by Emilio Prini and Sound Pieces (by…), New York, U.S.A., Diapason
Une Histoire Privée. La photographie italienne dans la collection Anna Rosa et Giovanni Cotroneo, Paris, France, Maison européene de la Photographie
Todi Arte Festival, Todi, Italy, Convento delle Lucrezie
Venice-Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art
2005
Inaudita, Rome, Italy, RAM
Always a Little Further. 51st International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, Arsenale
Egnatia, un percorso di memorie disperse, Cursi, Italy
In Finito, Città Sant’Angelo, Italy, Museolaboratorio Ex Manifattura Tabacchi
Accumulazioni. Editing, Gorizia, Italy, Palazzo Lantieri
2004
Sound and Vision, Wijnegem, Belgium, Axel Vervoordt Kanaal
Artiste in Italia nel ventesimo secolo, Florence, Italy, Palazzo Mediceo
A Grain of Dust, A Drop of Water. Gwangju Biennial, Gwangju (South Korea), Joong Oe Park
Scegliere un oggetto scegliere una parola e raccontare perché, Rome, Italy, Fondazione Baruchello
Public art commisions
2015 Ponte a sonagli, Bridge of Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy, installation for the candidature Unesco heritage, promoted by Lazio Region
2009 Il vecchio e il bambino, Gualdo Tadino, Italy, permanent work, Triennale della ceramica d’arte contemporanea di Gualdo Tadino
2007 Integrated art works, Antwerpen, Belgium, Jan Fabre Foundation
2006 Neburose, Carrara, Italy, Civic Hospital, Oncological Department
1985 Picobello-Kunst aus den Zwischen Räumen, West Berlin, West Germany, Oranienstrasse 44, permanent work, produced by IBA Internationale Bauausstellung Berlin GmbH, Berlin
Public and private collections
Alexander Tutsek – Stiftung, Munich, Germany; Anna Rosa and Giovanni Cotroneo, Rome-Naples; Claudia Gianferrari, Milan; Dena Foundation, Paris; Colaceci, Rome; Jan Fabre Foundation, Antwerpen, Belgium; Ram radioartemobile, Rome; Simona Marchini, Rome; Zerynthia, Rome; Koch Foundation, Istanbul; Fondazione Maxxi, Rome; Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Castello di Rivoli, Rivoli (Turin); – S.M.A.K., Gent; Olnick Spanu Art Program, U.S.A.