MASSIMO VITALI
Massimo Vitali was born in Como, Italy, in 1944.
He studied photography at the London College of Printing, in the 1970s initially working as a photojournalist, but at the beginning of the 80s a growing mistrust in the belief, that photography had an absolute capacity to reproduce the subtleties of reality, led to a change in his career path. He worked in cinematography for film and television before beginning a fine art practice in 1995.
Over the next two decades, Vitali’s large scale works would become recognizable for his highly detailed sociopolitical observations of the natural habitat of humankind at leisure.
His iconic series of beach panoramas, captured from a distance with an elevated large format camera platform, began in the light of drastic political changes in Italy. Drawing inspiration from Renaissance and Old Flemish masters, in which the central space is fully exploited and the urban or natural landscape becomes the background, Vitali’s photographs grasp the viewer by capturing highly detailed observances of humanity’s coastal habitats in the bright light of summer.
Vitali’s work has been collected in six monographs: Beach and Disco, Natural Habitats, Landscapes With Figures, Swimming Pools, Short Stories and the just published Entering A New World.
Additionally, his work is represented in the world’s major museums, including the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, the Fond National Art Contemporaine in Paris, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, the Fondation Cartier in Paris and the Museo Luigi Pecci in Prato.
Massimo Vitali lives and works in Lucca (Italy) and in Berlin (Germany).
Please contact us for artwork pricing and current inventory of available limited edition works
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Human Constellations
Museo Ettore Fico, Turin
2019
Massimo Vitali: Short Stories
Mazzoleni, London
2018
Coastal Colonies
Spiral, Tokyo
2017
‘Disturbed Coastal Systems’
Benrubi Gallery (New York, USA)
2016
‘Landscapes with Figures’
Guido & Schoen Arte Contemponania (Genoa, Italy)
‘Massimo Vitali’
Crown Gallery (Knokke-Zoute, Belgium)
‘Massimo Vitali’
Ronchini Gallery (London, UK)
2015
‘New Prints’
Hilger Next (Vienna, Austria
2014
‘Massimo Vitali’
Studio La Citta (Verona, Italy)
‘Into The White’
Erich Lindenberg Art Foundation (Porza, Switzerland)
‘Sempre più pallide. Towards Achrome’
Palazzo Tadea (Spilimbergo, Italy)
2013
‘Between Normalities’
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (New York, USA)
2012
‘Fotografia Europea’
Reggio Emilia, Italy
‘PhotoMed’
Sanary Sur Mer, France
2011
‘Arcadian Remains’
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (New York, USA)
2011
‘Massimo Vitali’
Brancolini Grimaldi (Florence, Italy & London, UK)
‘Massimo Vitali’
Baro Galeria (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
‘Massimo Vital, Natural Habitats LOOK 3’
Festival of the Photographers (Charlottesville, USA)
2010
‘A Touch of Summer’
Galerie Ernst Hilger at Brot Kunsthalle (Vienna, Austria)
‘Massimo Vitali’
M&B Gallery (Los Angeles, USA)
‘In/Out’
Centro de Arte Santa Monica (Barcelona, Spain)
2009
‘Massimo Vitali: Landscape with Figures 2’
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (New York, USA)
‘Human Landscapes’
Dogenhaus Galerie’ (Leipzig, Germany)
‘Disturbances of Reality
Hilger Contemporary (Vienna, Austria)
‘Massimo Vitali’
FOAM Museum (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
‘Vintage Green’
Core Club (New York, USA)
2008
‘Massimo Vitali’
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (New York, USA)
‘Massimo Vitali with Mike Figgis: Piazza di Spagna’
Somerset House (London, UK)
‘Massimo Vitali’
Galeria Senda (Barcelona, Spain)
‘New Photographs: Massimo Vitali’
Crown Gallery (Brussels, Belgium)
‘Massimo Vitali’
M&B Fine Art (Los Angeles, USA)
2007
‘Vistas: Massimo Vitali’
ArtCore Gallery (Toronto, Canada)
‘Massimo Vitali
Jackson Fine Art (Atlanta, USA)
‘Old Concepts, New Works’
The Columns (Seoul, South Korea)
2006
‘Massimo Vitali: New Work’
MBFA (Los Angeles, USA)
‘Massimo Vitali’
Hilger Contemporary (Vienna, Austria)
‘Massimo Vitali’
M&B Gallery (Los Angeles, USA)
‘A New Series of American Beaches’
Brancolini Grimaldi Art Contemporanea (Rome, Italy)
‘Playa, Discotecas y Supermercados’
Galeria Senda (Barcelona, Spain)
Rencontres Internationales de la Photo
Arles, France
2005
‘Massimo Vitali: New Work’
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (New York, USA)
‘Fotografien 1995 - 2005: Vitali’
Lentos Kunstmuseum (Linz, Austria)
‘Massimo Vitali’
La Fabrica (Madrid, Spain)
2004
‘Massimo Vitali’
Aula de Cultura BBK (Bilbao, Spain)
‘Massimo Vitali’
Centro per L’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecca (Prato, Italy)
‘Massimo Vitali’
Galerie Hilger (Vienna, Austria)
‘Landscape with Figures’
Bonni Benrubi Gallery (New York, USA)
‘In Light’
MB Fine Art (Los Angeles, USA)
2003
‘La Cour d’Ecole’
Cinametique de Corse (Porto Vecchio, Italy)
‘La Cour d’Ecole’
Cite Pietramarina (Ville di Pietrabugno, France)
2002
‘Public Places Public Lives’
The Photographers Gallery (London, UK)
2001
‘La Cour d’Ecole’
Centre Cultural Una Volta (Bastia, Corsica)
1999
Rencontres Internationales de La Photo
Arles, France
1995
‘Spiagge Italiane’
Galerie ConsArc (Chiasso, Switzerland)
1994
‘East German Panoramas’
Historisches Archiv der Stadt Koeln (Cologne, Germany)
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
2019
Electro. From Kraftwerk to Laurent Garnier
Philarmonie de Paris
Civilization: the way we live now
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
+ National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
L’Italia dei fotografi. 24 storie d’autore
M9 Museo del’900, Venezia
2018
Civilization: the way we live now
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
2017
From the Cavern to the Moon
Centro Pecci, Prato
La Sono Persona
Centro Internazionale di Fotografia (Palermo, Italy)
‘Contemporary Life’
Guidi Schoen Contemporenea (Geneva, Italy)
‘Domenica’
Marcello Farabegoli Projects @ The Italian Embassy Metternich Palace (Vienna, Austria)
‘Due South’
The Delaware Contemporary (Delaware, USA)
2016
‘Panorama’
Musée d’Art de la Province d’Hainaut (Charleroi, Belgium)
‘Extraordinary Visions’
L’Italiaci Guarda, MAXXI (Rome, Italy)
2015
‘Com’è Viva la Città 1913-2014’
Villa Omo e Como (Como, Italy)
‘Antropia’
Eduardo Secci Contemporary (Firenzi, Italy)
‘Photo London’
Somerset House (London, UK)
2014
‘Miami Projects’
Benrubi Gallery (Miami, USA)
‘Paris Photo’
Grand Palais (Paris, France)
‘De Rerum Natura’
Studio La City (Verona, Italy)
2013
‘Birds Eye View’
Westport Arts Center (Westport, USA)
Looking to Learn/ Learning to Look’
25 Years of Galleria Clairefontaine (Luxembourg)
2012
‘L’insouciance’
La Maison Guerlain (Paris, France)
‘Summer Show’
Bracolini Grimaldi (London, UK)
‘Add Anni ’70 Arte A Milano 1969-1980
Palazzo Reale (Milan, Italy)
‘The Deep Element: Photography at The Beach’
Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, USA)
‘Shared Spaces’
Photo Espana, Royal Botanical Gardens (Madrid, Spain)
2011
‘Panorama Sur Les 20 ans d’une Collection Centre Mediterranean de la Photographie’
Corsica, France
2010
‘Il Paesaggio Italiano in Fotografia, 1950-2000’
CRAF (Pordenone, Italy)
‘Human Rites’
Bass Museum (Florida, USA)
‘The Definition of Self’
Design Sight (Tokyo, Japan)
2009
‘Kalidoscope d’Italie’
Centre National de l’Audiovisual’ (Luxembourg)
‘Italian Genius Now’
Museo D’Arte Contemporanea (Rome, Italy)
‘Nature Nation’
Museum of the Seam (Jerusalem, Israel)
2008
‘The Good Life’
Yancey Richardson Gallery (New York, USA)
‘Human/Nature: Recent European Photography
Nelson-Atkins Museum (Kansas City, USA)
2007
‘Summer’
Neuhoff Edelman Gallery (New York, USA)
‘The Painters of Modern Day Life’
Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris, France)
2006
‘Aura of The Photograph’
The Samuel P Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida (Gainsville, USA)
‘London UBS Collection’
Tate Modern (London, UK)
‘The Age of Metamorphosis, European Art Highlights’
Centro Pecci (Prato, Italy)
‘Image d’un Territoire’
Centre Cultural Français des Damas (Syria)
‘Different Realities’
Crown Gallery (Brussels, Belgium)
‘Image d’un Territoire’
Les Chateau d’Eau (Toulouse, France)
2005
‘Europe in Art’
National Museum of Contemporary Art (Buccarest, Romania)
‘Come la Neve al Mare’
Guidi & Schoen (Genova, Italy)
2003
‘Vacant Communities’
Fondazione Adriano Olivetti (Rome, Italy)
‘L’idea di Paesaggio Nella Fotografia Italiana dal 1850’
Galleria Civica (Modena, Italy)
‘Melting Pop’
Palazzo delle Papesse Centro d’Arte Contemporanea (Siena, Italy)
‘Painting Pictures’
Kunstmuseum (Wolfsburg, Germany)