Francesca Pasquali


Francesca Pasquali is an Italian artist. She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in her native Bologna. Pasquali‘s work can be divided into several cycles of work, recognisable by their titles that often refer to the materials used, as with the Straws series. Cut to different lengths, innumerable plastic straws are attached to wooden panels – or more recently to mirror-polished Plexiglas – to create a vibrating surface. In the Frappe series, Pasquali experiments with neoprene, assembling layers oyyf the material into spirals which are then mounted onto wooden panels or metal nets. Works from the Bristles series consist of plastic broom bristles assembled into wooden containers and arranged to form a soft, compact surface.
More recently, the artist has been experimenting with long, uncut, plastic bristles, in particular with the site-specific installation Francesca Pasquali for Salvatore Ferragamo travelling to Milan and London in 2016.
Pasquali’s work is also characterised by a sensitivity to materiality, experimenting with various materials including plastic, marble and bread and the artist often works to commissions, marrying the specificities of her practice with the particularities of the request.
In 2013, alongside several Italian artists and curator Ilaria Bignotti, Francesca Pasquali founded the artistic and cultural movement Resilienza italiana, which aims to further the international debate around sculpture among contemporary and emerging artists.
A finalist of the Cairo Prize in 2015 and the recipient of the second prize at the Henraux Foundation Prize in 2014, Francesca Pasquali has been invited to participate in several major international art fairs such as Art Basel in Miami and Hong Kong, FIAC in Paris, TEFAF in Maastricht, Art First in Bologna and MiArt in Milan.
Her works are housed in important private collections and several public institutions throughout Italy and abroad.
In December 2015, the Francesca Pasquali Archive was founded with the help of Ilaria Bignotti, the scientific director, in order to archive, preserve and promote the artist’s works through different projects with public and private institutions, as well as to present her research through innovative systems of communication.

Solo exhibitions

2016
2015
2014
2013-2014
2012
2011
2010
2016
2015
2014
2013-2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art, London, U.K.
Ghisla Art Collection Foundation, Locarno, Switzerland
ALT Museum, Alzano Bergamasco, Italy
Thetis Foundation, Venice, Italy
Museo Diocesano, Brescia, Italy
MAR Museo d’Arte della Città, Ravenna, Italy

Collaborations

Setole, “Francesca Pasquali for Salvatore Ferragamo”, Salvatore Ferragamo boutique, London, 7 April – 9 June
Setole, “Francesca Pasquali for Salvatore Ferragamo”, Salvatore Ferragamo boutique, Milan, 24 February – 21 March
SCOPAmi for cover of the album by Aaron und Pascal, In front of you, #01, Sorry for this Records, Berlin
Alberi riflessi for Itlas, in collaboration with Archea Associati, Abitare il tempo, Marmomacc 2014, Verona, 30 September – 3 October
Sofia straws, artist’s bag for Salvatore Ferragamo, Milan
Spiderballs for Guru Store, Milan, 1 – 30 June
Marazul for Guru Store, Barcelona, 1 January – 28 February

Catalogues

Per vie diverse, curated by Claudio Spadoni, Magazzini del Sale, Cervia, Grafiche Morandi, Fusignano
FRANCESCA PASQUALI metamorphoses, edited by Tornabuoni Art in collaboration with Francesca Pasquali Archive, texts by Fatoş Üstek, Michael Petry, Matt Williams and Ilaria Bignotti, Tornabuoni Art, London, Forma Edizioni, Florence
Flux-us. Mary Bauermeister, Francesca Pasquali, *fuse, edited by Angela Memola and Pascual Jordan, C.U.BO Centro Unipol, Bologna, C.U.BO Editions, Bologna
Ghisla Art Collection, texts by Luciano Caprile, Pierre Casè, and Annamaria Maggi, Ghisla Art Collection, Vol. I, Fotoearte 2016
Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Antologia scelta, edited by Tornabuoni Arte, Florence
6 opere in marmo dalla Fondazione Henraux, texts by Paolo Carli, Enrico Ciai, and Philippe Daverio, Corte Deloitte, Milan
Francesca Pasquali. Plastic shapes, edited by Tornabuoni Art, texts by Ilaria Bignotti and Gino Pisapia, Tornabuoni Arte Contemporary Art, Florence, Forma Edizioni, Florence
Biennale Giovani Monza 2015, texts by Daniele Astrologo Abadal, Anna Bernardini, Ilaria Bignotti, Francesco Cavallucci, Claudio Cerritelli, and Elio Grazioli, Arengario and other spaces in the city, Monza
White not, text by Chiara Massimiello, Spazio Ersel, Turin
Macrocosmi – Ordnungen anderer Art, Pattern of another order, texts by Martina Cavallarin and Pascual Jordan, Teatri di Vita, Bologna, Altes Postfuhramt West, Berlin
Black. An idea of light, edited by Ilaria Bignotti and Paola Formenti Tavazzani, Cortesi Gallery, Lugano, Mousse Publishing, Milan
Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Antologia scelta, edited by Tornabuoni Arte, Florence
Premio Fondazione Henraux. In memoria di Ermino Cidonio, text by Enrico Mattei, Henraux Foundation, Baldecchi e Vivaldi, Pontedera
Eccentrico Musivo. Young Artists and Mosaic, texts by Linda Kniffitz and Daniele Torcellini, MAR Museo d’Arte della Città, Ravenna, La Greca Arti Grafiche, Ravenna
Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Antologia scelta, texts by Roberto Casamonti and Fabio Migliorati, Tornabuoni Arte, Florence
Resilienza italiana. Dialoghi e riflessioni, edited by Ilaria Bignotti, Francesco Arecco, Giacomo Ghidelli, and Matteo Reale, Mimesis, Milan
The House of Peroni. Volume 3, text by John-Paul Pryor, The House of Peroni, London
Critica in Arte. Francesca Pasquali, edited by Ilaria Bignotti, MAR Museo d’Arte della Città, Ravenna, La Greca Arti Grafiche, Ravenna
Bianco Italia, edited by Dominique Stella, Tornabuoni Art, Paris, Forma Edizioni, Florence
O = dO Equazione Impossible, edited by marte associazione culturale, texts by Daniele Torcellini and others, Galleria Ninapì, MAR Museo d’Arte della Città and Planetary, Ravenna, marte edizioni, Stampa Grafiche Morandi, Ravenna
Francesca Pasquali. A me gli occhi, edited by Ilaria Bignotti, Galleria Colossi Arte Contemporanea, Brescia, ColorArt, Rodengo Saiano
Personal Effect on Sale, edited by Francesco Calzolari and others, Esprit Nouveau Pavillon for Art First Off, Bologna, Danilo Montanari Edizioni, Ravenna
SCOPAmi, texts by Ilaria Bignotti and Denitza Nedkova, Galleria OltreDimore, Bologna
Francesca Pasquali. Mirame, text by Ilaria Bignotti, ColorArt, Rodengo Saiano
A cura di…edited by Ornella Corradini, Associazione GA/ER giovani artisti dell’Emilia Romagna, Bologna
CO.CO.CO. Como Contemporary Contest, text by Laura Cherubini, Assessorato alla Cultura, Como, Banfi, Como
52° Premio Internazionale Bice Bugatti-Giovanni Segantini, texts by Ilaria Bignotti, Matteo Galbiati, and Elisabetta Modena, Accademia Libera di Pittura Vittorio Viviani, Silvia Editrice, Nova Milanese
Il segreto dello sguardo, texts by Ilaria Bignotti, Andrea Dall’Asta S.J., Angela Madesani, and others, Galleria San Fedele, Fondazione San Fedele, Milan
5. Premio Internazionale Arte Laguna, text by Igor Zanti, Grafiche Antiga, Crocetta del Montello
Attraverso lo specchio, edited by Elisabetta Modena, Mirandola, Castello dei Pico