Omar Galliani. Un’Opera per Zeffirelli

28th October – 30th November, Sala della Musica

From the 28th of October to 30th of November 2023 the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation, in collaboration with the artMACS Cultural Association and the Maestro Cultural Association -performing Artists from Zeffirelli Foundation, is pleased to present an Omar Galliani’s installation artwork “An Opera for Zeffirelli”, as a tribute for the centenary of Zeffirelli’s birth.
The work will be hosted in Music Hall of the Zeffirelli Foundation.

Omar Galliani

Omar Galliani was born in Montecchio Emilia (RE) in 1954. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. He was invited to the first International Design Triennial in Nuremberg in 1979. He took part in three Venice Biennale in 1982, 1984 and 1986, and in two Rome Quadrennials, in 1986 and 1996. In 1981 he was present at the São Paulo Biennial in Brazil and the Tokyo Biennial, and in 1982 at the Paris Biennial. In 1998, New York University dedicated a solo exhibition to him.

In 2000 he had his first solo exhibition “Aurea in China” at the Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Art, which was followed in 2003 by an invitation to the first Beijing Biennial, which he won ex aequo with George Baselitz. He then participated in the 2005 Biennial and continued his Chinese tour, visiting the cities of Shanghai, Chengdu, Suzhou, Dalian, Xi’an, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Ningbo. This journey culminated with the 2007 exhibition “Omar Galliani tra Oriente e Occidente” (“between East and West”) at the Querini Stampalia Foundation, Venice, as a special event of the Venice Biennale.

In 2008 the Uffizi Galleries in Florence acquired the triptych “Notturno” for their collections. In 2017, the Director of the Uffizi, Prof. Eike Schmidt, commissioned him to paint a self-portrait for the official collection of the Vasari Corridor. The official presentation of the work was then held in the Vasari Auditorium in October 2018. Also in 2017, the Gallerie d’Italia – Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, Milan, inaugurated his solo exhibition “Intorno a Caravaggio” (“Around Caravaggio”).

In 2018, the GAMeC, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, and the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo invited him to “Raffaello e l’eco del Mito”, (“Raphael and the Echo of the Myth”) in the Monastero delle Clarisse in Grosseto, “Teofanie’”was inaugurated, and in 2019 the CIAC in Foligno presented “Il corpo del Disegno” (“The Body of Drawing”). Also in 2019, Tornabuoni Art in London inaugurated “A symphony in graphite”. The Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation presented “Dipinta – La metis dell’Acqua” (“Painted. The Metis of the Water”).

In 2021, the Tornabuoni Art Gallery opens the exhibition “Baci Rubati/Covid-19” (“Stolen Kisses/Covid-19”), produced during the pandemic year. In the same 2021 The Art Museum Riga Bourse, a section of the Latvian National Museum of Art opens the exhibition “Self-Reflections”, with the collaboration of the Uffizi Galleries. In the last months of the same year, the Museo Marca in Catanzaro hosted the solo exhibition “Omar Galliani. Il disegno non ha tempo” (“Drawing has no time”). In 2022, the Mart in Rovereto invited him to “Giotto e il Novecento” (Giotto and the Twentieth Century’). The museum has also acquired the panel “Riflessi” for its collections.

In 2023, the Galli Theatre and the Part in Rimini presented the work “Per Santa Teresa”. In the same year, Palazzo Reale in Milan inaugurated the monographic exhibition “Omar Galliani. Diacronica. Il tempo sospeso”, curated by Flavio Caroli and Vera Agosti.