Nicola Verlato (born February 19, 1965) is an Italian painter, sculptor, architect and musician based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early life and education

Nicola Verlato was born in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

and began painting at a very early age, learning from Fra' Terenzio, a painter in the monastery of Franciscan friars of

Lonigo Lonigo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16,400 inhabitants.Source: ISTAT - Bilancio demografico al 31/12/200 In its ''frazione'' of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani, a Renaissance ...

. He was trained in Classical music and studied lute and composition at the conservatories of Verona and

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

. He studied architecture at University IUAV in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

from 1984 to 1990, though he never completed his degree.

Biography

Early career (1980–2004)

His first serious show was at the age of 15 in the town hall of Lonigo, a 3-person show in collaboration with another 2 artists from the same area. After moving to Venice, he began working for the local aristocracy and the affluent foreigners living in the city. During this period, besides painting, he also worked on almost everything that was connected with drawing: stage design, temporary decorations, illustrations, comics, storyboard etc. In 1995, he won an artist residency at Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa. Around 28 years old, he started to be involved in contemporary art scene, and, consequentially, to show in numerous gallery in Italy and abroad in solo and group shows. In 1996, Verlato moved to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

where he created his well grounded notoriety in Italy. In the same year, he exhibited his work at XII Quadriennale at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome.

United States (2004–present)

In 2004, Verlato relocated from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. While living in New York, he was a professor teaching composition and painting courses at New York Academy of Art. He has shown his paintings, drawings, and sculptures in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and internationally, including the

White Columns White Columns is New York City’s oldest alternative non-profit art space. White Columns is known as a showcase for up-and-coming artists, and is primarily devoted to emerging artists who are not affiliated with galleries. All work submitted is ...

in New York,

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in Arnhem,

Prague Biennale The Prague Biennale is an international art exhibition in Prague, Czech Republic, held in alternate (odd-numbered) years. It was founded in 2003 by Helena Kontova and Giancarlo Politi. It is supported by the Czech Minister of Culture and the City ...

,Prague Biennale
/ref> and an installation exhibited at the 2009

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in the Italian Pavilion. Nicola Verlato creates his works through an articulated process that makes use of classical techniques as well as modern technology such as 3D Modeling programs such as

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

and ZBrush. His work has been defined by Suzanne Hudson as,

"Nicola Verlato retains a kind of classicism that has traditionally implied conservatism, upholding a neorealist style evocative of Old Master painting, which he puts to use in near-apocalyptic, largely allegorical scenes of soldiers and bodies leaping from crashing vehicles. Verlato appropriates the campy, exaggerated violence common to the High Baroque and contemporary video games to comment on the clash of civilizations played out between polytheism and monotheism, and to underline its consequences for representation: cults of idols (figuration) versus prohibitions on graven images (abstraction). This is an important reminder of the different histories of form and the ideologies that underpin them, whose use depends on local context and other factors." ー "Painting Now" by Suzanne Hudson, Thames & Hudson 2015, pg 128-129

Nicola Verlato has shown alongside artists such as

Erwin Olaf Erwin Olaf Springveld (born 2 July 1959), professionally known as Erwin Olaf, is a Dutch photographer from Hilversum. Time magazine described his work as straddling "the worlds of commercial, art and fashion photography at once." Biography ...

Santiago Sierra Santiago Sierra (born 1966) is a Spanish artist, known for performance art and installation art. Much of his work deals with the topic of social inequities. He lives in Madrid. Career Sierra's most well-known works involve hiring laborers to co ...

Shepard Fairey Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the " Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker cam ...

Kehinde Wiley Kehinde Wiley (born February 28, 1977)"Kehinde Wiley"
''Artnet''. Retrieved October 13, 2010. i ...

, Ronald Ophuis, José Lerma,

Mark Ryden Mark Ryden (born January 20, 1963) is an American painter who is considered to be part of the Lowbrow (or Pop Surrealist) art movement.Ken Johnson"Mark Ryden: ‘The Gay 90s: Old Tyme Art Show" ''The New York Times'', May 6, 2010. Retrieved 2013 ...

, and Robert Williams. His works are in the permanent collection at Jack Helgesen collection (Norway), M.A.R.T. Museum (Treno and Rovereto), MUSAC (Castilla and León), ENECO art collection (Netherlands), MUDIMA Foundation (Milan). His work has been published in

Art in America ''Art in America'' is an illustrated monthly, international magazine concentrating on the contemporary art world in the United States, including profiles of artists and genres, updates about art movements, show reviews and event schedules. It i ...

Flash Art ''Flash Art'' is a contemporary art magazine, and an Italian and international publishing house. Originally published bilingually, both in Italian and in English, since 1978 is published in two separate editions, Flash Art Italia (Italian) and Fl ...

Juxtapoz ''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...

, Hi Fructose,

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''N ...

, Artpulse magazine, LoDown Magazine and more.

Publications

NICOLA VERLATO From Verona with Rage

Gingko Press ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within ...

, (2013).
The Figure
New York Academy of Art,

References

External links

Official websiteInterview with Verlato
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verlato, Nicola 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters 20th-century Italian painters 20th-century American male artists Italian male painters 21st-century Italian painters Italian contemporary artists Artists from Verona 1965 births Living people American male painters Italian emigrants to the United States 20th-century Italian male artists 21st-century Italian male artists