Paolo Maggis / Vanessa Pey
Paolo Maggis
(Milan, 1978) is an Italian artist whose practice is primarily developed through painting. He trained between 1996 and 2000 at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, where he attended Beppe De Valle’s painting course. Upon completing his studies, he began exhibiting his work; in 2005 he moved to Berlin, a decisive experience in the definition of his visual language, and later, in 2008, he settled in Barcelona, where he currently lives and works.
Over the years, his work has been accompanied by numerous monographic publications and catalogues, including Paolo Maggis – Monito(r) (Skira), Paolo Maggis, Cacho a Cacho and In Nodum Coacti (Silvana Editoriale). In 2011, the PAN – Palace of the Arts in Naples presented the monograph Paolo Maggis (Carlo Cambi Editore) on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition, which retraced the first ten years of his career. This was followed by BIONERS – Paolo Maggis, Bigas Luna (2012), curated by Roberta Bosco, and Earth/Stars (2013), a volume documenting one of the central cycles of his production. In 2019, Zel Editore published Close-Up, bringing together works created from 2015 onwards, marked by a progressive dissolution of form and a drive toward abstract visual structures, in which the image oscillates between loss and reconstruction. In 2023, TREMORE was released, documenting a project developed through a series of exhibitions culminating in the homonymous show at the Museo Le Cavallerie of Lugo Castle.
A fundamental role in the development of his research was played by his collaboration with the artist and filmmaker Bigas Luna, with whom Maggis shared a transversal reflection on the language of images.
Alongside his artistic practice, he has developed an intense activity in critical and poetic writing. In 2018, Samuele Editore published his poetry collection Il nome di Dio; he currently co-directs, together with Davide Rondoni, the “Art and Freedom” section for the literary magazine Satisfiction. Since 2020, he has expanded his research into the sound field, initiating the musical and artistic project tHE cRAVING rOOTS, conceived as an open and participatory device. The first album, Indigo, was released in 2022, followed in 2024 by Dried Flowers, published by FDAM Italia. In 2023, within the program Milano è Viva, he created his first scenographic project at the Sforza Castle in Milan for the performance Non potevamo che incontrarci qui, mia danzatrice…, with texts by Davide Rondoni, choreography by Ornella Sberna and the OrmarsLab company, within a practice that intertwines visual arts, word, sound, and space.
Vanessa Pey
(Tarragona, 1973) is a visual artist. Her work is primarily developed through photography and video, with an ongoing investigation into the body, identity, and processes of transformation.
She has held numerous solo exhibitions, including A Second Skin, Centre d’Arts Contemporànies de Tarragona; Mordant, Galeria Antoni Pinyol, Reus; and Implosions, Espai Can Manyé (2024); Intersection, Associazione 21, Lodi (2023) and Espai Privat (2022); Indigo, L&B Gallery, Barcelona (2022); Facing Discontinuity, L&B Gallery, Barcelona (2020); Insektament errants, Galería Juan Naranjo, Barcelona (2018); Desnuar, Convent de les Arts, Alcover (2018); Uccello Trasgressore, Galeria Antoni Pinyol, Reus (2017); La notte scolpita, Tinglado 4 of the Port of Tarragona, SCAN Festival (2016); L’artista del fons, Fundació Vila Casas, Torroella de Montgrí (2016); as well as Párpados del cielo, Samuelis Baumgarte Gallery, Bielefeld (2006); Der Schrei des Myrtes, Galería Metropolitana, Barcelona (2004); Nackt und ewig, Capella de Sant Roc, Valls (2003); Opium, Galería Ferran Cano, Palma de Mallorca (2001); Asche der Zeit, Galería Metropolitana, Barcelona (2000); Säulen der Zärtlichkeit, Antic Ajuntament, Tarragona (2000); and Suspirium, Metrònom, Barcelona (1999).
She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including La Nuu. International Photography Festival of Rubí(2025); Artist’s Contemporan s, Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona (2024); Bind, Centre d’Art Tarragona (2021); Poetic Disruptions, Galería Juan Naranjo, Barcelona (2019); Reunió 1, SantCorneliArts2, Cardedeu (2018); The Little Match Girl, Hans & Fritz Contemporary, Barcelona (2017); Plural femení, Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona (2016); Biennal d’Art Ciutat d’Amposta (2016); Breathing Time, Valls Museum (2013); Regard sur la photographie internationale, Parisud Art Contemporain, Cachan (2005); Breda Photo, Galería Stima, Breda (2003); Fragments. Contemporary Photography Proposal, Sala Alameda, Málaga (2002); XV Encontros da Imagem, Galería Dos Coimbras, Braga (2002); Collective. Mário Sequeira Collection, Mário Sequeira Gallery, Braga (2002); Fragments. Rafael Tous Collection. Photographers. New Generation, Granollers Museum (2000); and Animus, Animas. Fragments. Rafael Tous Collection, Metrònom, Barcelona (1996).
Her work is included in private collections such as the Mário Sequeira Collection, Crespo Collection, Fundació Vila Casas, Juan Redón, and Fundació Rafael Tous d’Art Contemporani, as well as in public collections including the National Collection of Contemporary Art, the Barcelona City Council Art Collection, the Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona, and the Valls Museum.