Marina Gasparini

Italian. Born in 1966 in Gabicce Mare, Italy

Marina Gasparini is an artist working at the intersection of drawing, writing, installation, and conceptual representation. In her practice, objects and space are interwoven into a network of literary and imaginative relationships. Visual emblems and the use of textiles are recurring elements in her work, which ranges from site-specific installations to textile collages, embroidered canvases, and ceramics. In these pieces, iconographies from various eras and cultures are recontextualized into new narratives.

Gasparini draws from a vast archive of symbols—maps, words, and icons—not to validate the artwork itself, but to spark creative mental processes that often lie dormant beneath the surface of assumed meanings. She frequently adopts performative and meticulous manual techniques, particularly those involving textiles, as a way to develop a shared and accessible language. Her work raises questions about time, the body, and the labor embedded in artistic creation.

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

  • Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Germany.

  • Museo della Città di Rimini, Italy.

  • San Carlo Foundation, Modena, Italy.

  • Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece.

  • Museo MAGI’900, Pieve di Cento, Bologna, Italy.

ART FAIRS

2024 Artissima Art Fair, Galleria Mazzoli, Turin, Italy.

2014 Il Mucchio Selvaggio, Set Up Fair, Bologna, Italy.

2013 Arte Fiera Bologna, Corraini Gallery

2011 Arte Fiera Bologna, Corraini Gallery

2010 Arte Fiera Bologna, Corraini Gallery

2009 Arte Fiera Bologna, Corraini Gallery

2008 Arte Fiera Bologna, Corraini Gallery

2007 miart Fair Milan, Vanna Casati Gallery

2005 miart Art Fair Milan, Vanna Casati Gallery

2004 miart Art Fair Milan, Vanna Casati Gallery

1996 Arte Fiera Bologna, Cristofori Gallery

AWARDS

  • Arte Laguna Prize Finalists' Exhibition 16th Edition, Arsenale of Venice, Italy.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024

  • Chora/Exchori, curated by Chiara Albonico, Vertical Gallery, Collegio San Carlo Foundation, Modena, Italy.

2023

  • Sewing the Empire, Linden Museum, Stuttgart, Germany.

  • Nuke Mars, Galleria Mazzoli, Modena.

2022

  • Atlas X, Atelier Lavinia Turra, Bologna, Italy.

2021

  • Transiti, 5 open-air installations, curated by Francesca Baboni and Stefano Taddei, in the territory of Quattro Castella (Reggio Emilia).

2019

  • The Dodder, with Serena Piccinini, Bagni di Mario, Bologna, Italy.

2018

  • Chora Park, curated by Antonella Battilani, San Carlo Foundation, Modena, Italy.

2017

  • From Japan, Abc Art Space, Bologna, Italy.

  • Walk and Words, Mambo Museum Bologna, Italy.

2016

  • The Fox and the Jewels, curated by Sosei Sato, Rino Project Art-space, Shinano-Omachi, Japan.

2014

  • Money is a Common Good, curated by Cristina Stefani, Civic Museum of Modena, Modena, Italy.

2013

  • Open Studio Residency Midwest Studios Art Civic Center, Galesburg, Illinois, USA.

2012

  • Open Residency, Kulttuurikauppila Art Center, Ii Oulu, Finland.

2011

  • Elegia, Galleria Maria Cilena, Milano, Italy; Spaesaggio, Galleria D406, Modena, Italy.

2009

  • Walking Words, Galleria Corraini, Mantova, Italy.

2008

  • Punti di Vista, S-Blu Spaziobello Art Association, Milan, Italy.

2006

  • La muta, Galleria Vanna Casati, Bergamo, Italy.

2005

  • La Muta, Vanna Galleria Casati, Bergamo, Italy.

2004

  • Quaderno Rosa, curated by Maura Pozzati, Gallery 42, Modena, Italy.

2003

  • Librobianco, curated by Valerio Dehò, Galleria Il Fiorile, Bologna, Italy.

2002

  • Dramma Romanzo, curated by D’orazio, Expoart, Villa Serena, Bologna, Italy.

2000

  • Protagoniste, curated by Edoardo Di Mauro, Galleria Il Fiorile, Bologna, Italy.

1998

  • Dis\Up, curated by Silvia Grandi, Zoo Gallery of Contemporary Arts, Bologna, Italy.

1996

  • Je Te Salue Mèmoire, Studio Cristofori Gallery, Bologna, Italy.

1994

  • Windows, curated by Danielle Londei, Italian-French Cultural Association, Bologna, Italy.

1993

  • Il Grimaldello Dello Stile, curated by Dario Trento, Teatri Di Vita, Bologna, Italy.

1990

  • Marchi Registrati, curated by Dario Trento, Il Cassero, Cultural Association, Bologna, Italy.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025

  • Terra Incognita, curated by Mohamed Benhadj, Al-Tiba9 Gallery, Barcelona, Spain.

2024

  • Drawings from Motel, curated by Art Motel, Cassa di Risparmio e Banca Del Monte di Lugo Foundation, Lugo, Italy.

  • L’oro Blu, curated by Leonardo Regano, Museum of Gilded Bronzes and the City of Pergola, Italy.

  • Cantiere, Casa Novella Guerra Association, Imola, Italy.

  • Odradek Residence 10 ans d’asémie, Odradek Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.

2023

  • Drawings from Motel, curated by Art Motel, Palazzo Ratta, Bologna, Italy.

  • Arte Laguna Prize Finalists Exhibition, North Arsenale, Venice, Italy.

  • Utopiche Seduzioni, from new material to recycled art, curated by Matteo Galbiati and Nadia Stefanel, Dino Zoli Foundation, Forlì, Italy.

  • Drawings from Motel, curated by Art Motel, Civic Museum of Gerace,  Reggio Calabria, Italy.

2022

  • Festival Le Printemps Italien, Cayac Priory of Gradignan, Bordeaux, France.

  • Text, Texture, Textile, curated by Simone Shuiten, Odradek Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.

  • The Soft Revolution, curated by Barbara Pavan, Museum of Textiles, Busto Arsizio, Milan, Italy.

  • Epistéme, curated by Marcello Tedesco, Museo Temporaneo Navile, Bologna, Italy.

  • The  Soft Parade, curated by Marcello Tedesco, Rusconi Foundation, Bologna, Italy. 

2021

  • Minima Infinita, Museum Magi’900, Pieve Di Cento, Italy.

  • Epistème, Distinguere Senza Separare (Marina Gasparini, Martina Roberts,  Silvia Vendramel), curated by Marcello Tedesco, Museo Temporaneo Navile, Bologna, Italy.

  • Artistiche, curated by Sandro Malossini, Legislative Assembly of Emilia Romagna Region, Bologna, Italy.

2020

  • Futuro Da Remoto, Rimini Design Biennale Onlune, curated by F.Pozzi, A.M. Bernucci, and M. Pulini.

2019

  • B-Archive, Biennale del Disegno, City Museum of Rimini, Rimini, Italy.

  • Stendale, L’abbraccio delle Muse, Corciano Festival, curated by Gabriele Perretta, Corciano, Perugia, Italy.

  • Ordinestraneo, curated by Leonardo Regano, via Giunizelli, Bologna, Italy.

2018

  • Tutte!, curated by Valeria Tassinari Museum Magi’900, Pieve Di Cento, Italy.

  • No Place4, NOVA Project - Ex Ceramica Vaccari, Santo Stefano Di Magra, Italy.

2017

  • Contaminazioni di Energie, Maria Livia Brunelli Home Gallery, Porto Cervo, Sardinia.

2016

  • TDM 9W Women in Italian Design, Triennale Design Museum, Milan, Italy.

  • 15th International Triennial of Tapestry, Łódź Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź, Poland.

  • Teatro dei Prodigi, Palazzo Poggi Museum, Bologna, Italy

  • Profili del mondo, curated by M.Pulini, M.Paderni, and A. Bigi Iotti, FaBbriCa delle ARTI, Rimini, Italy.

  • Rimini Design Biennale, Cantiere Disegno, curated by Massimo Pulini, City Museum of Rimini, Italy.

2015

  • Bocconi Amari, curated by Francesca Baboni, Stefano Taddei, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Upper Mantua Area, Gazoldo Deggli Ippoliti, Mantua, Italy.

  • Disseminazioni, curated by Gino Giannuizzi and Anteo Redovan, Casabianca Association, Bologna, Italy.

  • Hestia la Dimora, 5 Artiste e Una Divinià, curated by Maura Pozzati, ABC Art Space, Bologna, Italy.

2014

  • Da Una Crepa, curated by Luca Morgani E Gilberto Giovagnoli, Locus Solus Association, Saint-Marin.

  • Il Mucchi Selvaggio, D406 Gallery, Modena, Italy.

2013

  • Non di solo pane, curated by Susanna Vallebona, Spazio Oberdan, Milan, Italy.

  • Il Segno Della Croce, Mies Gallery, Modena, Italy.

  • Tecnomedioevo, curated by M. Pecchioli, Regional Museum of Science, Turin, Italy.

  • Taiteen Maat, Studio Vanna Casati Gallery, Bergamo, Italy.

2012

  • Contextile, Trienal de Arte Têxtil Contemporânea, Museum Casa da Memória, Guimarães, Portugal.

  • Siamo tutti Greci, Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece.

  • Le Visioni Barbariche, curated by Bruno Bandini and Beatrice Buscaroli, Ex Macello, Russi, Italy.

2011

  • Casa Novella Guerra, Art Association, Imola, Italy.

2010

  • Di Filo In Filo, curated by Matteo Galbiati, Studio Tufano 25, Milan, Italy.

  • C’è Una Certa Inclinazione Della Luce, curated by Elisa Biagini, Casa Guidi, Florence, Italy.

  • Piatti, Piattini, Oggetti Comuni Fuori Dal Comune, Corraini Gallery, Mantua, Italy.

  • Please Me Fashion, curated by Isabella Falbo, Palazzo Ducale, Sabbioneta,Iitaly.

  • Global Art Perspectives: Art 2010 Annual Preview Exhibition, curated by NY Arts Magazine, Broadway Gallery, New York City, NY, USA.

2009

  • Works On Paper, The New York Arts Venice Pavilion, Venice, Italy.

2008

  • Miniartextil, Salon de l'Hotel de la Ville, Montrouge, Paris, France.

  • Panorama, Corraini Gallery, Mantua, Italy.

  • Fil Rouge, the Sewing and the Embroidery in the Contemporary Art, Cultural Association Start, Ferrara, and Fortress Museum Of Cento, Italy.

2007

  • Filare il tempo, curated by Luciano Caramel, Ex Chiesa di San Francesco, Como, Italy.

  • Prize of Poetry Antonio Delfini, illustrations in Serie Del Ritorno, poem by Stefano Massari, curated by Emilio Mazzoli, Nanni Balestrini, and Achille Bonito Oliva, edited by Mazzoli Gallery, Modena, Italy.

2006

  • Bau Bau, curated by Marco Mango, Gallery42, Modena, Italy.

  • Macho Free Zone – Safe And The City, Art Festival, Vag 61, Bologna, Italy.

2004

  • Celebration, curated by Louis Benassi, 291 Gallery, London, UK.

  • Benvenuto in Mia Casa, curated by Valentina Costa, Vanna Casati Gallery, Bergamo, Italy.

  • Candidato Disegnato, curated by M. Mango, Gallery 42, Modena, Italy.

  • Intrecciano, Foro Boario, Modena, Italy.

  • Secret Garden, curated by Edoardo Di Mauro, Giardino Del Baraccano, Bologna, Italy.

2003

  • Calendar, Studio Tommaseo Gallery, Trieste, Italy.

2002

  • Selected, Expo Art Villa Serena Art Association, Bologna, Italy.

2001

  • Exit, Neon Gallery, Bologna, Italy.

1999

  • Arte In Apnea Multimediale, curated by Dario Trento, Salara Art Center, Bologna, Italy.

1998

  • Bellaria- A.R.T.E., permanent installation of artworks in Bellaria Hospital in Bologna, Italy.

  • Trash!, Campo Delle Fragole, Bologna, Italy.

1997

  • Under-Over, curated by Fabiola Naldi, Art in the Subway, Bologna, Italy.

1995

  • La Luna, La Stella, La Croce, curated by Rosalba Branà, Palazzo Fizzarotti, Bari, Italy.

1991

  • Emilia. Doc, Italian-French Cultural Association, Bologna, Italy.

1990

  • Via Col Vento, curated by M. Luisa Frisa and D. Trento, Palazzo Re Enzo, Bologna, Italy.

1989

  • Mosaico, Franco Antonicelli Cultural Association, Turin, Italy.

  • Presénce De Douze Artistes Italiens, Conseil Départemental de la Culture, Bordeaux, France.

1988

  • Tendencias, Church of Saint Theresa 'dei Maschi', Bari, Italy.

1987

  • Indagine87, Palazzo Re Enzo, Bologna, Italy.

1986

  • Mosaic, Artist’s Books, Martano Gallery, Turin, Italy.

  • Biennale Del Mediterraneo, Gallery Of Modern Art, Salonicco, Greece.

1985

  • Biennale Giovani, curated by C. Cerritelli, Museum Of Modern Art, Bologna, Italy.

1984

  • Biennale Giovani, curated by C. Cerritelli, Palazzo Delle Esposizioni, Faenza, Italy.

  • Museo e Territorio, Modern Art  Museum, Rimini, Italy.

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