Paolo Buggiani (born 9 May 1933)Skyscraper Underground, Ed. Lantana 2017, p. 54 is an Italian contemporary artist. His work is characterized by using dynamic media superimposed on an existing cityscape, rather than using static media, like figures that are skating, sailing, or running while on fire, spray paint on snow, wearable art or painted plexiglass held before an in situ background. His urban performances are aimed at creating an immediate and unexpected interaction with the public on the street.Skyscraper Underground, Ed. Lantana 2017, p. 15Museo Laboratorio d’Arte Contemporanea Rome: Paolo Buggiani retrospective - Beyond Street Art May 22, 2018Trespass, Ed. Taschen 2010, p. 20, p. 26
Early life Paolo Buggiani was born in the small city of Castelfiorentino, Florence, Italy.Made In New York - Keith Haring (Subway Drawings), Carlo Cambi Editore, 2017, p. 13 In the early fifties he moved to Rome, where he studied Contemporary Art.Ordinary World. Andy Warhol, Pietro Psaier And The Factory Artworks / Keith Haring, Paolo Buggiani And The Subway Drawings, Ed. Carlo Cambi Editore 2012, p. 87
Early career
In 1956, he participated in a national competition Incontri della Gioventù where he won first place together with the Italian painter Giuseppe Romagnoni.Ordinary World. Andy Warhol, Pietro Psaier And The Factory Artworks / Keith Haring, Paolo Buggiani And The Subway Drawings, Ed. Carlo Cambi Editore 2012, p. 87 Shortly after, he exhibited at the Rome Quadriennale (1955-1956), participated in an exposition at the Brooklyn Museum in 1957 and was invited to the first Salon des Cent organized by the Brooklyn Museum along with thirty-one other artists of the Roman Avantgarde including Giulio Turcato and Giuseppe Uncini. In June 1957 he had his first solo exposition at the Schneider gallery in Rome curated by Corrado Cagli. He arrived in Paris in 1958, and during his stay, Buggiani met Wifredo Lam who introduced him to the gallery Glasier-Cordiè where he had a solo exhibition.Skyscraper Underground, Ed. Lantana 2017, p. 55
Career In 1962 he moved to New York and in 1968 he received the Guggenheim Fellowship for Sculpture in America with his experiments called the Vacuum Forming System.www.museolaboratorioartecontemporanea.it : Buggiani anni 60 Vacuum forming.pdf Returning to Italy in May 1968, he was active in both Rome and Milan. Buggiani's range of work at the time included: Ephemeral Sculpture in Motion (performance art and installations), Paintings over Reality (landscapes photographed through painted crystal) and Wearable Art (handpainted jumpsuits).Skyscraper Underground, Ed. Lantana 2017, p. 55www.artribune.com : Fra mito e Street Art. Intervista a Paolo Buggiani
In 1977 he created the artwork for the jazz album Threads by Steve Lacy, Frederic Rzewski and Alvin Curran on Italian Horo Records. When he returned to New York in 1979, he started his research on his series named Mechanical Reptiles and Urban Mythology. These burning sculptures in sheet metal placed into the urban environment, like Wall Street or the Brooklyn Bridge,Trespass, Ed. Taschen 2010, p. 20, p. 26 brought him popularity as one of the members of the Street Art Movement of that time together with other New York street artists like, Ken Hiratsuka, Linus Coraggio (all members of a group called the Rivington School), Richard Hambleton, and a young Keith Haring.Keith Haring Subway Drawings E La New York Street Art, Edizioni Gabriele Mazzotta, 1997, p. 6)Museo Laboratorio d’Arte Contemporanea Rome: Paolo Buggiani retrospective - Beyond Street Art May 22, 2018 During his time in New York in 1981-1982, he preserved several early chalk subway drawings from Keith Haring before he rose to fame, an operation documented in several books and expositions.Keith Haring Subway Drawings E La New York Street Art, Edizioni Gabriele Mazzotta, 1997)Made In New York - Keith Haring (Subway Drawings), Carlo Cambi Editore, 2017Skyscraper Underground, Ed. Lantana 2017Paolo Buggiani: l'artista che scoprì la Street Art - Exma October 25, 2017www.arte.it Made In New York - Keith Haring Paolo Buggiani e la vera Origine della Street Art, Cagliari, December 2019 - March 2020www.artemagazine.it Keith Haring e Paolo Buggiani all EXMA di Cagliari
In 2017-2018 he had a retrospective exhibition in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, Italy, curated by Gianluca Marziani.Made In New York - Keith Haring (Subway Drawings), Carlo Cambi Editore, 2017 Also in 2018 he presented a retrospective at the Museo Laboratorio d'Arte Contemporanea (a spinoff from the Sapienza University of Rome, at the Palazzo del Rettorato), collecting his work from the mid-1950s to today.Museo Laboratorio d’Arte Contemporanea Rome: Paolo Buggiani retrospective - Beyond Street Art May 22, 2018
Since 1979 he has been dividing his time between New York and the medieval town of Isola Farnese, near Rome.www.arte.it Made In New York - Keith Haring Paolo Buggiani e la vera Origine della Street Art, Cagliari, December 2019 - March 2020
Film In 2018 he contributed to The Man Who Stole Banksy, a documentary nominated for the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.IMDB link The Man Who Stole Banksy
Awards In 1968 he received the Guggenheim Fellowship for Sculpture in America.
External links
Website www.paolobuggiani.com
References