Bea Bonafini

Bea Bonafini (b. 1990, Bonn) is an interdisciplinary artist based between London and Barcelona. Through painting, tapestry, ceramics and drawing, she delves into the intersection of humanity with other forms of existence. Her interests are in the cyclical nature of materials and symbols as well as the revival of cross-cultural mythologies and their contemporary and personal reconfigurations. She is also interested in the emotional landscape of colour. Recently, her research has focused on Mediterranean narratives related to symbolism, collaboration, hybridity and movement.

Bonafini’s works act as transcendental openings, presenting swirling, fragmented and multi-layered scenarios that are both optimistic and tender. Expanding and contracting from the monumental to the intimate, her pieces become protected spheres, serving as receptacles for a lost spirituality. Strongly influenced by archaeology and literature, her work celebrates new and unexpected combinations and juxtapositions, where boundaries and identities co-exist and fuse.

Bea Bonafini graduated from MA painting from the Royal College of Art in London (2016) and BA Fine Art from the Slade School of Fine Art in London (2014). She was artist-in-residence at the Art Explora Mediterranean Project (2024) and the British School at Rome (2020); commissions include site-specific works for Manifesta 15, Spain (2024); ALA Prize, Italy (2023); Artocène Biennial, France (2023); Palazzo Abatellis, Italy (2022); Meta HQ, UK (2022); La Berlugane-Maleki residence, France; Maison Estelle, UK (2018); and Jonköping Council, Sweden (2018).

Recent solo exhibitions: Acque Amare, ALA Art Foundation (2023); Il Chiostro Animato, Museo di Roma in Trastevere, Rome (2022); A Monstrous Fruit, Setareh, Berlin (2022); Animals Of Your Lips, Bosse & Baum, London (2022); Unearthly, Nosbaum Reding, Luxembourg (2022); Ghosts for a Post-Modern Tale, LAAA, Mexico City (2022); Luna Piena (Stomaco Vuoto), Renata Fabbri, Milan (2021); Sfiorare Fantasmi, Eduardo Secci, Florence (2021); Twin Waves, Operativa, Rome (2019); Chimère, Chloe Salgado, Paris (2018); Shed Shreds, Lychee One, London (2018); and Dovetail’s Nest, Zabludowicz Collection, London (2017).

Recent group exhibitions: Diario Notturno, MAXXI, L’Aquila (2023); Italian Painting Today, Triennale Milano (2023); Imagina, Biennale di Gubbio (2023); Horizon of the Void, Artocène, Chamonix (2023); Coppa di Stelle nel Cerchio del Sole, Palazzo Abatellis Museum, Palermo (2022); Fondazione per l’Arte, Rome (2022); Kristen Hjellegjerde, London (2022); The Artsy Vanguard Fourth Edition, Miami (2021); Fondazione Sandretto, Guarene (2020); Premio Cairo, Palazzo Reale Milan (2019); and Memories Arrested in Space, The Italian Cultural Institute, London (2018).

Recent solo exhibitions: Acque Amare, ALA Art Foundation (2023); Il Chiostro Animato, Museo di Roma in Trastevere, Rome (2022); A Monstrous Fruit, Setareh, Berlin (2022); Animals Of Your Lips, Bosse & Baum, London (2022); Unearthly, Nosbaum Reding, Luxembourg (2022); Ghosts for a Post-Modern Tale, LAAA, Mexico City (2022); Luna Piena (Stomaco Vuoto), Renata Fabbri, Milan (2021); Sfiorare Fantasmi, Eduardo Secci, Florence (2021); Twin Waves, Operativa, Rome (2019); Chimère, Chloe Salgado, Paris (2018); Shed Shreds, Lychee One, London (2018); and Dovetail’s Nest, Zabludowicz Collection, London (2017).

Recent group exhibitions: Diario Notturno, MAXXI, L’Aquila (2023); Italian Painting Today, Triennale Milano (2023); Imagina, Biennale di Gubbio (2023); Horizon of the Void, Artocène, Chamonix (2023); Coppa di Stelle nel Cerchio del Sole, Palazzo Abatellis Museum, Palermo (2022); Fondazione per l’Arte, Rome (2022); Kristen Hjellegjerde, London (2022); The Artsy Vanguard Fourth Edition, Miami (2021); Fondazione Sandretto, Guarene (2020); Premio Cairo, Palazzo Reale Milan (2019); and Memories Arrested in Space, The Italian Cultural Institute, London (2018).