Elisa Sighicelli

Elisa Sighicelli (Turin, 1968) She received her B.A. (Honors) in 1995 from Kingston University, London, and her M.F.A. in 1997 from Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London.

Elisa Sighicelli’s work scrutinizes ordinary things, in an attempt to make them intensely ordinary. In her work, images are revealed through light; darkness transforms reality and allows the image to be open and suggestive.

In her work she uses a peculiar and personal technique: she applies photographies on plexiglass slabs and then she backlights them so that only some parts of the image are visible. The result is something that seems like a little theatrical set with dark areas where the light stands out and generate the work of art.

She had her first solo shows at Genillard Gallery, London (1998) and at Gio’ Marconi, Milan (1999). From that moment on she exposed her work in many solo and collective exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Then she started collaborating with Gagosian Gallery, that dedicated many exhibitions to her work. She had solo shows at Belfor, Le Mans, Salamanca, Santiago di Compostela, Gagosian Gallery in Los Angeles, New York, Prague, Siena and a big anthological exhibition at GAM in Turin in 2007. She took part in the XIV Quadriennale in Rome (2005) and LIII Venice Biennial (2009).

Recent solo shows include “Santiago,” Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Spain (2000); Fondation Salomon, France (2003); Fondation pour l’art contemporain Claudine et Jean–Marc Salomon, France (2003); Národní Muzeum, Prague (2004); Palazzo delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea, Italy (2005); and GAM, (Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea), Italy (2007). Sighicelli’s work has been part of numerous group exhibitions including: Hertzliya Museum, Tel Aviv (2001); Palazzo delle Papesse Centro Arte Contemporanea, Italy (2002); Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney (2003); Musée des Beaux–Arts, France (2004); Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, England (2005); Vietnam Museum of Fine Arts, Hanoi (2007); MAMBO, Italy (2008); Site-specific project for the children hospital Regina Margherita, Turin in collaboration with Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (2009); Gagosian Gallery, New York (2010); Gagosian Gallery, Geneva (2013); MOT International, London (2014).