Francesco Vezzoli

Francesco Vezzoli's art delves into the influence of today's popular culture. Through meticulous emulation of diverse media formats like advertising and film, he engages with enduring concerns about the inherent ambiguity of truth, the captivating influence of language, and the unpredictability of human identity. Vezzoli's creative endeavors span across different media, encompassing embroidery and video.

Biography of Francesco Vezzoli

Francesco Vezzoli, born in 1971 in Brescia, Italy, obtained a BFA from the Central Saint Martins School of Art in London in 1995. He initially embraced embroidery, an art form considered outdated, as a response to the London art scene of the mid-1990s, which shaped his artistic education.

In his early pieces from 1994 to 1996, Vezzoli reimagined works by Mark Rothko and Josef Albers as small-scale hand-stitched petit point embroideries.

After returning to Italy, Vezzoli produced his initial series of films titled "An Embroidered Trilogy" (1997–99), featuring the artist as the passive embroiderer, seemingly unaffected by the emotional melodramas enacted by renowned divas around him. Starting in 1999, Vezzoli developed his distinctive canvases, integrating laser-printed images of iconic actresses, models, and singers, which he then embellished with metallic threads to depict tears or blood.

Three of Vezzoli's pieces have been chosen for display at the Venice Biennale. Notable among these is "Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula," conceived as a speculative redo of the adult film "I, Caligula" by Tinto Brass. The trailer starred Milla Jovovich, Benicio Del Toro, and Courtney Love, among others. 

The following year, Vezzoli presented "Democrazy," a film centered on a satirical United States presidential election campaign. Sharon Stone and Bernard-Henri Levy portrayed the candidates in this work. Vezzoli is recognized as an explorer of pop culture myths, often incorporating pop icons and screen celebrities, reminiscent of Andy Warhol.

Vezzoli's art has been exhibited globally, with showcases at prestigious venues such as the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and the National Gallery of Jeu de Paume in Paris. Presently, he lives in Milan, Italy.