Bio
Giuliana Rosso (b. 1992) lives and works in Turin, Italy.
Her practice develops through painting, drawing, sculpture, and installation, with painting understood as a space in which image, architecture, and perception enter into a hybridizing relationship. Her research investigates what emerges when perception and verbal language are destabilized, making visible emotional states, impulses, and forms of non-rational knowledge. Her work takes shape around subjects and environments in which the psychological dimension manifests itself as a material experience, continuously questioning the boundary between reality and imagination.
Within her research, the figure of the adolescent often recurs, not as an object of interest in itself, but as an emblem through which to investigate a psychological and emotional condition of human experience, revealing the social transformations that are shaping the present.
Rosso constructs images and environments in which the boundary between inner experience and material reality remains constantly permeable: fear, desire, shame, aggression, and loneliness take shape through presences, metamorphoses, and apparitions, bringing to the surface what normally remains repressed, inexpressible, or invisible. Her characters inhabit a space in which the logic of everyday life is interrupted and the imaginary manifests itself as a concrete experience. Her works thus question the distinctions between memory and hallucination, intimacy and space, reality and perception, opening up a reflection on the unstable forms through which experience takes shape.
Alongside oil painting, Rosso uses graphite, charcoal, chalk, papier-mâché, and ephemeral or perishable supports, extending the language of painting beyond the surface of the canvas through wall interventions, installations, and sculptures.
Drawing on texts from psychology and literature, as well as on painting from the past, her research intertwines anatomies and references to art history with the Neon Ooze aesthetic of youth culture and toys from the 1990s and early 2000s: artificial color palettes and digital imagery coexist with iconographic references derived from the art of the past, generating images suspended between familiarity and the uncanny, which resist both narrative and allegory.
Her drawings, often made on kraft paper, a material traditionally used in the preparation of frescoes, occupy corners, margins, and peripheral areas of architectural spaces, transforming normally overlooked areas into psychological surfaces on which memory, imagination, and fear can temporarily acquire form.
Her sculptures, modeled in papier-mâché and found materials, translate the layered logic of painting into three-dimensional space. An interest in reuse and circularity informs the creation of works conceived as forms of augmented reality through humble and reclaimed materials. In these works, the fragility of matter becomes an integral part of the creative process: the artwork manifests itself as an unstable organism, continuously suspended between permanence and dissolution.
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Giuliana Rosso (b. 1992) vive e lavora a Torino, Italia.
La sua pratica si sviluppa attraverso pittura, disegno, scultura e installazione, assumendo la pittura come uno spazio in cui immagine, architettura e percezione entrano in una relazione ibridante. La sua ricerca indaga ciò che emerge quando si destabilizzano percezione e linguaggio verbale rendendo visibili stati emotivi, impulsi e forme di conoscenza non razionali. Il suo lavoro prende forma attorno a soggetti e ambienti in cui la dimensione psicologica si manifesta come esperienza materiale, mettendo continuamente in discussione il confine tra realtà e immaginazione.
All’interno della sua ricerca ricorre spesso la figura dell’adolescente, non come oggetto di interesse in sé, ma come emblema attraverso cui indagare una condizione psichica ed emotiva dell’esperienza umana, rivelatrice delle trasformazioni sociali che stanno attraversando il presente.
Rosso costruisce immagini e ambienti in cui il confine tra esperienza interiore e realtà materiale rimane costantemente permeabile: paura, desiderio, vergogna, aggressività e solitudine prendono forma attraverso presenze, metamorfosi e apparizioni, facendo emergere ciò che normalmente rimane represso, inesprimibile o invisibile. I suoi personaggi abitano uno spazio in cui la logica del quotidiano viene interrotta e l’immaginario si manifesta come esperienza concreta. Le sue opere mettono così in discussione le distinzioni tra memoria e allucinazione, intimità e spazio, realtà e percezione, aprendo una riflessione sulle forme instabili attraverso cui l’esperienza prende corpo.
Accanto alla pittura ad olio, Rosso utilizza grafite, carboncino, gessetti, cartapesta e supporti effimeri o deperibili, estendendo il linguaggio pittorico oltre la superficie del quadro attraverso interventi murali, installazioni e sculture.
Attingendo a testi di psicologia, letteratura e alla pittura del passato, la sua ricerca intreccia anatomie e richiami alla storia dell’arte e all’estetica Neon Ooze della cultura giovanile e dei giocattoli degli anni Novanta e dei primi Duemila: cromie artificiali e immaginari digitali convivono con riferimenti iconografici derivanti dall’arte del passato, generando immagini sospese tra familiarità e perturbante, che resistono tanto alla narrazione quanto all’allegoria.
I disegni, spesso realizzati su carta da spolvero, materiale tradizionalmente impiegato nella preparazione degli affreschi, occupano angoli, margini e zone periferiche delle architetture trasformando spazi normalmente trascurati in superfici psichiche su cui memoria, immaginazione e paura possono temporaneamente acquisire forma.
Le sculture, modellate in cartapesta e materiali di recupero, traducono nello spazio tridimensionale la logica stratificata della pittura. L’interesse per i temi del riuso e della circolarità orienta la realizzazione di opere concepite come forme di realtà aumentata attraverso materiali poveri e di recupero. In questi lavori la fragilità della materia diventa parte integrante del processo creativo: l’opera si manifesta come un organismo instabile, continuamente sospeso tra permanenza e dissoluzione.
CV
Solo and duo exhibitions
2025
The Hoverers, curated by Caterina Avataneo & La Tolerie, Clermont-Ferrand, France. https://latolerie.fr/plateaux/plateau-15
2023
Bored Bones, curated by Treti Galaxie, The Address, Brescia, Italy.
https://www.tretigalaxie.com/collaboration/giuliana-rosso-bored-bones
2022
-Noble Experiment, Massimo, Milan, Italy.
https://massimomassimomassimo.com/projects/noble-experiment
2021
But I doubt, I tremble, I see (shaking edges and) the wild thorn tree, Giuliana Rosso & Rory Pilgrim,
curated by Caterina Avataneo. A project by Open Space (London) & Pina (Vienna), Supported by Q. International
https://pinavienna.eu/exhibitions/but-i-doubt-i-tremble-i-see-shaking-edges-and-the-wild-thorn-tree
2019
-He Heard With His Dead Ear, Almanac Inn, Turin, Italy.
https://almanacprojects.com/exhibitions/giuliana-rosso-he-heard-with-his-dead-ear
-Soltanto ora, perdute, mi diventano vere, curated by Treti Galaxie hosted by VEDA, Florence, Italy.
2018
-A Creepy and Holy Jingle, curated by Bite the Saurus hosted by La Casaforte S.B, Naples. Italy.
-Chi non può dormire di notte, Spaziobuonasera, Turin, Italy.
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2025
-Premio Lissone 2025, curated by Hanne Mugaas, Stefano Raimondi, Lorenzo Balbi, MAC- Museo d’arte Contemporanea, Lissone, Italy.
https://www.comune.lissone.mb.it/vivere-il-comune/eventi/mac-premio-lissone-2025/
-Le ferite di Torino, curated by Spazio Taverna, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy.
https://fsrr.org/evento/le-ferite-di-torino-come-larte-puo-ricucire-la-storia/
-Brucia brucia brucia!, curated by Specific, BiM, Milan, Italy.
https://www.moussemagazine.it/magazine/brucia-brucia-brucia-bim-milano-2025/
2024
-Black Bile and Sunflowers, The Address, Brescia, Italy.
https://theaddressgallery.com/exhibitions-black-bile-and-sunflowers/
-Diorama, Generation Earth, curated by Chiara Gatti and Elisabetta Masala, MAN, Nuoro, Italy.
https://www.museoman.it/event/diorama-generation-earth/
-Alde, curated by Giacomo Galletti, Sonnenstube Off-Space, Lugano, Switzerland.
https://diesonnenstube.ch/events/alde
2023
-Sensing Painting. Opere dalla collezione d’arte della fondazione CRC, curated by Carolyn Christov- Bakargiev and Marcella Beccaria, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli – Turin, Italy.
-Pittura italiana oggi, curated by Damiano Gullì, Triennale Milano, Milan , Italy.
https://triennale.org/eventi/pittura-italiana
-Compulsive Desires- on Lithium Extraction and Rebellious Mountains, curated by Marina Otero, Galleria Municipal do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
2022
-Fragile Soil, Fertile Souls, curated by Giulia Colletti and BJCEM, United Nations System Staff College, Turin, Italy.
https://www.unssc.org/fragile-soil-fertile-souls
-La Collezione Impermanente#3.0, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy.
-Break-In. Temporal Displacement, curated by Arnold Braho, The Address , Brescia, Italy.
2021
-Pittura in persona, La nuova Collezione della Fondazione CRC, curated by Carolyn Christov- Bakargiev and Marcella Beccaria, Fondazione CRC and Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Cuneo, Italy.
https://www.castellodirivoli.org/mostra/pittura-persona-la-nuova-collezione-della-fondazione-crc/
-Body Snatchers (The House), Curated by Like A Little Disaster & PANE project, Polignano a Mare, Italy. https://www.likealittledisaster.com/body-snatchers-the-house-2/
2020
-Espressioni. La proposizione, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Fabio Cafagna, Marianna Vecellio, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli –Turin, Italy. https://www.castellodirivoli.org/mostra/espressioni-la-proposizione/
2019
-Expanded Painting, Galleria Massimo Minini, Brescia, Italy. https://www.galleriaminini.it/exhibition/expanded-painting/
-Straperetana, a project by Monitor, curated by Saverio Verini, Pereto, Italy.
https://www.exibart.com/arte-contemporanea/straperetana-la-luna-vicina-pereto/
-Capriccio 2000, curated by Rosa Tyhurst, Jeppe Ugelvig, Hannah Zafiropoulos, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin. Italy.
https://fsrr.org/mostre-category/capriccio-2000/
-If It Is Untouchable It Is Not Beautiful, Monitor , Rome, Italy.
https://monitoronline.org/if-it-is-untouchable-it-is-not-beautiful/
-Dripping In Crocodile Tears, curated by Roberta Mansueto, Like a little disaster, Polignano a Mare, Italy.
https://atpdiary.com/like-a-little-disaster-mansueto/
-Sotto la tazza blu, curated by Giulia Gelmini, Yellow, Varese, Italy
https://www.exibart.com/opening/sotto-la-tazza-blu-a-yellow-varese/
- Pelle d’oca, curated by Simona Squadrito & Lisa Andreani, Villa Vertua Masolo, Nova Milanese, Italy.
https://www.artribune.com/mostre-evento-arte/pelle-doca/
Public Collections Acquisitions:
2025
- “L’estensione dell’alba” (2022), Mac-Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Lissone
2022
- “Luna azzurra” (2019), Club GAMeC per GAMeC - Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo
https://www.clubgamec.it/club-gamec-prize/
2021
- “Finché quel che fantastichiamo è stato” (2020), Fondazione Arte CRT per il Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Torino-Rivoli
https://www.castellodirivoli.org/opera/finche-quel-fantastichiamo
Prizes:
2025
-Premio Lissone 2025, curated by Hanne Mugaas, Stefano Raimondi, Lorenzo Balbi, MAC- Museo d’arte Contemporanea, Lissone, Italy
https://sititematici.comune.lissone.mb.it/Museo-d-Arte-Contemporanea-Premio-Lissone-2025
2023
-22° Premio Cairo, Museo della Permanente, Milan, Italy (winner)
https://premiocairo.it/22-premio-cairo
2022
-Club GAMeC Prize 2022, Time Is Never Time At All, curated by Treti Galaxie, Bergamo,
Italy (winner)
https://www.tretigalaxie.com/collaboration/club-gamec-prize-vi-time-is-never-time-at-all/
2020
- Premio Francesco Fabbri per le Arti Contemporanee 2020 -Nona Edizione, curated by Carlo Sala, Solighetto (Treviso), Italy
https://www.fondazionefrancescofabbri.it/it/arti/premio-francesco-fabbri-2020/finalisti-2020/
Other Projects:
2025
-Intervallo, curated by Unpae, Cripta 747, Turin, Italy
https://www.cripta747.it/archivio/
-Bambine, quarta edizione, curated by Giada Olivotto & Allison Donahue Grimaldi Sonnenstube Off-Space, Lugano, Switzerland.
https://www.radiogwen.ch/trans/bambine-audiolibro.php
2024
-Bambine, terza edizione, curated by Giada Olivotto & Allison Donahue Grimaldi Sonnenstube Off-Space, Lugano, Switzerland.
https://diesonnenstube.ch/events/bambine-festival
2020
-BLADE BANNER, A design for a silk banner commisioned and produced by SPRINT - Independent Publishers and Artists’ Books Salon, Milan, Italy. Online exhibition.
https://www.sprintmilano.org/archive
2019
-Luna Calante, curated by Edoardo Manzoni and Giada Olivotto at Residenza La Fornace, Milan, Italy.
Fairs:
2023
Artissima, solo show curated by Treti Galaxie, The Address, Monologue/Dialogue, Oval Lingotto, Turin, Italy.
2022
Artissima, group show, The Address, Oval Lingotto, Turin Italy.