Franco Mazzucchelli
b. 1939, Milan, lives and works in Milan

Renowned for his pioneering experimentation with synthetic materials during the 1960s and his creation of large-scale, public spatial installations that disrupted the quotidian conventions of local communities, Franco Mazzucchelli has produced a prolific body of work spanning decades, which continues to evolve today. One of his most well-known series A. TO A.(Art to Abandon), features inflatable sculptures made of PVC, initially presented on lakes and in deserts before moving to public spaces across Italy, including squares, schools, and factories. The works temporally became part of the urban landscape, and the contact with passersby activated their unexpected social roles: the public did not passively admire the artworks but was rather keen to touch them, move them around, play with them, and even take them away. Since the early 2000s, Franco Mazzucchelli’s exploration has expanded to include inflatable canvases known as Bieca Decorazione(pure decoration). He self-deprecatingly employs this term to narrate the rationale behind the painting as pure aesthetic enjoyment and its relation to commercial logic.

His inflatable sculptures and spatial installations have been displayed in several locations in Italy and abroad, such as Alfa Romeo Factory, Milan; Piazza San Fedele, Milan; Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Milan; Sforza Castle, Milan; Piazza dei Priori, Volterra; Como Lake; Munich; Camargue. His works have been shown in historical exhibitions, including the 60th Venice Biennale, Venice (2024); the 13th Quadriennale, Rome (1999); the 11th Quadriennale, Rome (1986); the 37th Venice Biennale, Venice (1976); the 15th Triennale di Milano, Milan (1973). His works have been exhibited at MACRO – Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Rome (2021); Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz (2021); Cité de l’Architecture, Paris (2021); ArtScience Museum, Singapore (2020); Konsthall Lund, Lund (2020); Kunsthalle Wien, Wien (2019); Center for Art and Media – ZKM, Karlsruhe (2019); nGbK, Berlin (2018); Museo del Novecento, Milan (2018); among others. Mazzucchelli won the Alfredo d’Andrade 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award. He was professor of Techniques of Sculpture at Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan.