Valerio Adami

VALERIO ADAMI (Bologna, Italy, 1935).
Untitled, 1992, from the series "Olympic Suite".
Silkscreen on 270 grams Vélin d'Arches paper, copy 197/250.
Signed and justified by hand.
Size: 90 x 63 cm.
The Olympic Suite is made up of 50 lithographs and silkscreen prints chosen to represent various contemporary artistic trends. It was published to commemorate the first centenary of modern Olympism. The artists chosen work in very diverse movements and styles, from the hyperrealism of Antonio López to the abstraction of Sol Lewitt, including abstract expressionism, the geometrism of Arden Quin, conceptual art, pop art, the new realism of Baldaccini and Rotella, and the new fauvism of Dokoupil, among others. Among the artists represented there are creators of great international renown, widely recognised by the critics.
A painter, designer and engraver, Valerio Adami trained in Achille Funi's studio and at the Brera Academy in Milan, before moving to Paris in 1957. In 1962 he held his first major exhibition in London, and shortly afterwards took part in Documenta III in Kassel. In the mid-1960s Adami achieved his best-known Pop-influenced style: stylised images, outlined in black on areas of intense flat colours. His success was rapid, and in 1968 he represented Italy at the Venice Biennale. During these years he painted four large murals at the Firstar Bank headquarters in Madison (USA). His success continued, and in 1985 he held anthological exhibitions at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the Commune in Milan. In 1993 the Adami Academy-Foundation was established in Liechtenstein. He is currently represented at the MoMA in New York, the Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia, the SMAK in Ghent, the Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Trento, among others.