b. Subiaco, Rome, 1983. Studied painting in Italy, Belgium and the UK, where he completed a post-grad in art and critical studies at Byam Shaw, UAL (2008) and received an MA, Painting, from the Royal College of Art, London (2011). His pictures and writings ruminate on the experience of painting and (or in) the physical world, returning to interrogatives on their reciprocal “actuality”, realism and its paradoxes, perception and artifice, the effects of time and history.
Solo & Two-person Exhibitions
2023
Michele Tocca. Repoussoir, curated by Elena Volpato, GAM, Turin
2022
The Clearing, with Greig Burgoyne, Neuland Projektraum, Bochum (DE)
L’avvicinamento, Mun ange arte contemporanea, Crissolo (CN)
Chiara Camoni: Gorge, Bloom, Foliage. World above, World below. And small creatures. With works by Michele Tocca, IUNO, Roma
2021
Verticale terra, Fabrizio Prevedello/Michele Tocca, curated by Davide Ferri, Sara Zanin, Roma
2019
Reality, with Greig Burgoyne, curated by Sue Kennington, Hickster Projects, San Giovanni d’Asso, Siena, IT
2018
Belvedere, Caffè Internazionale, Palermo, IT
2014
Benjamin Senior_Michele Tocca, The Fate of Forms, James Fuentes Gallery @ the FLAG ART Foundation, New York, NY, USA
Allegoria, curated by Alberto Mugnaini, FuoriCampo, Brussels, BE
Studiolo project #10, curated by Maria Chiara Valacchi, Spazio Cabinet, Milano
2011
Studiolo project #4, curated by Maria Chiara Valacchi and Marco Tagliafierro, Spazio Cabinet, Milano
Group Exhibitions
2023
Italian Painting Today, curated by Damiano Gullì, Triennale, Milano
Quadri come luoghi, curated by Davide Ferri, Palazzo Oldofredi Tadini Botti, Torre Pallavicina, Bergamo
Positions, curated by John Slyce, Alma Pearl, London
Premio Termoli 63, curated by Cristiana Perrella, MACTE, Termoli
Jester/Gesture, curated by Sue Kennington, Hickster Projects, Rome
2022
Vedute. Villa Aventino a Venezia, Michela Rizzo gallery, Venice
Exodus, Galleria/Galleria, Ortona, IT
Trattare l’aria. Ipercorpo, curated by Davide Ferri, Exatr, Forlì
2021
Leave it all behind, curated by Domenico De Chirico, Manuel Zoia, Milano
Cartacoreana, curated by C.L. Pisano, Museo Carlo Bilotti, Roma
HIC, curated by Saverio Verini/ Michele Tocca, z2o Project, Roma
Donuts, curated by Giovanni Copelli, Reggio Emilia, IT
2020
Flash, curated by Beatrice Meoni, Metodo Milano
Michele Tocca/Eugenia Vanni, FuoriCampo,Pittura XXI, Arte Fiera, Bologna, IT
Le realtà ordinarie, curated by Davide Ferri, Palazzo de’ Toschi, Bologna, IT
2019
Out Looking Inwards, curated by Nicholas John Jones, LNM, Norwegian Society of Painters, Oslo, NO
2018
Reazione a catena #1,curated by Gino Pisapia, 1/9unosunove Gallery, Roma
P1: Filling Station,curated by Ingrid Toogood, SHE WILL, Oslo, NO
Stupido come un pittore, curated by Rossella Farinotti and Simona Squadrito, Villa Masolo, Nova Milanese, IT
Drawings, curated by Christopher Green, Thames-side Studios, London, UK
2017
Locus Amoenus, curated by Fabio Carnaghi, Museo Tornielli, Ameno (NO), IT
Koffer Kunst, curated by Veronica Liotti, Far-Off Art Cologne, Cologne, DE
2016
A Trip to the Woods, MAC, Lissone
Passaggi, Festival del Paesaggio, curated by D. Gullì, G. Riccio e A. Rosica, La Casa Rossa, Capri, IT
Desiderio, L’Arca Museum, Teramo, IT
2015
Declinazioni della Pittura, Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea, Palermo, IT
Between Earth and Sky, curated by Pietro Di Lecce, The Workbench, Milano
Controcanto, curated by Vera Portatadino, Yellow Space, Varese, IT
Pittura italiana…e altre storie minori, Archivio della Scuola Romana, Villa Torlonia, Roma
Contemporary Painting, Federico Bianchi Gallery, Milano
2014
Allegoria, with Angelo Sarleti, curated by Alberto Mugnaini, FuoriCampo, Siena, IT
Studiolo/Italian Youth, curated by Maria Chiara Valacchi, Museo Pinacoteca S. Francesco, Republic of San Marino
Alcuni paesaggi, Villa Giulia, Pallanza, IT
Painted Horizons, MAGGS, London, UK
2013
Landina #1, CARS Omegna (VB), IT
Moments Around Us, curated by Kate Groobey, Idea Store at Whitechapel, London, UK
Lumen, MARS, Milano
2012
La Pittura, Isola, Galleria Bianca, Palermo, IT
2011
Painting notes, curated by Enzo Cucchi and Arianna Rosica, MARCA, Museo delle Arti di Catanzaro, IT
MAP Project, curated by Ruth Cats and Gabi Scardi, MAGA, Gallarate, IT
Show 2011, Royal College of Art, London, UK
Difetto come indizio del desiderio, curated by Andrea Bruciati, Neon>Campobase, Bologna, IT
2010
Era Foundation, Moscow Biennale, Moscow, RU
Impresa Pittura, curated by Raffaele Gavarro, Claudio Libero Pisano, Centro Internazionale per l’Arte Contemporanea, Genazzano, Rome
Z-Time, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College, London, UK
2009
No more than a Point of View, Expanded Painting, Prague Biennale 4, CZ
Osterley, curated by Marco Tagliafierro, Santo Spirito in Sassia, Roma, Road to Contemporary, IT
2008
ICI, curated by Angelo Mosca, Otto Zoo, Milano
Binocular, curated by Steven Williams, Kingsgate Gallery, London, UK
2007
Godart, Museolaboratorio, curated by Enzo De Leonibus, Città Sant’Angelo (PE), IT
2006
SCOUT, curated by R. Guidobono, Spazio AKA, Roma
2005
Salon I, Museo della Permanente, Milano
Artist’s Published Writings (selection)
2023| The air that moves. Thomas Jones and Pierre Henri de Valenciennes, in “Roma, a portrait”, Vol. I, edited by Cecilia Canziani, Francesca Campana and Giulia Gaibisso, Cura.Books, Roma. pp. 68 ff.
2023| Almost Plates, Almost Sculptures, in “Chiara Camoni. Serpentesse”, edited by Elena Volpato, AM Bookstore, Milano, pp. 116-117.
2021| “Talismano. Alessandro Sarra”, ATP Diary, 11 dicembre.
2020|“Pesce Khete. Sinossi (bon voyage)”, ATP Diary, 27 giugno.
2020|“Luca Bertolo. Why write? Why paint?”, ATP Diary, 4 gennaio.
2019|“Nino Spallone. From Battersea Bridge”, in Nino Spallone. Space and Colour, ed. S. Santacatterina, Carlo Cambi Editore, Poggibonsi (FI).
2017|“Intrigue. James Ensor by Luc Tuymans”, fisk frisk magazine.
2016|“David Schutter. SPOLIA”, fisk frisk magazine.
2016|“Balthus”, Scuderie del Quirinale, Rome – Kunstforum, Wien, fisk frisk magazine.
2015| “Raffaello. Back to College”, in AA.VV., La Muta beyond Silence, Baskerville, Bologna.
2015| “Cinque o più storie di pittura”, in Pittura italiana … e altre storie minori, Castelvecchi, Roma.
2014| “Short Manual of Landscape Painting Pt. 1”, in Landina, ed. CARS, Omegna.
2010|Angelo Mosca. Retrospettiva in un Paese Postumo, (commentaries by), exh. cat. MARS, Milano
Residencies & Projects
2022-23| How to become a cloud, one-year workshop with primary school I.S. Dante Alighieri, IUNO Studio, Rome
2023| Landscapes and vedutas, talk with Cecilia Canziani and Peter Benson Miller, within the exhibition Rome, a portrait curated by C. Canziani, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, May 17, Rome
2021| Creazione di rituali, 3-day seminar with Gian Antonio Gilli, curated by Mun ange arte contemporanea, Various Locations, Turin
2019| Painting Project: Out Looking Inwards, selected by Robert Bordo and Robert Holyhead, PRAKSIS, Oslo, NO
2018|Palazzodellaquerciastudio, organised by Vincenzo Simone, Rocca Gloriosa, Salerno, IT
2018| Simposio di Pittura, curated by Luigi Presicce and Laura Perrone, Fondazione Lac o Le Mon, San Cesario di Lecce, IT
2013| L’artista e il suo tempo, organised by Angelo Mosca, Castel di Ieri (Aq), IT
2013| Landina#1, organised by Lorenza Boisi, Andrea Ruschetti, CARS, Omegna, IT
2010| En plein air, organised by Angelo Mosca, Galleria/Galleria, Ortona
Catalogues & Books
2023| Quadri come luoghi, exh. cat. ed. by D. Ferri, Massetti Rodella Editori
2023| Pittura Italiana Oggi, exh. cat. ed. by D. Gullì, Electa, Milano
2023| Michele Tocca. Repoussoir, ed. by E. Volpato, Corraini, Mantova
2021| HIC, by S. Verini, M. Tocca, fanzine, z2o Project, Roma
2021| Verticale Terra, exh. cat. Z2O Sara Zanin Gallery, curated by D. Ferri, ed. by Studio Filippo Nostri, Faenza
2021| G. Politi, M. D’Aloja, Insieme, exh. cat., Quodlibet/Ghella, Roma
2021| G. Armogida, Roma Nuda, Miniera Ed., Roma
2020| D. Ferri, Le realtà ordinarie, exh. cat., Palazzo de’ Toschi, Bologna.
2020|Michele Tocca/Eugenia Vanni, text by J. Figura, Galleria Fuoricampo, Siena
2019|C. Biasini Selvaggi, 222 Emerging Artists, Exibart Publishing, Roma.
2017|D. Gullì, G. Riccio, A. Rosica, Festival del Paesaggio, exh. cat., Casa Rossa, Anacapri, Fondazione Capri.
2015| D. Gullì, A. Rosica, La Musa dell’Isola, Travelogue, Napoli.
2011| AA.VV., Painting Notes, exh. cat. MARCA Museum, Catanzaro.
2011| D. Rayson, J. Miller, Painting, Royal College of Art, exh. cat., London, UK.
2010| R. Gavarro, C. Libero Pisano, Impresa Pittura, exh. cat., CIAC Genazzano, Maretti Ed.
2009| AA.VV., Prague Biennale 4, Politi Ed., Milano.
Selected Press
2023| A. Mugnaini, Michele Tocca in dialogo con la storia dell’arte alla GAM di Torino, Artribune, 26 ottobre
2023| M. C. Valacchi, Michele Tocca porta la purezza della pittura alla GAM di Torino, Elle Decor, 8 luglio
2022| Hybrida Tales, intervista a Michele Tocca, Untitled Association, Exibart, 13 agosto
2022| C. Canziani, Rebecca Solnit, anche, Flash Art, June
2022| Michele Tocca. I (never) explain, ATP Diary , June
2021| Una conversazione tra Fabrizio Prevedello e Michele Tocca, JULIET, 4 giugno (interview).
2021| P. Guaglianone, Verticale terra, Artribune, 7 giugno.
2021| A. Caldarelli, Verticale Terra, ATP Diary, 18 maggio.
2020|E. Bordignon, “Le realtà ordinarie viste con ‘spensieratezza’. Una mostra raccontata da Davide Ferri”, ATP Diary, January 20.
2018|D. Gullì, “Pittura lingua viva. Parola a Michele Tocca”, Artribune, July 25 (interview).
2018|D. Gullì, “Pittura Italiana in mostra a Roma”, Artribune, July 4.
2018|M. Bergamini, “La Pittura si interroga e si risponde”, Exibart, May 28.
2016| F. Carnaghi, ATP Diary online, August 23.
2015| M.C. Valacchi, “Eppure esiste”, Flash Art, n. 308, febbraio
2015|D.G. Alì, “Controcanto”, Exibart, April 15.
2015|E. Nobili Mino, “Pittura Italiana e altre storie minori”, Flash Art, n. 320, marzo-aprile.
2015|E. Pontiggia, “Piccole storie di pittura: da Carlo Levi a Michele Tocca”, La Stampa, March 21.
2015|E. Sassi, “Le tele (e le “storie minori”) di nove pittori senza paura”, Corriere della Sera, January 31.
2014|V. Liotti, “Michele Tocca”, GIDM, January.
2014|A. Gordon,“Mansplaining”, Bloomberg, New York, June 27.
2014|H. Marsala, “Quattro Mostre”, Artribune, 23 giugno
2014|L. Regano, “Italian Youth”, Exibart, October 30.
2014|P. Di Lecce, "Michele Tocca", Cerchio Magazine, February 18.
2013|AA.VV., Painting Issue, Flash Art, n. 308, February, 105 (interview).
2013|R. Gavarro, “Le possibilità della Pittura II”, Exibart, Feburary 11.
2012|E. Cucchi, “Galleria”, Flash Art, n. 272, October/November, 101.
2011|A. Mugnaini, “True Matter”, Flash Art, n. 294, June, 111.
2010|M. Brevi, E. Castellari,“La Visione Spezzata”, Arte Mondadori, 124-128.
2009|V. D’Amaro, “ICI”, Flash Art, n. 264, January/February, 52.
2008| “Young Painting Issue”, Flash Art, December/January, 273.