EMILIO LEOFREDDI Rome, 1958 - 2023
Emilio Leofreddi was born in 1958. He lives and works in Rome as a painter and video artist. In the early 1990s, he designed installations with videos and performances focused on political and social issues. In 1992, he created his first installation titled "Balene" (Whales), against whale hunting, sponsored by Greenpeace and funded by Mario Schifano. In 1993, he created the work "Contact," against the death penalty, sponsored by Amnesty International and Nessuno tocchi Caino (an Italian organization opposing the death penalty).
In 1999, he co-founded Ice Badile Studio, a collective art studio in Rome, together with Ivan Barlafante, Claudio di Carlo, and Andrea Orsini. In the same year, he exhibited his solo show "Human being" at the Museum of Contemporary Art (M.O.C.A.) in Washington D.C., USA.
In 2004, Leofreddi started working on the travel concept as an artwork and the creation of travel diaries on Tibetan rugs and Indian tents. This led to the development of the "Dreams" project, which took him back to India for a year to create artworks. These works were subsequently exhibited in Italy, at Art Basel Miami (USA), and in 2007 at the 10th Cairo Biennale (Egypt), where he received the Critics' Award.
In 2009, he exhibited the installation "Il respiro del mondo" (The Breath of the World) at the Vittoriano in Rome, which was created using Indian tents sewn in Goa, India. Leofreddi has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, both in Italy and abroad, including England, the United States, Germany, India, and China. Some of his video works have participated in film festivals and video art events.
Leofreddi's work has been presented at the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Florence, and Rome. His artworks are included in public and private collections, both nationally and internationally. The videos "Contact" (1992), against the death penalty, and "Im - Media" (1994), on advertising, have been acquired by the Video Archive of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome.
