Marco Tirelli was born in Rome in 1956. Prodigiously talented from a young age, the artist-in-waiting was encouraged to act upon his creative proclivities by his parents, who built a studio for him in their family home. From there it was a logical move to enrol at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he graduated in set design.
Through his drawings, monumental paintings and sculptures, Tirelli constructed a poetic corpus that combines repetition and ethereality to investigate the borders of reality and memory in search of what might lie beyond.
Tirelli’s work started to gain momentum through exhibitions in the mid-1970s. Italy naturally embraced the artist first, through solo and group exhibitions at the Pavilion of Contemporary Art in Milan and the ninth Quadriennale in Rome in 1986. International interest swiftly followed, notably: Dal ritorno all’ordine al richiamo alla pittura 1920–1987, a travelling exhibition hosted by the Kunsternes Hus in Oslo, Anteniim Picture Gallery in Helsinki, Matildenhöhe in Darmstadt and Kunsthalle Bielefeld in 1987; an exhibition at GAM Bologna in 1988; and Diptych, Aspects of Abstract and Figurative Art in Italy, a travelling exhibition hosted by the Modern Art Gallery of Istanbul, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Ankara and the Museum of Modern Art in Tel Aviv in 1989.
His genuine international break arrived in 1990, when he showcased work alongside minimalist and conceptualist figurehead Sol LeWitt at the American Academy in Rome, their drawings displayed in dialogue with one another.
Recent solo exhibitions include: Marco Tirelli, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Wijnegem, Belgium (2021); Marco Tirelli, Cardi Gallery, London (2021); Marco Tirelli, Eduardo Secci Gallery, Florence (2021); Marco Tirelli, House of Art, České Budějovice, Czechia (2020); Marco Tirelli, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Wijnegem (2018); Marco Tirelli, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Hong Kong (2018); Marco Tirelli Peintures, Ditesheim & Maffei, Neuchatel (2018); Marco Tirelli, Ditesheim & Maffei, Geneva (2018); and Marco Tirelli, Sala della Pietre, Palazzo Comunale, Todi, Italy (2017).
Tirelli lives and works in Rome.
