Mimmo Paladino was born in Paduli, Campania, in 1948. He discovered his passion for art through his uncle, who educated both him and his various nieces and nephews in the basic introductory techniques. He ventured to the Venice Biennale aged just 16, where he took in the work of Claes Oldenburg and Jim Dine, paving the way for his own artistic trajectory. From 1964 to 1969 he studied at Benevento arts college. After experimenting with conceptual and post-conceptual photography, he turned towards a more expressive form of figuration, one not specifically representative of his era.
Refusing to limit his creative voice to what was ‘current’, Paladino co-founded the Italian transavantgarde with Achille Bonito Oliva in 1980. The movement was conceived as an alternative to the mainstream minimalist and conceptualist avant-garde of the time, which advocated a return to painting. In this vein, Paladino borrowed from Etruscan culture to produce highly colourful images populated by hybrid characters. Using more traditional materials such as glass, ceramic, wood, mosaic and steel, from the 1980s onwards he would also produce sculpture.
In 1976 Paladino enjoyed his first solo exhibition in Brescia. He travelled to New York two years later where he quickly secured shows at the Marian Goodman Gallery and Annina Nosei Gallery.
Having been left with an indelible impression as a boy, Paladino exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1980 at the behest of Achille Bonito Oliva. He had his work displayed alongside other leading lights of the transavantgarde, such as Sandro Chia, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi and Nicola De Maria. Following this first official outing, the group would garner international attention, exhibiting at the Basel Kunsthalle (1980), A new spirit in painting at the Royal Academy in London (1981) and Avantguardia-Transavantguardia in Rome (1982).
Naples organised a major retrospective in 1995. The event spanned three public venues: the stables of the Royal Palace, Villa Pignatelli and Piazza del Plebiscito. London would follow suit in 1999, with a comprehensive exhibition at the South London Gallery. He was subsequently named an honorary member of the Royal Academy. The Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art in Prato hosted a retrospective between 2002 and 2003.
Other exhibition highlights include: Made in Cloister Gallery, Naples (2017); Museo del Novecento, Milan (2016); With Space in Mind, Alan Cristea Gallery, London (2015); Opera Incisa, Artesucarte, Modena (2014); Elgiz 13, Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul (2013); Le Strade di Roma, Alan Cristea Gallery, London (2012); Palazzo Reale, Milan (2011); Recreation of Salt Mountain, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the cathedral in Piazza del Duomo, Milan (2011); Helmet, Castello Sforzesco, Milan (2011); The Witnesses, Basilica di Sant’Ambrogio, Milan (2011); Mimmo Paladino February 1917, Galerie Kluser 2, Munich (2009); Classics of the Contemporary, Museo Nazionale Villa Pisani at Stra, Venice (2009); Obra Gráfica, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires (2008); and Museum of the Ara Pacis (with Brian Eno), Rome (2008).
