Join us for an extraordinary opportunity to meet and listen to the captivating stories of Achille Bonito Oliva, the internationally acclaimed Italian art critic, historian, and curator of our July exhibition The Grand Italian Vision. The Farnesina Collection. We are thrilled to announce that Bonito Oliva will be joining us at the Art Sonje Center for an engaging talk session, delving into the fascinating themes of our upcoming exhibition. More information will be available on our museum’s website closer to the date of the event.

Achille Bonito Oliva (b. 1939) is one of the most important art critics and curators of the 20th and 21st centuries. Curating numerous biennales, Bonito Oliva was appointed Director of Visual Arts of the 45th Venice Biennale, ’ in 1993. In 2021, Castello di Rivoli Museum celebrated his extraordinary lifetime achievement with the major exhibition . . . . ’ , which retraced over fifty years of international activity.

Achille Bonito Oliva (Caggiano, Salerno, 1939) is a professor of Contemporary Art History at the Faculty of Architecture of La Sapienza University in Rome.

He is the author of numerous publications, including: Il territorio magico (1971), L’ideologia del traditore (1976), Le avanguardie diverse: Europa/America (1976), Vita di Marchel Duchamp (1976), Passo dello strabismo (1978), La Transavanguardia italiana (1980), La Transavanguardia internazionale (1982), Manuale di volo (1982), Minori maniere (1985), Antipatia (1987), Superarte (1988), Oggetti di turno (1997), Gratis a bordo dell’arte (2000), Autocritico automobile (attraverso le avanguardie) (2002), Giulio Carlo Argan, Achille Bonito Oliva, L’arte moderna 1770-1970. L’arte oltre il duemila (2002), Musei che reclamano attenzione (2004), Lezioni di box (2004), La repubblica delle arti (2005), Enciclopedia della parola. Dialoghi d’artista. 1968-2008 (2008), and I portatori del Tempo (2010).

He served as the Director of the XLV Venice Biennale Punti cardinali dell’arte (1993) and has curated numerous international exhibitions, including “Arte e Natura, la natura dell’arte” (1978), “L’arte degli anni settanta” and “Aperto” (1980), “Transavanguardia italiana” (1988), “Ubi Fluxus ibi motus” (1990), “Basquiat a Venezia” (1999) for the Venice Biennale; “Partecipazione italiana” and “Mostra internazionale” for the Paris Biennale (1971 and 1985); “La Transavanguardia italiana” for the Sydney Biennale (1981) and the Shanghai Museum; the Dakar Biennale (1988); “Europa occidentale” for the São Paulo Biennale (1996) and “Corpo dell’arte” for the Valencia Biennale (2001).

Among his notable exhibitions are “Amore mio” (1970), “Vitalità del negativo” (1970), “La delicata scacchiera” (1972), “Contemporanea – Arte” (1973), “Warhol verso De Chirico” (1981), “Labirinto” (1981), “Avanguardia Transavanguardia” (1982), “Quartetto” (1984), “La lingua morta della scultura” (1988), “Arte e depressione” (1994), “Minimalia” (1997), “Disidentico” (1998), “Le tribù dell’arte” (2001), “Pollok e la Scuola di New York” (2002), “Gli Annali delle Arti” (2002), “Le Opere e i Giorni” (2003), “Edvard Munch” (2004), “L’isola interiore” (2005), “Il bianco e altro e comunque arte” (2005), “Corrispondances” (2005), “Mario Schifano” (2008), “Mettere all’Arte il Mondo: Alighiero E Boetti” (2009), “Il Futurismo Manifesto” (2009), “Gino De Dominicis. L’immortale” (2010), “Piazze di Roma”, Shanghai (2010), and “La Transavanguardia italiana” (2011).

He has produced television programs such as Toto modo: l’arte spiegata anche ai bambini (1995), ABO Collaudi d’arte (2000), A bordo dell’arte (2004), Il giorno della creazione (2005) and Fuori quadro (2014-15). He collaborates with the newspaper “La Repubblica” and “Il Giornale dell’arte”.

In 1992, he was appointed Chevalier pour les arts et les lettres by the French Republic and received the Critic’s Award at the 2005 Beijing Biennale.
In 2021, the Castello di Rivoli Museum celebrated Achille Bonito Oliva’s extraordinary critical, exhibition, and behavioral adventure with the major exhibition “A.B.O. Theatron. L’Arte o la vita,” which retraces over fifty years of international activity.