Nespolo graduated at the
Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti of
Turin with
Enrico Paulucci and obtained a degree in Modern Literature at the University of Turin, with a thesis on
Semiology. His career as an artist started in the 1960s. His work was influenced by
Pop Art, which was becoming popular in Italy in those years,
conceptual art,
Arte Povera and
Fluxus. He had a chance to see and appreciate closely these movements during a trip to the United States in 1967. He would then continue to regularly visit the States, where he would spend long periods of time, especially during the 1980s. Irony and transgression became key element in Nespolo's art and characterised his work for many years to come. Since 2010 he has been member of the Honour Committee of "Immagine & Poesia", an artistic literary movement founded in Turin, with the patronage of
Aeronwy Thomas (
Dylan Thomas's daughter). In 2016 he signed the
pptArt Manifesto, an international art movement that promote many notable initiatives like the
Corporate Art Awards.
Cinema In the mid-1960s Nespolo started to work with
experimental cinema. His first film,
Grazie, mamma Kodak, is from 1966. His friends and fellow artists such as
Lucio Fontana,
Enrico Baj,
Michelangelo Pistoletto and others appeared regularly in his films. Nespolo's second film,
A.G. (1968), documents the visit to Turin of
Allen Ginsberg.
Theatre In 1986 Nespolo had the possibility of designing the stage sets for
Ferruccio Busoni’s opera
Turandot at
Connecticut Grand Opera,
Stamford, the first of several theatre works he made in the following years, such as the sets and costumes for
Paisiello's
Don Chisciotte at the
Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in 1990 and for
Donizetti's ''
L'elisir d'amore'', a production for the Rome Opera, the
Paris Opera and the
Lausanne Opera,
Liège and
Metz in 1995. In 2007, he designed stage and costumes for
Puccini's
Madama Butterfly at the
Festival Puccini 2007 in
Torre del Lago.
Palio and traditions Nespolo was appreciated also for his work with
Palios. In 1998, he was committed the
Palio for the
Giostra della Quintana,
Ascoli Piceno. In 2000, he was awarded for his work for
Palio di Asti and in 1991 and 2009 for the
Palio of the
Giostra della Quintana in
Foligno. He was chosen to design the
Palio (
Drappellone or banner) at the ''
Palio dell'Assunta'' in August 2007.
Selected exhibitions Nespolo's works covering his whole production have been presented or hosted in major national and international exhibitions. A selected list of exhibitions and venues is the following: •
Ugo Nespolo, Palazzo Reale Arengario, Milan, 1990 •
International Biennale of Ceramics and Antiques,
Faenza Exhibition Center, 1990 •
International Ceramics Festival,
Shigaraki Ceramic World, Japan, 1991 •
A Fine Intolerance (Nespolo's paintings and ceramics), Borghi and Co. Gallery, New York, 1992 • ''Casa d'Arte Nespolo'', Palazzo della Permanenente, Milan, 1995 • Romanian Ministry of Culture,
Bucharest, 1995 • ''Le Stanze dell'Arte'', Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Turin, 1996 • National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta,
Malta, 1997 • Itinerant exhibition, 1997: • Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes,
Buenos Aires • Centro de Arte Contemporaneo de Cordoba, Chateau Carrera,
Córdoba • Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno de Mendoza,
Mendoza •
Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, Montevideo • Rocca Paolina/Spello Villa Fidelia,
Perugia, 1999 • Palazzo Reale,
Naples, 2000 •
Turin, berceau du cinéma italien, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2001 •
2001 Italy in Japan,
Fukui, Japan, 2001 •
International Sculpture at La Mandria, Villa dei Laghi,
Venaria Reale (Turin), 2002 • Itinerant exhibition in Eastern Europe, 2003: • Modern Art Gallery, Moscow •
St. Petersburg •
Minsk • Modern Art Gallery
Riga, Latvia • Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Paris, 2003 • International Film Festival of
Locarno, Switzerland, 2003 • Chinese National Museum of
Peking, 2003 • Ciurlionis National Museum of Art,
Vilnius,
Lithuania, 2004 • Guang Dong Museum of Art of Guangzhou,
Canton, China, 2004 • Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, 2004 • Fine Arts Russian Academy, St. Petersburg, 2004 • Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Milan, 2005 • Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong, 2005 •
Dentro e Fuori, Museo Nazionale del Cinema of Turin, 2005 • Museo del Cinema of Turin, 2008 •
Italics, organized with the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art,
Palazzo Grassi, Venice, 2008 • 48th Ceramics Exhibition of
Castellamonte, 2008 •
Nespolo. Ritorno a casa. Un percorso antologico,
Biella, Italy, 2009 ==Filmography==