Luca Padroni is a contemporary Italian artist known for his powerful paintings, collages and works on paper. The starting point of his work is the small-scale drawing and studies in oil which evolve into monumental paintings. Powerful and ambiguous, his paintings embrace the viewer as an integral part of the image.
After spending most of his childhood and adolescence in various African countries, including South Africa, the artist has developed a special fascination for nature and the animal world, now more threatened than ever.
The latest series of Jungles is an attempt by the artist to communicate and remember where we come from, the identity of our ancestors, our indissoluble bond with nature.
Born in Rome in 1973, Luca Padroni studied abroad in the UK and United States.
He first obtained a diploma (BTEC) from the Kent Institute of Art and Design, then a degree in Fine Arts (BA) from the Slade School of Fine Arts in London. In 2001 he won a Fulbright scholarship and attended the San Francisco Art Institute for a semester.
Padroni has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Among those recently hosted in public spaces for contemporary art: Luca Padroni – La vita continua, curated by Guido Rebecchini, Museo Orto Botanico, Roma (2021); Summer Exhibition, curated by Timothy Hyman, Royal Academy, London (2019); Scorribanda, curated by Fabio Sargentini, National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rome (2018); Personal Values, curated by Claudio Crescentini, Pav. 9b Macro Testaccio, Rome (2017).
He currently lives and works in Rome.
