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Massimo Scognamiglio nel suo studio

Massimo Scognamiglio

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Born in Rome, he lives and works in Rome.

Artist, photographer, and digital evangelist, he paints, photographs, and has been exhibiting since the mid-’90s. From 2006 he lived for two years in California, then for a brief period he moved to Paris where he paints, photographs, designs performances. Scognamiglio stands as a poignant figure in the landscape of contemporary art, his works a testament to the profound layers of human introspection.

In 2026 he was selected by Exibart among the “222 artisti emergenti su cui investire” (222 Emerging Artists to Invest In).

Find more biographical information, verified sources, press coverage and selected milestones in the biography.

For any questions or inquiries related to purchases, please feel free to reach out.

01Libri · AI · SorveglianzaIl potere non ti ordina di tacere. Rende inutile la tua voce↗02Arte · TecnologiaDamien Hirst, il quadro o il token: scegliere che cosa distruggere↗03Pittura · RitrattoFrancis Bacon e il ritratto che non restituisce un volto↗04Cinema · ArteDavid Lynch, quando il cinema comincia prima del cinema↗
01Museums
Rome · Prato · Vibo Valentia

Museums & Institutions

MACRO ASILO logo
MACRO ASILO

Where is the future?

In 2019, the MACRO, Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome, presents my project "Where is the Future?" consisting of a film and a series of images that depict the occupants of the houses in Cosenza.

Centro Pecci di Prato logo
Centro Pecci di Prato

Videominuto

Nel 2005 Videominuto explored the potential of new technology in short films shot with webcams and "next generation" cell phones (we were at the dawn, before the iPhone), presenting some of the first Italian authors to experiment with these new media, such as Massimo Scognamiglio.

LIMEN — Museo d’Arte Vibo Valentia logo
LIMEN — Museo d’Arte Vibo Valentia

In the collection of this Italian Contemporary art museum

The latest acquisition by a Museum is that of the Limen Museum in Vibo Valentia, which has acquired a work from 2016.

02Paintings
Painting

Gli Strappi
Ciclo delle Stanze

"It feels like it's just the universe looking out my mouth # 2"
Pastelli a olio e matita su carta di giornale
20x30
2021

Strappi e Profezie
Casa 94 Gallery
December 2021



"A site-specific installation, 30 works on paper and five canvases: Massimo Scognamiglio transforms the spaces of Casa 94 Gallery into a visionary and ironic psychiatric pavilion

Glamorous with a classic touch, a fashion with a pictorial character, in short, visions that unite the atmospheres of fashion and the expression of art. And it is from this mixture that a kind of loop is triggered, a Larsen effect between stage, photography and painting. The author of this short circuit is Massimo Scognamiglio, photographer and artist, whose works will be on display from December 17th to 19th, 2021, at the Casa 94 Gallery spaces, at via Placido Zurla 94, in Rome. "Rips and Prophecies" is the title of the solo exhibition, which presents a series of works on paper from 2021 and on canvas from 2008, turning the two exhibition halls into an evocative and suggestive place: the departments of an imaginary psychiatric hospital, populated by outcasts, clowns, punks, lonely men, and unheard Cassandras. It was precisely the psychiatric departments that were frequently visited by Massimo Scognamiglio for a previous photographic work, which re-emerges in the installation in Rome.

ROME & LONDON
BECAUSE
GROUP SHOW
Dorothy Circus Gallery Rome

BECAUSE REPRISE
Dorothy Circus Gallery London

"With the exhibition BECAUSE - "Perchè Sì", the DCG changes course from its traditional curatorial line, staging a collective exhibition with the aim of raising a cry in the form of art to respond to the absurdity of the world we live in. For this exhibition, the Dorothy Circus Gallery has selected a group of artists with some of the most innovative and independent language in the art world, filling the void of a specific iconography of hyper-modern rebellion and its free representation in art. United in a body of cutting-edge works, the artists of BECAUSE create a new scenario of young and talented messengers of visual art that promote change.

The artists have been chosen for their innovative and daring artistic research, which reflects the gallery's goal of supporting new "voices" in the contemporary art scene and raising awareness about social issues.


Painful but never gloomy, always ironic and with a special light. (Exibart)



Working on my next solo exhibition End of late 2026:
”back to the secret rooms” + “The gold standard”

Big mouth series, find these works on SUPERMARTEK

03Books

Five books · 1999—2026

Stories from
the other side
of the present.

Time, technology, desire and identity. Five books moving between philosophical science fiction, coming-of-age and noir.

01 / 05Copertina di Cronache al di là del tempo

Otto racconti · Fantascienza filosofica

Cronache al di là del tempo

Il futuro è già accaduto. Devi solo tornare indietro per scoprirlo.

Le persone cominciano a perdere la vista nella Los Angeles del 1986. In un futuro prossimo le parole non servono più. Una Parigi illuminista nasconde una tecnologia capace di riscrivere la storia. Ogni racconto apre una porta su uno scenario diverso. Ogni epoca cambia il modo in cui guardiamo il presente.

Otto racconti di fantascienza filosofica in ordine cronologico inverso. Più il viaggio procede verso il passato, più il futuro diventa inquietante.

Intelligenze artificiali che governano il linguaggio. Società costruite sul controllo. Memorie che svaniscono. Matematica, potere, natura e destino si intrecciano in storie che fondono immaginazione, tensione narrativa e riflessione filosofica.

Approfondisci il libro →
Vedi su Amazon ↗★★★★★ 5,0 / 5 · 3 recensioni

Recensioni selezionate

Readers
on Amazon

5,0 / 5 · 3 recensioni

01★★★★★Vertiginoso e sconvolgente. BellissimoUn libro magnifico, una vera vertigine, in epoche lontane, tanto vicine alla nostra.Sara Ugolini · 23 luglio 2026 · Acquisto verificatoLeggi su Amazon ↗02★★★★★Un viaggio dentro e fuori se stessiUn viaggio dentro e fuori lo spazio e il tempo.mariesse · 23 luglio 2026Leggi su Amazon ↗03★★★★★Un libro che legge il lettore. E non solo.Fa un certo effetto di spaesamento, di vertigine, veder rimbalzare nel tempo le domande cruciali della nostra contemporaneità.Marco Carnevale · 28 dicembre 2024Leggi su Amazon ↗
04Projects
Art · Photography · Film · Fashion

Works &
Projects

Strappi10 images · View project ↗Pensiero Stupendo # 11 images · View project ↗Tales of humans in a landscape1 images · View project ↗Punk Aristocracy1 images · View project ↗Combustione Umana Spontanea meets Rebirth Project | Ex dogana18 images · View project ↗Art Project: A tribute to Bruce Gilden15 images · View project ↗Azzedine Alaia120 images · View project ↗Proud6 images · View project ↗Mindful Portraits6 images · View project ↗Tokyo | Snapshots48 images · View project ↗2015 Aids is not dead world wide campaign18 images · View project ↗Mila in the Box45 images · View project ↗Liquid Sky15 images · View project ↗De Couture15 images · View project ↗The Warriors — photograph 1The Warriors12 images · View project ↗FLÉTRI14 images · View project ↗Journey at the end of the night10 images · View project ↗Somewhere in Croatia8 images · View project ↗2Nights1Day15 images · View project ↗Kruder24 images · View project ↗Location22 images · View project ↗27 Infinite Countdown0 images · View project ↗text endA Hole in my head10 images · View project ↗

Pensiero Stupendo
Hawton Space
June 2018

In an intricate world like the one shaped in our century, identity and sexuality also confirm this heterogeneity and the right to exist and manifest without the necessity to fall into predefined categorizations, which are becoming increasingly sterile, discriminatory, and regressive. As often happens, the collective framework evolves while institutions – all of them: political, religious, social – lag behind, unable to recognize changes and the de facto reality, as well as the right of everyone to be and express themselves, provided this does not infringe – and it does not! – upon the freedom and integrity of others.

Paris, Place de la République, 2016

In September 2016, Massimo Scognamiglio brought his photographic performance "Rebirth" to France, at the symbolic site of Paris and all of France, Place de la République.

Tales of humans in a landscape Imago Projects

The American countryside is the starting point... but in truth, it has little to do with it. I love only two things in the world:
human beings and everything else.

Leggi l’intervista su Art Part of Cult/ure

The Magnificent Seven | Punk Aristocracy 

Thirty shots plus one printed in 99 copies; three iconographic clusters; black and white and color alternating from image to image; children who are almost adults and adults who are perpetually children; a tangle of signs and styles belonging to different eras and generations mixed and overlaid; the story of how even the most subversive movements of the past are slowly assimilated and readjusted by the establishment, then sold as luxury products. And sexuality, the body, as the theater of a silent, contemporary revolution. Look at the works published on La repubblica.

“And so, tired of all this, weary of the gentrification that came with millions of pounds and/or dollars, tired of rock music traveling to exorbitantly expensive recording studios, to millionaire tours, to producers, managers, press offices of every kind, utterly sick of the gigantic and unstoppable machine that the music business had become... well, tired of all this and of a rock that had even become “symphonic,” punk was born... and thankfully so.”
— Michael Pergolani, dal testo introduttivo della mostra The Magnificent Seven / Punk Aristocracy

Terra!

Hosted by the central editorial office of Quotidiano del Sud, and promoted by the Institute for Historical Studies of Cosenza and the Dodaro Foundation, a solo exhibition on the drama of immigration, experienced firsthand after spending a period on the SOS Mediterranée ship off the coast of Libya.

In the news
RAI Italian National Broadcasting Television on “Terra!”

Il corpo fluido

Quitapina+ the first Album by Le Stelle di S.
On Soundcloud

05Exhibitions
Public & private galleries · Museums · Art fairs

Exhibitions

  1. Supermartek & Fonazione Solares per le arti “The Space Between Us” Solo Exhibition 30 years of works
  2. Studio11 Gallery Echoes Rome Group Show
  3. Atelier Marloes Mandaat Big Big Mouth Solo Show
  4. November - Arte in Nuvola - Galleria Supermarket Rome
  5. June - Solo Exhibition Artwork Galley Rome
    2023 - April BECAUSE Group Show Reprise Dorothy Circus Gallery London
  6. March BECAUSE Group Show Dorothy Circus Gallery Rome
  7. Blooming Contemporary Art Fair Bologna
  8. Arte in Nuvola - Galleria Supermartek Rome
  9. Strappi e Profezie /// Casa 94 Gallery Rome
  10. I 12 Apostoli /// Takeawaygallery Rome
  11. MACRO Museo di Arte Contemporanea Roma - Short film “Where is the future?”
  12. Hawton Space, Rome
    "Pensiero Stupendo" (part of the project Tales of humans in a landscape")
  13. Imago Projects - Photo Festival, Orbetello
    "Tales of humans in a landcape"
  14. Palazzo Velli Expo, Rome.
    "Atto Secondo", la collettiva di fotografia a cura della Takeawaygallery
  15. Chiesa di Santa Maria di Costantinopoli Solo Exhibition
    Punk Aristocracy     by Carlotta Monteverde
  16. Palazzo BUSCO Velli Solo Exhibition
    curated by Katy Spurrell & Nicolas Ballario
  17. Ex-Dogana Performance & photographs REBIRTH
  18. Paris, Place de la Républque Performance & photographs REBIRTH
  19. Takeawaygallery Solo Exhibition
    Punk Aristocracy curated
    by Carlotta Monteverde
  20. VARCO Pigneto
    Solo Exhibition AIDS NOT DEAD
  21. 2005 Museo Pecci di Prato Video Minuto
    Special event Solo Exhibition - "Visual thoughts on fashion magazine" Prato (Tuscany)
  22. Explorer Coffee Gallery Collective Exhibition curated by Gianluca Marziani
  23. Palazzo delle Esposizioni Roma
    Collective Exhibition curated by Mariangela Shoether La Coscienza Luccicante
  24. Extra Gallery Solo Exhibition

“Painful but never gloomy, always ironic and with a special light.”

Exibart
06Studio

Fashion Film


UNDER - The short film

UNDER

A film by
Massimo Scognamiglio Studio & Irida Production
Directed by
Massimo Scognamiglio & Fabrizio Boni
With
Miriam Consoni & Sarah Jane
© 2017 Massimo Scognamiglio

RADICAL Fashion

A radical approach to the world of fashion

A radical and artistic approach to the world of fashion.
For advertising and editorial assignments write me a pvt msg

Say goodbye to the age of innocence
Say goodbye to the age of innocenceEditorial published by Diane Pernet on A Shaded View on Fashion
Liquid Sky
Liquid SkyView the complete editorial
DeCouture bags
DeCouture bagsAdvertising campaign
Somewhere in Croatia
Somewhere in CroatiaEditorial for Fashion Forward
The Warriors
The Warriors12 photographs · View the complete editorial

Mindfull Portrait


A portrait is forever™

Mindful Portrait commisions / Workshops & More

Ultime pubblicazioni ritratti editoriali

Impression

Portrait of Riccardo Ruini - the most important 250 creatives in the fashion industry

The Observer / The Guardian

Photo by Massimo Scognamiglio / Illustration by Eleanor Shakespeare

AGI Agenzia Giornalistica Italia

Ritratto dell’Amministratore Delegato

Mondadori

Cover per l'ultimo libro "Metti giù quel cellulare" di Aldo Cazzullo e foto editoriali per IO Donna, Oggi, Corriere della Sera, Sette.

MSS - La petite maison d'édition


Massimo Scognamiglio is the Publisher of The Magazine of Everything - undiscovered and unclassifiable contents & STUMP Magazine

The Magazine of Everything

Massimo Scognamiglio is the Creative Director and the publisher of two different magazine: The Magazine of Everything & Stump Magazine (not yet published).

The Magazine of Everything" originates as an artistic work even before being a traditional magazine because it aims to negate editorial intervention; it deals directly with artists – photographers, sculptors, and other representatives of the arts – but with one rule: once the author hands over their works, they lose the right to veto. In other words, the works are recontextualized, analogical associations are constructed, they undergo modifications with overlapping elements, graphic, visual, typographic, and can be mixed with other images, creating a new concept from the initial material. My own works are subject to the same violence. The first issue is entirely experimental, with a variety of themes and surprising sequences. From the subsequent issues, I start with the title and come to understand what the magazine wants to express only after making this series of associations. Unlike a political act, where one starts with a corollary and demonstrates it, the work takes on meaning afterward, following the stream of consciousness between the various works.

Buy your copy here!

STUMP Magazine
Soon on the newstands near you

STUMP Magazine, work in progress

Tokyo/ Snapshots


Focus on "Tokyo / Snapshots" published by Street Photography Magazine (September 2018)

My Big Fat Street Photography Camera on Street Photography Magazine

07Diary
Diary · selected news

Recent entries

Cover of 222 artisti emergenti su cui investire 2026

222 artisti emergenti su cui investire 2026

I’m pleased to share that I’ve been included in the volume “222 Emerging Artists to Invest In 2026” published by Exibart.

A recognition that reflects years of continuous research, experimentation, and dedication to exploring the boundaries between art, technology, and human emotion.

I’m grateful to be part of this selection, which highlights artists shaping the contemporary landscape, and I look forward to continuing my journey through new projects and exhibitions in the coming months.

Arte in Nuvola, Rome International Art Fair

2023/24/25 Rome International Art Fair

Supermarket Gallery

Booming Contemporary Art Show, Bologna

2023 Bologna International Art Fair

Supermarket Gallery

Painting by Massimo Scognamiglio featured by Exibart and Artribune

Exibart on Massimo Scognamiglio

Scognamiglio works with acrylic paint, pencil and oil pastels, painting on ripped pieces of fashion magazines. He carefully selects close-ups of models, frontal cuts, simple and clean. He carelessly tears the pages from the magazines and "re-paints" them, with an expressionist intent, distant from pop, to delve beyond the surface of his characters. From this clash between the polished and the unconscious, between a prescient past - the canvases that talk about prophecies - and today's ragged edges full of rage, the vital energy of the subjects of Scognamiglio's painting and photography is born."

Exibart on Massimo Scognamigllio read here

Artribune on Massimo Scognamiglio read here

Diary · writings · fragments

Diary

Art, exhibitions, photography, publishing and studio notes.

Copertina di Cronache al di là del tempo di Massimo Scognamiglio

Il potere non ti ordina di tacere. Rende inutile la tua voce

Documenti ottenuti dopo una lunga causa mostrano come il riconoscimento facciale sia stato usato dalla polizia di New York contro manifestanti, critici e perfino artisti. Nel racconto che apre Cronache al di là del tempo il potere è ancora più sottile: non ordina alle persone di tacere, rende la parola inutile.

Leggi la notizia ↗
Opera di Massimo Scognamiglio in cui immagine e materia vengono ricomposte

Damien Hirst, il quadro o il token: scegliere che cosa distruggere

Nel 1998 portai al Palazzo delle Esposizioni La Coscienza Luccicante, un CD-ROM d’artista in cui pixel e interattività convivevano con la mia pittura. The Currency di Damien Hirst impose invece una scelta: conservare il quadro oppure il token digitale, distruggendo l’altro. Più che la tecnologia, mi interessa la violenza di quell’aut aut.

Leggi la notizia ↗
Nora Rochman ritratta da Massimo Scognamiglio per Mindful Portraits

Francis Bacon e il ritratto che non restituisce un volto

Nei Mindful Portraits cerco ciò che accade fra me e la persona prima ancora dello scatto; negli Strappi parto invece da fotografie già consumate dallo sguardo pubblico. La mostra Human Presence della National Portrait Gallery ha riunito oltre cinquanta opere di Francis Bacon e anche le fotografie strappate e accartocciate da cui lavorava.

Leggi la notizia ↗
Tutte le notizie →
2015—today

From the archive

Strappi e Profezie

Strappi e Profezie

Un’installazione site-specific, 30 lavori su carta e cinque tele: Massimo Scognamiglio trasforma gli spazi di Casa 94 Gallery in un visionario e ironico padiglione psichiatrico

Glamour ma di impronta classica, un fashion dalla caratura pittorica, insomma, visioni che uniscono le atmosfere della moda e l’espressione dell’arte…

Open ↗
FullSizeRender.jpg

Terra!

Sono molto felice perché “Terra!”, la mia mostra personale sul dramma dell’immigrazione ha avuto un grande successo.

Open ↗