Born in Dorno (Pavia) in 1955, Marco Lodola attended the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence and Milan,
concluding his studies with a thesis on the Fauves, who, with Matisse, will later become an important reference
point for his work, in the same way as Fortunato Depero and Beato Angelico. Founder of the “New Futurism”
movement in the 1980s together with a group of other artists, from 1983 he began to exhibit his Plexiglas
figures in Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna, Lyons, Vienna, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Amsterdam. In
December 1994 he accepted an invitation from the Government of the Republic of China to hold an exhibition
in the Ex Archives of the Imperial city of Beijing.
In 1996 he began a programme of American exhibitions in Miami, Boca-Raton and New York. He took part in
the 12th Rome Quadrennial exhibition and the 4th Biennale of Sculpture in Monte Carlo.
In 1997 he participated in a manifestation associated with the 47th Venice Biennale entitled “Unplosive art”.
He is also known by the wider Italian public for his collaborations with national cultural and entertainment
celebrities. In addition to creating several musical and cinematographic trophies, in 2000 Lodola - who has
always been closely linked to the theme of dance - was commissioned by the Teatro Massimo in Palermo to
create “Gli avidi lumi”, four six-metre high luminous totems illustrating significant moments of the nine most
important plays in the season.
In 2001 he was responsible for the image of the Venice Carnival, and took part in the “Futurists in Venice”
exhibition, which included works by himself and by Fortunato Depero. He was the author of the works
assigned to the winners of the Nonino Literary Prize.
His works were on display in the Italy Pavilion of the 53rd Venice Biennale with a luminous installation in
honour of the theatrical works of Fortunato Depero entitled “Balletto Plastico-Hangar”. He has also participated
in projects for important industrial clients, taking care of their image and creating posters and logos (his
“Tazzine ballerine” collection designed for “Illy caffe” in 1999 is particularly famous).
In 2003 he created the luminous Venerea as part of Umberto Eco’s “Venere svelata” (Venus unveiled)
exhibition held in the Palazzo delle Belle Arti in Brussels - he was also responsible for the exhibition’s external
facade. His “Controluce” exhibition in 2004 was transferred to San Paolo in Brazil, the Museo de Arte Moderna
in Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and the Museo Regional de Guadalajara.
In 2005 he designed the pink jersey for the 88th Giro d’Italia, while in 2006 one of his luminous sculptures was
placed in the international airport of Mexico City.
Although his works are present all over the world, Marco Lodola has continued to create scenery for films,
programs, concerts and various events in Italy, from fashion to the theatre, from the 2006 Turin Winter
Olympics to the façade of the Ariston theatre for the 2008 Sanremo Festival.
In 2009, once again in Milan, in the Piazza del Duomo, he set up the “Rock’n’Music Planet”, Europe’s first
museum of rock, with twenty five sculptures representing the same number of legends of contemporary
musicHe took part in the 53rd Venice Biennale with the project “Hangar – Balletto Plastico”
He designed the poster image of Umbria Jazz 2010, attended the Shanghai International Expo and created a
sculptural-icon for the Hilton group.
In 2011 he cooperates with Citroen for an installation in Milan city centre named “Citroen Full Electric”, he
realizes a series of sculptures for 25th anniversary of Giuliano Fujiwara fashion house and the sceneries for
autumn winter 2012 man show by Vivienne Westwood. He realized for Dash in cooperation with Unicef the
work “Madre Natura”, to support anti-tetanus campaign. He was engaged in 54th Biennale di Venezia with the
project attended by Vittorio Sgarbi “Cà Lodola”, with an installation shown in Galleria G. Franchetti, Cà d’Oro.
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