​P a o l o P o r e l l i​
ABOUT
Paolo Porelli, Rome Italy (1966). After graduating in painting (Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, Italy), Porelli began a period of experimentation in ceramics in which he identified an anthropomorphic figure as his preferred expressive form. Clay remains his principal medium, although he often integrates ‘ready-mades’ in his sculptures as well as casts of found objects. Life-size to small-scale figures stand alone or in installations. In recent work, Porelli uses 3-D images and 3-D printing to create prototypes for series of figures, individualised through modifications, additions and subtractions.
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Co-founder of CRETA Rome (2012), an international centre for ceramics and fine arts. In 2021, he was elected a member of the International Academy of Ceramics.
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Porelli has exhibited widely in Europe, the US and Asia. His works have been presented in almost 20 solo shows and more than 90 group exhibitions including international biennials. The subject of feature-length articles in the US, Asia and Europe, Porelli has participated in symposia and residencies at RISD, The International Ceramic Studio in Keskemet, The Bray, The Clay Studio of Philadelphia, European Ceramic Work Centre, Jingdezhen International Studio and more.
In 2026, he will have museum shows in Germany, Italy and the USA. At the Stadtmuseum in Siegburg, Germany, the double solo exhibition "Zeitgenössische Keramik aus Italien", will contain a retrospective of his past and more recent installations. During Argillà 2026, at the Museo Zauli in Faenza, he will present “A Party for Betty”, created during a residency at Betty Woodman’s studio in Italy, alongside a selection of Betty Woodman’s pieces. His itinerant exhibition, Figure Out. Catastrophe or Regeneration, will be shown in two American venues, first at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum in 2026, followed by its presentation at the Fuller Craft Museum in 2027. At Alfred, a new large-scale series printed in 3D, made during a residency at RISD, will be presented for the first time. At the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery of Keene State University in New Hampshire, the "Green Regeneration" installation will be shown alongside works on paper.
Last year, his work was selected for major shows in the US, Belgium and Italy. It was the year of the green (r)evolution. In True & Real, the NCECA Annual, curated by Judy Schwartz, Porelli presented his installation "Green Regeneration" made during his visiting artist stint at The Bray. Another installation produced at the Bray, this time with an emphasis on 3D printing in clay, "3-D Iconology", a finalist in the 63° Premio Faenza - 63rd Faenza Prize at the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza, is now in the permanent collection of the museum. For the Alive & Unfolding exhibition in Namur, curated by Vasi Hirdo, he showed 11 sculptures that compose a "Sacred Wood" that were made in his Rome studio.
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"Figure Out: Catastrophe or Regeneration", his first solo show in an American museum opened at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana in 2023 The statues were displayed in single file of statues around the gallery space. The itinerant show will be next shown at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum in 2026, followed by the Fuller Craft Museum in 2027.
In Italy, the Museo della Ceramica of Savona included his installation"Madonne Protestanti" in an exhibition dedicated to the Madonna "Ho visto la Madonna!" from March through May 2023. His "Global Camouflage" was presented in August in the exhibition "in bianco. La porcellana nella ceramica d’arte italiana contemporanea", curated by Matteo Zauli and Xiuzhong Zhang at Palazzo del Podestà in Faenza, Italy.
The 3rd Blanc de Chine International Ceramic Art Award show was held in Hangzhou, China from September 2023 through 8 May 2024. Porelli's installation "Panthèon Blanc" is composed of a group of almost 30 pieces, heterogeneous in nature and dimensions, arranged on five rows of ascending steps. Each sculpture reflects an openness to the influences of the history of art of all times and places, passing through the votive sculptures and figurines of the Western and Eastern traditions to linger over the white porcelain figures of Blanc de Chine. ​In Italy, four maiolica herms were included this spring in "Dis/comfort" at Palazzo Rospigliosi in Zagarolo, curated by Alessandro Cristofari, Roberta Cristofari, Eleonora Turli and Giusy Longo. His work was also included in "50 Years in the Making", the 50th anniversary show at the Clay Studio of Philadelphia.
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In 2022, his installation "Madonne Protestanti: Terzo Atto" was presented at Argillà in Faenza. He also participated in the ceramic biennial "Ethos: Keramikos 2022", curated by Vittorio Sgarbi. Later that year, his work was selected for the 40th Mostra Internazionale della Ceramica d'Arte di Gualdo Tadino, curated by Rolando Giovannini and Nello Teodori.
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In 2021 his American solo show "From Stereotype to Archetype" was finally held, after being postponed due to Covid. The exhibition included two series of works produced during a 2020 residency at Arch Contemporary, based on 3-D printed models and historical figurines (right below). He also participated in "Visioni Contemporanee: Venti Artisti a Castel Sant'Angelo" in Rome with three large-scale figures of saints.
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​In Italy, his collaborative project with Maurizio Tittarelli Rubboli "RefleX: figures for reflection" (right below) was presented in a solo show at the Palazzo Ducale in Gubbio in 2021. Selected for the 61th Premio Faenza (cancelled due to Covid), it is an installation of 29 terracotta figures glazed with in-glaze lustre that extends along the diagonals of a rectangular wall to emphasize orthographically the final X of the word reflex. The modeling of the sculptures was done by Porelli during his residency at EKWC (European Ceramic Work Center in the Netherlands). Starting from two models printed in 3-D, a plaster mould was produced to create multiples. Later each figure was slip-cast and modified to endow each with individuality. Other works made at EKWC with the same technique have been selected for the Korean International Ceramic Biennial 2021 that are on display at the Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art.
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In 2019, he was shortlisted for the "2020 Taiwan Ceramics Biennial" at New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum and for the "Cheongju International Craft Competition 2019", Cheongju, Korea for work made during the ICCA residency in Dehua, China. The "Ceramics of Europe Westerwaldprize 2019" in Westerwald, Germany included his life-size statue "La Primera" as well as the installation "Globalisation Camouflage" made in Dehua, China. His work "Triade" was also selected to participate in the XIV Biennal Internacional de Ceràmica de Manises 2019. In the summer of 2018, his work "Votive Wall" received the 2nd prize in the 38 Concurso Internacional de Ceràmica-CICA 2018", in L’Alcora, Spain. He participated with his work "Metallic Idols" in the Ceramic Art Andenne 2018 Triennial, ("Contemporary Expressions of Italy", curated by Martha Pachon Rodriguez) in Andenne, Belgium. Selected to represent Italy in the European Ceramic Context 2018 Open Call exhibition in Bornholm, Denmark, he presented the installation "Jingdezhen Quintet". Other group exhibitions include the 2nd Porzellanbiennale in Meissen, Germany, the Italian biennial, “Ceramics in Love”, 58 Mostra della Ceramica in Castellamonte and "Tra-Vasi ovvero Vasi Comunicanti, contenitore e contenuto nella ceramica contemporanea" in the Nobile Contrada del Nicchio in Siena. "Deconstructing the Conversation" at Morgan Glass Gallery in conjunction with NCECA in Pittsburgh, PA, USA included three of his figurative pieces.
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Earlier solo shows include "Idols + Divinities" at Heidmann Art Salon, Haw Contemporary, Kansas City, MO, USA (2018), and "Humanae Terrae", his 2-person show with the Spanish artist, Sophie Aguilera Lester, curated by the director of the Museo Internazionale della Ceramica of Faenza, Claudia Casali, at the Honos Art Gallery in Rome, Italy (2017). His fellowship residency at Red Star Studios in Kansas City culminated in a solo show "Humankind:The Sublime & the Ridiculous" in 2016. He was also visiting artist at Kansas State University (2015), a summer resident artist at The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts (2012), Guest Artist in Residence at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia (2011) and artist in residency at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild (2011).
