Paolo Bielli was born in Rome. He graduated from the Art School and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. He studied with the engraver Guido Strazza. His first performances, developed as happenings around a dark figure, appeared under the name “Klaus” and were photographed by Mauro Baldrati in a feature in the magazine “Frigidaire” (no. 34, September 1983), entitled Roman Nights. Selected by Guido Strazza, he participated in a group engraving exhibition in Biella in 1987. Since the 1980s, Bielli has been working with spray paint on the glossy images of glamour magazines, anticipating the Italian Low-Brow movement; a period known as “Beauty/Dal bello”. He exhibited at Vincenzo Mazzarella’s gallery in 2005 under the title “Sapone”, arousing the interest of critics and the press. Pier Paolo Pancotto (in “L’Unità”, 4 October 2005, “When the beauty business becomes art”). Marco Schifano brought him back to his studio for an installation on the theme of AIDS. During these years, he exhibited at Electronic Art Café (2007), curated by Achille Bonito Oliva. Between 2009 and 2010, he became part of Ovidio Iacorossi's private collection. In 2009, he created silhouette-characters for Vladimir Luxuria's theatrical production "La donna uomo." It was Luxuria who recommended him to Vittorio Sgarbi for the Italian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale, where he presented the work "Ring," a circle of knives from which the superhero "Pugile Rosa" was later born. As a fighter, he participated in the 2014 MAAM project "Banlieusart," curated by Giorgio De Finis, and in 2018 he exhibited at the Macro.
In 2019, he covered part of the floor of the GAM in Rome in a two-person exhibition with Susanne Kessler entitled Wechselspiel.
One of his works is part of the collections of the MU.SP.A.C. in L'Aquila, the MAAAC in Cisternino, and the Boxing Museum in Assisi.
In the midst of the pandemic, he exhibited at the PAN Museum in Naples in 2020; a solo show on the theme of COVID-19, "Napoli in Ring," combining his early work with the concept of boxing on large perfume advertising panels. In April 2024, he tirelessly exhibited a series of 50 works, culminating in a performance in which he repeatedly struck 7 felt figures with 13 medals... throwing away the crown. AOC Galleria Bruno Lisi.
"Apnea" (2005) is the title of his solo exhibition at Storie-Contemporanee, showcasing his early works, begun in the 1980s, which aimed to transfigure the beautiful faces of male and female models in fashion magazines by deforming them with spray paint, creating a new style.
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