Spazio Siderale is the exhibition that retrieves the photographs taken by Luigi Ghirri of the master Omar Galliani in 1991 while he was making the majestic third curtain of the Romolo Valli theater in Reggio Emilia.

The exhibition brings together the works of Maestro Galliani created around the same curtain from private collections, from the Galliani archive and kindly granted to be shown to the public. It also offers a selection of photographs by Luigi Ghirri taken from the book Spazio Siderale, a courser publisher, available in the gallery and in specialized bookstores. Furthermore, a special box has been created which contains, in addition to the volume, a photograph by Luigi Ghirri and a lithograph specially created by Maestro Galliani.

​

Biographical Notes

Born in 1954 in Montecchio Emilia, where he lives and works, Omar Galliani graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and teaches painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Brera.

In 1978 Enrico Crispolti invited him to the Michetti Award with the installation Portrait of a lady with a unicorn. In 1979 he was invited by Luciano Francalanci for Italy  at the 1st International Triennial of Drawing at the Kunsthalle in Nuremberg where he received the Faber Castell Prize and in the same year Demetrio Paparoni invited him to create a site specific installation, La dea raised his forehead, in the ancient  Fonte Aretusa and in the Archaeological Museum of Syracuse. He is invited to  The Alternative Del Nuovo by Giovanni M. Accame  at the Palazzo Delle Esposizioni in Rome. Still in 1979, Flavio Caroli invited him to Il Nuovo Context at Studio Marconi in Milan and in 1980 to Nuova immagine on the occasion of the XVI Triennale di Milano, then in Magico primary at the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara and in 1981 in Encyclopedia, The magical primary in Europe at the Civic Gallery of Modern Art of Modena. He also participates in Art and criticism 1980 at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, curated by Giorgio De Marchis and Ida Panicelli, presented by Giovanni M. Accame. In 1981 he was invited by a scientific committee coordinated by Nello Ponente to Lines Of Artistic Research in Italy  1960/1980. In 1982 he was invited to Generations in comparison. Tribute to Nello Ponente at the University of Rome La Sapienza, curated by Simonetta Lux and in Art and Critics at Marshall Field's in Chicago, curated by Ida Panicelli.

Present in three editions of the Venice Biennale, in 1982  in Aperto '82 curated by Tommaso Trini, in 1984 with a personal room in the Art in the mirror section curated by Maurizio Calvesi and in 1986 in Art and alchemy curated by Arturo Schwarz. In 1982 he was invited to the Italian pavilion at the São Paulo Biennials in Brazil and in Paris, both curated by Bruno Mantura, then in Tokyo for one hundred years of modern Italian art 1880-1980 curated by Giorgio De Marchis and subsequently in the museums of contemporary art in Kyoto, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, as well as at the 7th British International Print Biennale in Bradford curated by Robert Hopper. Later he participated in Italian Art 1960-1982 at the Hayward Gallery in London by a scientific committee composed of Renato Barilli, Flavio Caroli and Roberto Sanesi, in two editions of the Rome Quadriennale (1986 and 1996) at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and at the Gallery National of Modern Art. In 1985 he exhibited in the contemporary art museums of Frankfurt, Berlin, Hanover and Vienna on the occasion of 1960-1985 Aspekte der Italienischen Kunst curated by Peter Weiermair.

In 1984 he exhibited at Arnold Herstand in New York, with the cycle of works Cavaliere d'ellissi. In the same year Veit Loers invited him to Umgang mit der Aura at the Städtische Galerie in Regensburg. In 1985 he participated in L'Italie aujourd'hui at Villa Arson in Nice, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Maurizio Calvesi, Antonio Del Guercio and Filiberto Menna and the following year he created and exhibited with Studio Alchimia Mobile d'Italia in the Alchimia exhibition 1977-1987 in Turin curated by François Burkhardt and Alessandro Mendini. Also in 1986 he was invited to the Eighties by Renato Barilli, Flavio Caroli and Claudio Spadoni in the Gallery of Modern Art in Bologna. In 1987 in Aosta, in the museum of the Tour Fromage, he presented The dark side of the shadow, curated by Janus.

In 1996 he was invited to exhibit in the Chamber of Deputies with the acquisition of the work Disegno, for his participation in the XII Quadrennial of Rome, an exhibition curated by Vittorio Sgarbi,  at the Marian Locks Gallery in Philadelphia where he presents a series of new works entitled Faces, curated by Anthony Iannacci. In 1991 he was entrusted with the construction of the third curtain for the historic Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia, by Flaminio Gualdoni, title of the work  Siderea, the photographic documentation is entrusted to  Luigi Ghirri. In the same year the  Kodama Gallery in Osaka invites him to Now In Italy / Post Transavanguardia.

In 1995 he was invited to All roads lead to Rome at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, and the following year the Gallery of Modern Art in Bologna exhibited seven of his great drawings on the theme of the Angels in the exhibition, at the inside the Itineraries cycle, is curated by Dede Auregli and Italo Tomassoni. Subsequently, the Museum of Villa Adriana in Tivoli, with the patronage of the La Sapienza University of Rome, hosts Per Adriano, curated by Otello Lottini, Claudio Strinati and Italo Tomassoni. In the same year he presents Feminine Countenances at New York University and in 2000 Still new stars at the Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing curated by Monica Dematté, the same exhibition will subsequently be presented in the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia. He is invited to the IX Biennial of sacred art in San Gabriele (Teramo), curated by Maurizio Calvesi and Elena Pontiggia. Among the following main collective exhibitions: Ambienti al Palazzo delle Stelline in Milan, curated by Pierre Restany; Drawings at the Civic Gallery of Modena, curated by Flaminio Gualdoni; at the Pac in Milan he takes part in Sui Generis. In Portugal Turning Point in the museum of Palacio Foz in Lisbon, curated by Lucrezia De Domizio Durini; Glassway at the Regional Archaeological Museum of Aosta, curated by Maurizio Sciaccaluga, then  at the Museum of Modern Art in Budapest.

In 2002 he presented Omar Galliani. The light of matter at the National Archaeological Museum of Villa Giulia in Rome e  Tarquinia, edited by Otello Lottini and a text by Claudio Strinati. In 2003 he was invited to the 1st Prague Biennale curators Giancarlo Politi, Elena Kontova and Tomas Vlcek and to the 1st Beijing Biennale with the work  Short History of Time, where he wins the first prize. The same year he exhibited twenty-one drawings entitled Disegnata at the Galerie Ernst Hilger in Vienna. In 2005, at the State Archives of Turin, he presented the installation Grande Disegno italiano, an event in which a  drawing, graphite on wood measuring 5 x 6 meters is brought into contact with a preparatory study for Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks by  Royal Library. Also in 2005 he exhibited New Anatomies at Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia curator Sandro Parmiggiani, in the same year New flowers, new saints at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Guadalajara Mexico. Inaugurates the Spazio Mazzotta in Milan with The daughter was naked and a story by Giorgio Soavi.  Peter Weiermair invites him to contemporary Bologna at the Bologna Modern Art Gallery.

From 2006 to 2008 the traveling exhibition Italian Design curated by Fiorella Minervino was hosted in the main contemporary art museums in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Nanjing, Jinan, Chengdu, Dalian, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Tientsin. The University and the Museum of Modern Art of Caracas presents Drawing then  subsequently at the Hassan Museum in Rabat in April 2007. Great Italian drawing, already exhibited in Turin in 2005, was presented in 2006 at the Palazzo della Permanente in Milan as part of the exhibition Beauty curated by Ivan Rizzi, texts in Philip's catalog Rylands and Italo Tomassoni, then at the Palazzo della Ragione in Verona in the exhibition Il seventh splendor curated by Giorgio Cortenova.

In 2007 it inaugurated  Between East and West at the Querini Stampalia Foundation, one of the collateral events of the 52nd Venice Biennale. The event, organized with the patronage of the Chinese Embassy in Italy, in collaboration with the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and with the government of the People's Republic of China, sees the presence of the Association of Chinese artists and the hospitality of the museums of Shanghai, Ningbo, Dalian, Xian, Hanghzou, Jinan, Chengdu and Wuhan, texts in the catalog by Flavio Caroli, Fiorella Minervino, Omar Galliani. In 2008, in Honk Kong,  Schoeni Art Gallery presents Omar Galliani. Great Italian Drawing. In the same year, the National Uffizi Gallery in Florence exhibited and acquired the work for its own collections  Nocturne (triptych, pencil on board, 251 x 701 cm). In September, at the Correggio athletics track (Reggio Emilia), he creates a great work of land drawing art that can be consulted and viewed  from Google Earth inspired by Antonio Allegri, In the sign of Correggio.

In 2009 the K35 Art Gallery in Moscow presents a  his solo show in collaboration with Mazzotta Art Selection, the Michetti Foundation of Francavilla al Mare dedicates to him the retrospective Sguardi curated by Giovanni Gazzaneo, in the catalog of poems by Roberto Mussapi and Davide Rondoni. In the same year, the Angle Art - Led Attitude & Design of Saint-Paul-de-Vence hosted a personal exhibition of his, Omar Galliani slow return,  subsequently the new Angle Art & Design space is inaugurated, again in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, within which Space Galliani opens, which permanently collects his works. Also in 2009 the Shangheye Gallery in Shanghai presents Lontano da Xian and the Italian Cultural Institute in Vienna hosts In the sign of Correggio. In Lucca, at Villa Bottini and in the Archaeological Museum of Palazzo Guinigi,  presents From the rooms of my drawings by Alessandro Romanini, in Venice the work Respiro pencil on wood, 400 x 400 cm in Détournement in the ancient Hospice of San Lorenzo, a collateral event of the 53rd Biennale. Venice also hosts Santa Apollonia. Omar Galliani and a few teeth by Andy Warhol, texts in the catalog by Flaminio Gualdoni, Raffaele Morelli and Gabriele Perretta, in the Diocesan Museum.

In 2010 the Italian Cultural Institute of Bogotá (Colombia) inaugurates 21 dibujos para una noche en Bogotá and the Borges Museum in Buenos Aires hosts the exhibition entitled Nocturno curated by Alessandro Romanini and Maurizio Vanni, later transferred to the Museum of Contemporary Art of San Juan and that of Rosario (Argentina). The India Theater in Rome presents The drawing is on stage and the Lu.CCA Museum the site-specific work Le mura di-Segno by Maurizio Vanni. In May, the Musée d'Art Moderne in Saint'Etienne Métropole dedicates a large retrospective to him entitled Dans mon tirir à dessins, curator Lóránd Hegyi.

2011 begins in China with the Chinese Diary exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in the Italian district of Tianjin and at the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing, curated by Manuela Lietti. At the Museum of Modern Art in Lagos (Nigeria) Galliani is invited to Crosscurrents, Italy-Nigeria. The MOA (Museum of Art) of the National University of Seoul, a new exhibition venue designed by the archistar Rem Koolhaas, invites him to exhibit his most recent large-scale works: the event, entitled Seoul / Soul, is curated by Lóránd Hegyi and the director of the Korean museum Hyung Min Chung in collaboration with Lucio Izzo, director of the Italian Cultural Institute. Also in 2011, at the Ofok Gallery (National Gallery of Contemporary Art) in Cairo, Galliani exhibited together with the artist Essam Marouf a series of new works, the exhibition curated by Marinù Paduano, text in the catalog by Lóránd Hegyi. In Milan, at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, Bellini, Botticelli, Pollaiolo are inaugurated. Unveiled masterpieces by Omar Galliani curated by Lóránd Hegyi, Fiorella Minervino and Annalisa Zanni. Then the Diocesan Museum of Padua exhibits From the code of the angels by Andrea Nante. The Other Side of Russia project was inaugurated in Milan by Mazzotta Art Selection and later in the year of Italy-Russia  in Venice during the Biennale, Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto and later  as a special event at the IV Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art. In July 2011 one of his large plates "From the Code of the Angels"  it was acquired by Antonio Paolucci for the contemporary art collections of the Vatican Museums.

In 2012 the Academy of Fine Art of Carrara invited him with D'après Canova / Omar Galliani, works 1977-1980 at Palazzo Binelli, curated by Lucilla Meloni; in the same year Nocturno is at the Museum of Modern Art in Montevideo, then at the Pablo Atchugarry Foundation in Punta del Este and at the Centro Cultural Palacio de la Moneda in Santiago de Chile; then Omar Roma Amor at the Bilotti Museum in Rome, curated by Gabriele Simongini. In July the artist inaugurates the 58th Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago with the installation Grande Disegno italiano, while in September The Male, the Female, the Sacred opens. Omar Galliani in Dialogue with the Drawing Tradition in the new CAFA Art Museum designed by Arata Isozaki in Beijing, curated by Manuela Lietti and Wang Huangsheng. In London, at the Italian Cultural Institute, he exhibits Siamese Drawing  in the contemporary art collections of the Farnesina. In November, it opens  Permanent Center of Gravity, personal exhibition at the MAGA of Gallarate by Flavio Caroli.

In May 2013 at the Moscow State Historical Museum the inauguration of Face and Soul, 48 Russian female faces gathered in a single large installation panel, a project curated by K35 Art Gallery; in summer Venice hosts The Dream of Eurasia. 987 Testimonials. The Italian Attitude at Palazzo Barbarigo Minotto (collateral event of the 55th Venice Biennale, promoted by the Mazzotta Foundation, curated by Leonardo Rotatori).  room Princess Lyu Ji's dream in the Chinese Room of the Florian Café, for the XII edition of  Temporary; the catalog is edited by Stefano Stipitivich and Andrea Formilli Fendi, with an unpublished poem by Roberto Mussapi. In December the K35 Art Gallery in Moscow presents a new cycle of works: New Mantras for Moscow.  In March 2014 he inaugurates L'opera al nero. Omar Galliani at the GAM in Turin, exhibition curated by Danilo Eccher. In July Galliani meets Morandi in Grizzana Morandi, in the Casa Studio Giorgio Morandi, in the barns of Campiaro, a tribute to the artist 50 years after his death and in August in Corciano PG participates in the 50th edition of the festival with the exhibition Omar Galliani . Peruginesca. In November he presents the work Berenice at the CIAC Museum of Modern Art in Foligno and in December the Nuovi Mantra at the Bel-Air Fine Art Gallery in Gstaad, Switzerland. On the occasion of Arte Fiera 2015 he exhibited for the first time his travel notebooks Croquis de voyage at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. In May he participates in the collective Imago Mundi - Luciano Benetton Collection: Praestigium Italia at the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation in Turin and at the Tianjin International Design Week 2015 (22-27 May) with Omar Galliani: Drawings between tradition and innovation. In May he inaugurates two exhibitions on Lake Maggiore: one in Cannobio Omar Galliani. On your steps, the other of graphics in Ghiffa Omar Galliani. Other signs for new dreams and in June an important exhibition illustrating his relationship with the East at the CAMeC in La Spezia (Omar Galliani… in the East) curated by Marzia Ratti. In September, Omar Galliani opens at the Civic Aquarium of Milan. The drawing in the water, with installation by Mario Botta. The exhibition promoted by the Municipality of Milan and Expo in the city is also divided into a second location, the Conca dell'Incoronata in Via San Marco, with an outdoor exhibition of a site-specific work. In December at the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia inaugurates an important exhibition that dialogues with the ancient drawings of the collections: The continuous line. Drawings from Lelio Orsi to Omar Galliani. 2016 opens with the Omar Galliani exhibition. Mystical ecstasy and creative fullness. For Santa Teresa d'Avila at the Tempietto del Bramante (seat of the Spanish Academy) in Rome. In June the exhibition Spazio Siderale | takes place at Vicolo Folletto Art Factories in Reggio Emilia Luigi Ghirri and Omar Galliani, recalling the creation, in 1991, of the curtain for the Teatro Valli by Omar Galliani with unpublished photos by Luigi Ghirri.