Massimo Vitali

Massimo Vitali is an Italian photographer and known for large-format color photographs of beaches and scenes of mass tourism. Like Martin Parr, Vitali acts as a chronicler of contemporary life. Its panoramic views, characterized by strong colors, depict people who interact with each other as well as with their natural environment. He records his subjects from a long distance, which gives his pictures a touch of voyeurism and distance. In the mid-1990s, he began his photo series of beaches. Later, he expanded the selection of his motifs to swimming pools, winter sports resorts, discos and other places where tourists and relaxation seekers are.

Born in 1944 in the Italian city of Como, Vitali went to London in the 1960s to study photography at the College of Printing. Afterwards, he first worked as a photojournalist and cinematographer for film and television before turning to art photography. His work belongs to the collections of important international museums, including Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Centre George Pompidou in Paris.

Vitali lives and works in the Italian city of Lucca and in Berlin.

CHRONICLE:

1944 Born in Como, Italy

1964 Studied photography at the London College of Printing, London, UK

1979 Was a freelance photojournalist

1989 Was Director of Photography in Advertising and Fiction Films

1993 Started working on large format photography

1995 Began the Beach Series

EXHIBITIONS:

2017

Massimo Vitali - Disturbed Coastal Systems, Benrubi Gallery, New York (solo)

arte! - Uno Spettacolo Italiano, NEXT DOOR by At The Gallery, Antwerp

Vacances, Hotel Fontfreyde - center photographic, Clermont-Ferrand

From the cave to the moon, Centro Pecci, Prato

Domenica, Marcello Farabegoli Projects @ Italian Embassy, Metternich Palace, Vienna

Due South, The Delaware Contemporary, Delaware

I are person, International Photography Center, Palermo

2016

Landscapes with figures, Guidi&Shoen Arte Contemporanea, Genova (solo)

Massimo Vitali, Crown Gallery, Knokke-Zoute, Belgium (solo)

Massimo Vitali, Ronchini Gallery, Londra (solo)

Panorama, Musée d'Art de la Province d'Hainaut, Charleroi

Extraordinary visions. L'Italia ci guarda, MAXXI, Roma

Fascination photography, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Vienna

Progetto Nova, Ex-Ceramiche Vaccari, Santo Stefano Magra

ArteFiera, Studio La Città, Bologna

2015

Com'è Viva la Città, Art & the City 1913-2014, Villa Olmo, Como

Antropia, Eduardo Secci Contemporary, Firenze

Watershed, New Hall Place, Bexley Heritage Trust, London

Enchanting treasures, Gallery Claire Fontaine, Luxembourg

Italia Inside Out, Palazzo della Ragione, Milano

Ieri, oggi, Milano, Mufoco, Cinisello Balsamo

Liberi allti, Museo Ettore Fico, Torino

Industry now, Mast Foundation, Bologna

Massimo Vitali - New Prints, Hilger Next, Vienna (solo)

2014

Massimo Vitali, Studio la Città, Verona Into The White, Erich Lindenberg Art Foundation, Porza (solo)

Sem always more pallide. Towards Achrome, Palazzo Tadea, Spilimbergo (solo)

Miami Projects, Benrubi Gallery, Miami

De Rerum Natura, Studio la Città, Verona

The sea. The Other Landscape, Brandts, Odence

2013

Bird's-Eye View, Westport Arts Center, Westport Looking to Learn/Learning to Look - 25 Years Gallery Clairefontaine, Gallery Clairefontaine, Luxembourg

Photomeetings Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Atomic Love, Palais des Arts et du Festival, Dinard

Reves de Venise, L'Institut Kulturl Bernard Magrez, Bourdeaux

L'Institut Kulturl Bernard Magrez present Rêves de Venise, Bordeaux, France

Between Normalities, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York (solo)

Galeria Claire Fontaine, Luxembourg Art Loft, Berlin, Germany (solo)

Crown Gallery, Brussels, Belgium (solo)

2012

Massimo Vitali, Arcadian Remains, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, USA (solo)

Massimo Vitali: New Works, Brancolini Grimaldi, London, UK (solo)

A meno to not get to a photographer - M & D ARTE, Gorgonzola

By The Sea - Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, Scarsdale, NY

Sense of Place - European Landscape Photography - BOZAR - Palais des Beaux-Arts / Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, Brussels

Segment #2 - Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul

Extraordinary Photographs Iii - Rosier Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Peripheral Visions: Italian Photography, 1950s-Present - Leubsdorf Art Gallery - Hunter College, New York City, NY

Demonstrations. On the becoming of normative orders - Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt/Main

Sense of Place - European Landscape Photography, The Center for Fine Arts - Palais des Beaux Arts, Bozar, Brussels

Shared Space - Photography from 1987 and beyond, PhotoEspana 2012, Real Jardin Botanico, Madrid

Peripheral Visions: Italian Photography 1950-present, Hunter College, New York Shared Vision - The Sondra Gilman and Cleso Gonzalez-Falla Collection of Photography, Aperture Gallery, New York

Demonstration, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt

2011

PHOTOGRAPHY ITALIANA: 8 films for 8 photographers, Auditorium del MAXXI, Rome, Italy

An Italian perpective, curated by Angela Madesani, Studio la Città, Verona, Italy

The Armory Show 2011 - Galería SENDA, Barcelona

An Italian perspective. Ma lo sguardo vede? - Studio La Città, Verona

2010

Massimo Vitali - M+B, Los Angeles, CA

Massimo Vitali - A Touch Of Summer - HilgerBROTKunsthalle, Vienna

Massimo Vitali - Galeria Maior - Palma de Mallorca, Palma de Mallorca

Art Now - The Columns, Seoul

Medianoche in the Ciudad - Centre d'Art la Panera, Lleida

Human Territories Part 2 - Crown Gallery, Brussels

2009

Massimo Vitali - disturbances of reality - hilger contemporary, Vienna

Massimo Vitali - Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam

2008

Massimo Vitali - gallery SENDA-espai 2NOU2, Barcelona

Massimo Vitali - Gallery SENDA, Barcelona

Massimo Vitali - New Works - Crown Gallery, Brussels

Massimo Vitali - M+B, Los Angeles, CA

Massimo Vitali - - Gallery Harbour Judges & Wings

2007

Massimo Vitali - - Artcore Gallery, Toronto, ON

Massimo Vitali - Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, GA

2006

Massimo Vitali - Old Concepts, New Works - The Columns, Seoul

Massimo Vitali - hilger contemporary, Vienna

Massimo Vitali - M+B, Los Angeles, CA

American Beaches - Massimo Vitali - Brancolini Grimaldi - Florence, Florence

American Beaches - Brancolini Grimaldi - London, London (England)

Massimo Vitali: Playas, discos and supermarkets - gallery SENDA-espai 2NOU2, Barcelona

Massimo Vitali - Playas, discos and supermarkets - Gallery SENDA, Barcelona

Massimo Vitali - Crown Gallery, Brussels

2005

Massimo Vitali - Photographs 1995 - 2005 - Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Linz

Massimo Vitali - La Fabrica Galeria, Madrid

2004

Massimo Vitali - Photography - Guidi&Schoen - Arte Contemporanea, Genoa

Massimo Vitali - Mu.ZEE, Ostend

Massimo Vitali - hilger contemporary, Vienna

Massimo Vitali - Hilger modern, Vienna

Massimo Vitali - Centro for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci, Prato, PO

Massimo Vitali - Crown Gallery, Brussels

2003

Massimo Vitali - Galleria Cons Arc, Chiasso

2002

Camere with a view, Il Filatoio di Caraglio, Italy

Continuità: Art in Tuscany 1968-1989, Palazzo Fabroni, Pistoia, Italy

Cache cache, Camouflage, MUDAC Musée de Design et d'Arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne, Switzerland

Trade, Nederlands Foto Institut, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

The Photographers' Gallery Print Room, UK (solo)

Forum Culturel Blanc-Mesnil, Biozones, Bobigny, France

2001

Massimo Vitali - New works - ARNDT, Berlin

Massimo Vitali - All too Human - ARNDT, Berli

2000

Beach & Disco - Galerie Fotohof, Salzburg

Massimo Vitali - Studio Guenzani, Milan

1999

Galerie du Jour Agnès B, Paris, France (solo)

Le Quartz, Brest, France (solo)

In Uso, Museo Michetti, Francavilla al Mare, Paesaggi Italiani del '900, Palazzo dell'Arengario, Milan, Italy

Photography from the Martin z. Margulies Collection, The Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, USA

The Big Picture: Large Format Photography, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, USA

1998

Recontres Internationales de la Photo, Arles, France (solo)

Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York, United States (solo)

Atheneum, Université de la Bourgogne, Dijon, France (solo)

España 98, Madrid, Spain

Italian photojournalism around 1968, Triennale, Milan, Italy

Paesaggi Italiani, Gallery of the Uffizi, Florence, Italy

1997

Photographer's Gallery, London, UK (solo)

Studio Guenzini, Milan, Italy (solo)

Un Paese Unico, Museo Alinari, Florence, Italy

Europe, Encontros de fotografia, Coimbra, Portugal

Postwar Italian Photojournalism, Villa Bottini, Lucca, Italy

Sguardigardesani, with Gabriele Basilico, Museo Civico, Riva del Garda, Italy

1995

Galleria ConsArc, Spiagge Italiane, Chiasso, Switzerland (solo)

1994

Historical Archive of the City of Cologne, East German Panoramas, Cologne, Germany (solo)

1993

Biennial International of Photography, Turin, Italy (solo)