Arrigo Musti
Born in Palermo, Sicily in 1969. At 28, Musti felt that his passion had remained latent, and left a burgeoning career as a lawyer to study, self-taught, painting techniques and human anatomy. The artist is interested in the “myth” as metaphor and the risk of mores and corruption. Musti has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in contemporary art galleries and museums throughout Italy, France, the Netherlands, England, and the United States. In 2008, Christie’s auctioned a number of Musti’s paintings at The Hague, Holland. In 2009, a solo exhibition, Rain, introduced by the Balzan prize-winning art historian, Maurizio Calvesi, was on view at Wright State University in Ohio, USA. Musti has defined his works as, “a new page in painting and not only Sicilian.” In 2011, he participated in the 54th Venice Biennale – Venice Arsenal – and was named as the best Italian artist by Oscar winning director Giuseppe Tornatore. A solo exhibition, Nameless, was held at the Italian Chamber of Deputies (Montecitorio - Rome), in 2012. Musti has many works on permanent display at museums, public spaces, and private collections. Among them: the International Criminal Court of the Hague (United Nations), the Orestiadi Foundation at Gibellina (Trapani – Sicily), and the Guttuso Museum (Palermo Province). In 2011, he was a finalist in the UNESCO world contest, “Art and Bioethics.” In 2014, he received the International Italy – USA prize of the Homonymous Foundation at the Chamber of Deputies (Rome). In 2014, a solo exhibition was held at the Contemporary Museum of Villa Torlonia in Rome, curated by Lorenzo Canova. The artist also designs with his wife, the architect Anna Russo, a line of interior fittings and majolica furniture, for J&Well, that are displayed at specialized trade fairs in Italy and abroad. Catalogs of Arrigo Musti’s works are available at many bookstores and libraries around the world, including the Yad Vashem library of Israel (Impop Art). His works have been the subject of numerous exhibition catalogs and have been reviewed in Italian and international art and design magazines, monthly and daily newspapers, and dozens of Italian and foreign publications, including UNESCO. Arrigo Musti lives and works in both Rome and Palermo (Sicily).
