Paola Romano

Paola Romano was born in Monterotondo on September 17, 1951 and was an Italian contemporary painter and sculptor. She was trained in the artistic environment of Rome, a city in which she lived and worked until 2011. In 2012 she moved to her hometown, opening a new studio-showroom embedded in the same ancient village. After a free education at the RUFA (Rome University of Fine Arts) and continuous processes of study and research, Romano began a more active path in the production of works of art of conceptual inspiration, integrating gestural art, material art and poor art. Paola Romano’s works have been included, from the very beginning of her production, in prestigious art collections, both public and private. Among her most celebrated creations stands out the “Lune” series, a sculptural-pictorial cycle that earned her the nickname of “the artist of the Lunes“. Among the other series that accompanied the production of Romano’s work are “planimetries”, “plastics”, “zoom”, the evocative series “frescos”, “gea”, and monochrome works; in addition to her design work, her bronze sculptures and her wearable art pieces such as the noted “jeweled moons”. Always passionate about art, Paola Romano began producing her first works by integrating poor materials, such as clippings from magazines and newspapers, and other common-use materials with painting elements. After a series of group exhibitions and a first solo show in 2000, it was in 2005 that the artist marked her debut in the artistic landscape with an exhibition at the Leoni gallery on Via Margutta in Rome. Paola Romano’s art perfectly blends with cinema and performance thanks to the integration between conceptual and aesthetic research. Thus, in 2014, one of his works of art from the “monochrome” series was featured in a scene of the film “Sotto una buona stella” by Carlo Verdone. Romano’s art can be admired in permanent exhibitions at the Magna Carta Foundation in Rome, the Sala Urbaniana in Vatican City, at the Paolo Angelani municipal library in Monterotondo (Rome), and, always in his hometown, at the Ramarini Theatre and the Civic Tower. Among the awards received are the “Arcaista International Prize” in 2007, the “Approdi d’Autore” award and the “Roma Prize” in 2009. Among the first publications we can mention the monographic catalogue “Esperienze Estetiche” (2006), presented on the occasion of the eponymous solo exhibition at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome, curated by Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi; followed by “Dal Cosmo al Caos” (2007), associated with the solo exhibition at the Sala Urbaniana in Vatican City, and “Quarta Fase Emozioni Plastiche” (2008), with two exhibitions, one in Rome and the other at Castel dell’Ovo in Naples curated by Prof. Elio Rumma. In 2011, the international importance of the artist is evidenced by the invitation to the 54th Venice Biennale curated by Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi. Paola Romano will exhibit, at the Italy Pavilion at the Arsenale, an important and highly appreciated three-dimensional installation in plexiglass and material over two meters high associated with a circle that recalls the Earth. The work is published in the official catalogue of the 54th Biennale “L’arte non è cosa nostra”. Among the international participations: the exhibition in Hong Kong (2007) at the “Cultural Center” opera theater, the exhibition in Los Angeles at “The loft at Liz’s Gallery” (2018), the solo exhibition “Pathos” in New York (2018), the International Expo in Beijing (2017). In 2013 the works of Romano inaugurated the opening of the Roman branch of the Philobiblon Gallery, with branches already in London and New York to which is associated the catalog “Io, Paola Romano”. In the 2014-2015 period, Paola Romano decided to pay tribute to the great masters of poor art by creating a limited production of moons freely inspired by the works of artists such as Emilio Isgrò, Janni Kounellis, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Giuseppe Uncini. Paola Romano died on September 15, 2021. Since 2023, the general catalog has been made public online, managed by the official archive arteromano.net.