Cesare Viel (1964 Chivasso, Italy), lives and works in Genoa.
Since his debut in the late 1980s, his research has revolved around the practices of installation and performance, weaving together various techniques and expressive media such as video, photography, drawing, writing, and orality.
Over the years, Cesare Viel has exhibited his works in institutional spaces such as the 48th Venice Biennale (1999), the Villa Croce Museum of Contemporary Art (2008), and the PAC in Milan, which dedicated a solo exhibition and a monographic catalog to him in 2019, published by Silvana Editoriale. In 2021, the artist was among the winners of the tenth edition of the Italian Council.
Cesare Viel
The Monster
2025
Ink, graphite, and coloured pencils on paper
50 x 70 cm
Unique
Cesare Viel
Una lettera a Emily Dickinson
2024
Graphite, charcoal, and colored pencils on paper
108 x 148 cm (framed)
Unique edition
Cesare Viel, L’Inaspettato, Pinksummer – Sanfermosette, 2023. Exhibition view. Photo © Alice Moschin.
Cesare Viel, Corpi estranei: toccare un tesoro, Fondazione Sicilia, 2023. Exhibition view. Photo © Fausto Brigantino.
Cesare Viel, Corpi estranei: toccare un tesoro, Fondazione Sicilia, 2023. Exhibition view. Photo © Fausto Brigantino.
Cesare Viel
Corpi estranei
2022
Carpet with lettering
200 x 300 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Toccare un tesoro o un mistero
2022
Ink, graphite, charcoal, and pencils on paper
108 x 148 cm (framed)
Unique edition
Cesare Viel, Corpi estranei: in un punto del mondo, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, 2022. Performance view. Photo © Alberto Cajigal.
Cesare Viel, Corpi estranei: in un punto del mondo, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, 2022. Performance view. Photo © Alberto Cajigal.
Cesare Viel, Corpi estranei: in un punto del mondo, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, 2022. Performance view. Photo © Alberto Cajigal.
Cesare Viel
Frasi nell’aria
2022
Performance at Fondazione Pietro e Alberto Rossini, Briosco (Monza Brianza)
3 PVC banners printed on both sides
130 x 650 cm
Photo © Sofia Brogi
Cesare Viel
Frasi nell’aria
2022
Performance at Fondazione Pietro e Alberto Rossini, Briosco (Monza Brianza)
3 PVC banners printed on both sides
130 x 650 cm
Photo © Sofia Brogi
Cesare Viel
Massi da scogliera 1
2021
Coloured pencils and graphite on paper
56 x 76 cm (framed)
Unique edition
Cesare Viel, Scrivere il giardino, Pinksummer, 2020. Exhibition view. Photo © Alice Moschin.
Cesare Viel, Scrivere il giardino, Pinksummer, 2020. Exhibition view. Photo © Alice Moschin.
Cesare Viel, Lost in Meditation, PAC, 2019. Exhibition view. Photo © Nico Covre.
Cesare Viel, Il giardino di mio padre, PAC, 2019. Performance view. Photo © Lorenzo Palmieri.
Cesare Viel, Luca Vitone, Ab Urbe Genua Duo Lykanthropi Romae, 2017. Exhibition view. Photo © Francesco Cardarelli.
Cesare Viel, Luca Vitone, Ab Urbe Genua Duo Lykanthropi Romae, 2017. Exhibition view. Photo © Francesco Cardarelli.
Cesare Viel, Luca Vitone, Ab Urbe Genua Duo Lykanthropi Romae, 2017. Exhibition view. Photo © Francesco Cardarelli.
Cesare Viel, Infinita ricomposizione, Pinksummer, 2015. Exhibition view. Photo © Alice Moschin.
Cesare Viel
Infinita ricomposizione 3
2015
Collage
52,9 x 43 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Infinita ricomposizione 4
2015
Collage
52,9 x 43 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Infinita ricomposizione 5
2015
Collage
52,9 x 43 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Qui ancora presenti
2012
Silkscreened lettering on sandblasted glass, metal supports (1960s)
39 x 90 x 90 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Solo ciò che accade
2010
Amrapur carpet, hand-woven Himalayan wool (made in Rajasthan, India)
170 x 300 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Alluvioni Universali
2010
Print on TNT
15 x 245 cm
Edition of 3
Cesare Viel
Echi di Rumori scomparsi
2010
Audio cd
9’19”
Edition of 10
Cesare Viel, Pinksummer, 2008. Exhibition view. Photo © Alice Moschin.
Cesare Viel
Mi trovavo a casa
2008
MP3 recording, grey iPod Shuffle
Edition of 3
Cesare Viel
Progetto Bachmann
2006
Marker on paper
100 x 200 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel, To the Lighthouse. Cesare Viel as Virginia Woolf, 2005. Performance view.
Cesare Viel
To the Lighthouse. Cesare Viel as Virginia Woolf
2005
Digital colour print framed in plexiglass
114 x 103 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Sogno campana
2005
Digital colour print framed in plexiglass
163 x 124 cm
Unique edition
Cesare Viel
Operazione Bufera
2003
Colour photo print framed in plexiglass
124 x 87 cm (framed)
Edition of 3
Cesare Viel (1964 Chivasso, Italy), lives and works in Genoa.
SOLO SHOWS AND PERFORMANCES
2023
L’inaspettato, Pinksummer Contemporary Art – Mr Lawrence, Milan, Italy
Corpi estranei, curated by Elisa Fulco and Giulia Ingarao, Villa Zito, Palermo, Italy
In un punto del mondo, curated by Maria Jesus Silvente and Giulia Ingarao, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, Spain
Frasi nell’aria, curated by Francesca Guerisoli, Fondazione Pietro e Alberto Rossini, 10th edition of the Italian Council, Briosco (Monza Brianza), Italy
2022
Corpi estranei (workshop, performance and new models of artistic production), Fondazione Pietro e Alberto Rossini, Briosco (MB), Italy / Centre Pompidou, Málaga, Spain / Villa Zito – Fondazione Sicilia, Palermo, Italy
Condividere frasi in un campo allargato, Galleria Milano, Milan, in collaboration with Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
2021
Fuori base dentro base, Base/Progetti per l’arte, Florence, Italy
2020
Scrivere il giardino, Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
2019
Più nessuno da nessuna parte, curated by Diego Sileo, PAC, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
2017
Dar conto di sé. Figure, corpi, parole nell’opera di Cesare Viel, curated by Francesca Pasini, Fondazione Pier Luigi e Natalina Remotti, Camogli, Italy
A passage to Camogli with Virginia Woolf, with Francesca Pasini, Teatro Sociale, Camogli, Italy
Ab urbe Genua duo lykanthropi Romae (with Luca Vitone), Pinksummer goes to Rome, Rome, Italy
2016
Verso Jorn, curated by Paola Valenti, Casa Museo Asger Jorn, Albissola Mare, Italy
2015
Infinita Ricomposizione, Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
Gropius-Wittgenstein, in the context of Performance-Architecture, curated by Barbara Fassler and Domenico Lucchini, Teatro San Materno, Ascona, Italy
2014
Nel nome del Padre (with Luca Vitone), Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Montevideo, Uruguay
Virginia ai panni vecchi, curated by Antonio Leone, Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo, Italy
Tirandosi in disparte il più possibile, cacciandosi il più possibile in un punto nascosto (lecture/performance), curated by Paola Valenti, in collaboration with Villa Croce-Museo d’Arte
Contemporanea e Università di Genova, Aula Magna, Faculty of Literature, Genoa, Italy
2013
Il sogno di una cena (performance), curated by Ilaria Bonacossa, Villa Croce-Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Genoa, Italy
Tales and Things (with Donatella Landi), curated by Martina Adami and Maura Favero, Museo Laboratorio d’Arte Contemporanea, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
2011
Facciamo fluire via le nostre frasi, curated by Francesca Guerisoli, Fondazione Pietro Rossini, Briosco, Italy
2010
Solo ciò che accade, curated by a.titolo, CeSAC-Il Filatoio di Caraglio, Caraglio, Italy
Giorno e notte, Casabianca, Bologna, Italy
2009
Cul de sac (performance in the context of a project curated by Eva Marisaldi), Fondazione Galleria Civica, Trento, Italy
2008
Cesare Viel, Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
Cesare Viel. Mi gioco fino in fondo. Performance e installazioni, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea-Villa Croce, Genoa, Italy
2007
Un appuntamento (performance), Public gardens, rue des Ecoles, Paris, France
Di nuovo una voce persiste (performance), Nuovo Teatro Colosseo, Fondazione Baruchello, Rome, Italy
2006
Progetto Bachmann (performance), curated by Carla Subrizi, Fondazione Baruchello, Rome, Italy
2005
Sogno Campana (performance and installation), curated by Roberto Daolio, Rocca Sforzesca, Imola, Italy
2004
Cesare Viel, Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
Tu che mi hai disegnato, curated by Guido Curto, Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy
To the Lighthouse. Cesare Viel as Virginia Woolf (performance and installation), curated by Mario Lupano and Daniela Lotta, Teatro degli Atti, Rimini, Italy
2003
Accendere una lampada e sparire (performance), Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan, Italy
Operazione Bufera (performance), KleinKunstTheater, Bozen, and Fondazione Baruchello, Rome, Italy
2001
VIM. Very Italian Macho (with Luca Vitone), Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan, Italy
Didascalies (with Delphine Coindet and Samy Engramer), curated by Hélène Chouteau, La Galerie, Noisy-le-Sec, France
Cesare Viel, Galleria Il Graffio, Bologna, Italy
1999
Lost in meditation (performance), Palazzo Nervi, Turin, Italy
Una frase per lo specchio di Hyperion e altri lavori, Galleria Antonella Nicola, Turin, Italy
Ritratto di un amico (performance), Hotel Roma, Turin, Italy
Trois artistes italiens (with Stefano Arienti and Annalisa Cattani), curated by Gabi Scardi, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Paris, France
1998
Seasonal Affective Disorder, curated by Giorgio Verzotti, Galleria Artra, Milan, Italy
Le canzoni liberano la testa, Galleria Il Graffio, Bologna, Italy
1997
Una stanza per sé, Galleria Paolo Vitolo, Milan, Italy
1996
I folletti irritati (performance), Arte Fiera, Bologna, Italy
1994
Viaggiatori/Viaggiatrici, curated by Francesca Pasini, Galleria Paolo Vitolo, Milan, Italy
1992
La comunità sintattica, Galleria Paolo Vitolo, Rome, Italy
1993
Esecuzioni comunicative, Galleria Paolo Vitolo, Milan, Italy
1991
Fra teatro e autografia, Galleria Neon, Bologna, Italy
1990
Noi gestiamo il disordine quotidiano del pensiero, Galleria Paolo Vitolo, Rome, Italy
1989
L’arte di fare facciate, Studio Oggetto, Milan, Italy
GROUP SHOWS
2024
I’m gone. Do you remember me?, curated by Zasha Colah e Francesca Verga, AR/GE Kunst, Bozen, Italy
2019
Artissima Telephone, curated by Ilaria Bonacossa and Vittoria Martini, OGR, Officine Grandi Riparazioni, Turin, Italy
Iniziamo da qui, curated by Lorenzo Bruni, Galleria Frediano Farsetti, Milan, Italy
Insomnia Cookies, curated by Antonio Leone and Paola Nicita, Museo Internazionale delle marionette, Palermo, Italy
L’Ultimo Espaliù e il contesto italiano, curated by Raffaele Quattrone, Rosalia Banet, Prieto Soutu, Real Academia de España, Madrid, Spain
Artworks that ideas can buy, curated by Cesare Pietroiusti, Oplà-Performings activities, Arte Fiera, Bologna, Italy
Esercizi quotidiani, curated by Luca Vitone, MoRE, Museum of refused and unrealised art projects
2018
100% Italia. Cent’anni di capolavori, Museo Ettore Fico, Turin, Italy
Pictorial Goose Turn, Pinksummer goes to Palermo, Galleria Pinksummer, Palermo, Italy
2017
Deposito d’Arte Italiana Presente, curated by Ilaria Bonacossa and Vittoria Martini, Artissima 2017, Oval, Turin, Italy
Per una lezione di meno. Performative Lecture no. 1, curated by Rachele Palma, Ca’ Tron, IUAV, Venice, Italy
2016
Frammenti di storie all’ascolto, curated by RAM radioartemobile and Zerynthia, Casa di Reclusione di Paliano, Paliano, Italy
Studi Aperti, curated by Francesca Gattoni and Andrea Grotteschi, various venues, Ameno, Lago d’Orta, Italy
Start Up. Quattro agenzie per la produzione del possibile, curated by Maria Alicata and Carla Subrizi, Fondazione Baruchello, Rome, Italy
2015
Collezionare il futuro. 40 anni della collezione di Sergio Bertola, curated by Chiara Oliveri Bertola and Ilaria Bonacossa, Villa Croce, Genoa, Italy
Zoom. Fotografia italiana dalla collezione Remotti, curated by Francesca Pasini, Fondazione Remotti, Camogli, Italy
2014
Apulia Land Art Festival, curated by Francesca Guerisoli, Bosco di Cardigliano, Specchia, Italy
Ha visto i colori divini del lago di Costanza?, curated by Caterina Benvegnù, Spazio Thetis, Venice, Italy
Calcio d’autore, curated by Cecilia Casorati and Anna Cestelli Guidi, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy
2013
Les Oiseaux, curated by RAM, Nuit Blanche, Gaité Lyrique, Paris, France
2012
Forte Piano. Le forme del suono, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva and Anna Cestelli Guidi, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy
2011
Hear me out, curated by Cecilia Casorati and Claudio Libero Pisano, CIAC, Castello Colonna, Genazzano, Italy
Il Belpaese dell’Arte, curated by Giacinto Di Pietrantonio and Cristina Rodeschini, GAMEC, Bergamo, Italy
2009
Living with, Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Milan, Italy
Archetime, curated by Cecilia Guida, Tank Space, New York, United States of America
Camuflajes, curated by Maite Méndez Baiges, Pedro Pizarro, Carla Subrizi, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain
2008
Per adesso noi siamo qua, curated by Lorenzo Bruni, Villa Romana, Florence, Italy
2007
La parola nell’arte, MART, Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Italy
2006
Il vuoto al centro, curated by Emanuela De Cecco, Municipality of Montesilvano, Italy
Natura e metamorfosi, curated by Marisa Vescovo,Urban Planning Exibition Center, Shanghai; Millenium Art Museum, Beijing, China
2005
Aperto per lavori in corso, curated by Francesca Pasini and Lucia Matino, PAC, Milan, Italy
The Gesture, curated by Sergio Risaliti, Marina Fokidis, Dafne Vitali, Quarter, Florence, Italy
2004
Dimensione follia, curated by Roberto Pinto, Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea, Trento, Italy
The Mythological Machine, curated by Francesco Manacorda, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, United Kingdom
2003
Imperfect Marriages, Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan, Italy
Fragments d’un discours italien, Mamco, Geneva, Switzerland
Moltitudini/Solitudini, curated by Ginevra Sergio Risaliti, Museion, Bozen, Italy
2002
Vis à vis. Autoritrarsi d’artista, curated by Saretto Cincinelli and Cristiana Collu, MAN, Nuoro, Italy
2001
Short Stories, curated by Roberto Pinto, La Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan, Italy
My Opinion, curated by Francesca Pasini, Palazzo Lanfranchi, Fondazione Teseco per l’Arte, Pisa, Italy
2000
Fuori Uso 2000 – The Bridges, curated by Emanuela De Cecco, Hou Hanru, Helena Kontova, Andreas Schlaegel & Angela Rosemberg, Lungo Fiume Sud, Pescara, Italy
1999
Oreste alla Biennale, curated by Harald Szeemann, 48th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Luogo Comune. Luoghi, storie e memorie nella e della città, curated by Gabi Scardi and Alessandra Pioselli, Openspace, Milan, Italy
1998
Subway, curated by Roberto Pinto, Metropolitana Milanese, Milan, Italy
La Ville, le Jardin, la Mémoire, curated by Carolyn Christov Bakargiev, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Laurence Bossé, Villa Medici, Accademia di Francia, Rome, Italy
Bù, curated by Sergio Risaliti, Palazzo delle Papesse, Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, Italy
Disidentico, maschile femminile e oltre, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Palazzo Branciforte, Palermo, Italy
1997
Des Histoires en Formes, curated by Gabi Scardi, Mari Linnman, Ingrid Martraix, Le Magasin, CNAC, Grenoble, France
Modi e luoghi, curated by Roberto Pinto, La Posteria, Milan, Italy
Officina Italia, curated by Renato Barilli, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna and other venues, Italy
1996
Ultime generazioni, 12th Quadriennale d’Arte, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
1995
Aperto Italia ’95, curated by Francesco Bonami, Emanuela De Cecco, Helena Kontova, Gabriele Perretta, Sergio Risaliti, Marco Senaldi, Trevi Flash Art Museum, Trevi, Italy
1994
Soggetto/Soggetto, curated by Francesca Pasini and Giorgio Verzotti, Castello di Rivoli, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rivoli, Turin, Italy
Europa ’94. Junge europäische Kunst in München, Galerie Gögger, Munich, Germany
1993
June, curated by Olivier Zahm, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Nuova ingegneria per l’osservazione e lampi di genio, curated by Sergio Risaliti, Villa Montalvo, Campi Bisenzio, Italy
1992
Molteplici Culture, curated by Carolyn Christov Bakargiev, Ludovico Pratesi, Museo del Folklore-Convento di Sant’ Egidio, Rome, Italy
D’ora in avanti, curated by Renato Barilli, Fondazione Michetti, Francavilla al Mare, Italy
1991
Medialismo, curated by Gabriele Perretta, Galleria Paolo Vitolo, Rome, Italy
1990
Italia ’90, ipotesi arte giovane, La Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan, Italy
1989
Yuppara, curated by Elio Grazioli, Enrico Pedrini, Gabriele Perretta, Ex Ospedale Psichiatrico, Genoa, Italy
Metessi, curated by Gabriele Perretta, Galleria Lidia Carrieri, Rome, Italy
1988
Gallery as artwork, Galleria Diagramma-Luciano Inga-Pin, Milan, Italy
Agire il mondo, curated by Chiara Guidi, Palazzo Mediceo, Seravezza, Italy
Cesare Viel
Si può tremare per una frase. Testi performativi 1990-2024 , 2026
Postmediabooks
Language: Italian
Pages: 192 (51 ill.)
ISBN: 9788874904400
Cesare Viel
Corpi estranei, 2023
Silvana Editoriale
Edited by Elisa Fulco, Giulia Ingarao, Antonio Leone
Pages: 64
Language: Italian/English
ISBN: 9788836654345
Cesare Viel
Più nessuno da nessuna parte, 2019
Silvana Editoriale
Edited by Diego Sileo
Pages: 224
Language: Italian/English
ISBN: 9788836643769
Cesare Viel
Azioni (1996 – 2007), 2008
Silvana Editoriale
Edited by Carla Subrizi
Pages: 141
Language: Italian
ISBN: 9788836608928
