Luca De Leva (1986 Milan, Italy) lives and works in Milan.
De Leva moves within the liminal space where contemporary art ceases to be a mere object of contemplation, becoming instead a relational device and an anthropological inquiry. His practice finds its conceptual core in Thyself Agency, a project-platform structured as a paradoxical “travel agency” for the inner self. Through this framework, De Leva proposes a series of exercises aimed at disrupting the mechanisms of habit and daily automatism. Among the most radical protocols is the temporary life exchange: an experience in which participants abandon their routine to immerse themselves entirely in someone else’s, adopting their schedules, spaces, and relationships. This shift in identity is not intended as a simple performative fiction, but as a profound and unsettling journey of self-exploration.
Through the mechanism of Thyself Agency, De Leva deconstructs the romantic idea of isolated authorship, utilizing the codes and structures of service provision to convey experiences of intimacy and vulnerability. By transforming the gallery space into the nerve center of this Situationist agency, the artist analyzes the identity constructs and interpersonal bonds of our time.
Luca De LevaLogo
2023
Graphite on wall
330 x 170 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De Leva
Luca De LevaLista Persona_Emma
2023
Epson print on canvas paper
144 x 103 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaTenda di Pantaloni
2023
Pure wool
115 x 185 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaThy
2023
Backpack, hat brim
49 x 27 x 34 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaDistribuzione
2023
Dehydrated pig nose, pouch, bills
100 x 23 x 15 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaDistribuzione
2023
Plastic, resin, paper
55 x 50 x 40 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaDistribuzione
2023
Wood, bag, paper
53 x 43 x 46 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaLa caduta del Cielo
2023
Acrylic on cardboard
76 x 80 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaO
2022
Tafin ceramic
ø 26 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaLa Nuca di Fiammetta di Spalle all’Obiettivo
2023
Charcoal, chalk, pastels and graphite on paper
76 x 80 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De LevaFiammetta in Canottiera davanti allo Specchio nel Bagno
2023
Charcoal, chalk, pastels and graphite on paper
76 x 80 cm
Unique
Photo by Alice Moschin
Luca De Leva (1986 Milan, Italy), lives and works in Milan.
TEACHING
2026
Performative techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
FOUNDATION international course at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
2025
Performative techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
FOUNDATION international course at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
Summer workshop of painting and drawing at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
2024
Performative techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
FOUNDATION international course at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
2023
Performative techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
FOUNDATION international course at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
Integrated expressive techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
2022
Performative techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
Integrated expressive techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
2021
Performative techniques at Accademia IED Aldo Galli, Como, Italy
EDUCATION
Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, Italy
Academy of Visual Art, Leipzig – HGB, Germany
SOLO SHOWS
2026
THYSELF AGENCY TALK, Portofranco, curated by Rossella Farinotti, Castelfranco Veneto, Italy
2025
THYSELF AGENCY INFO POINT, Portofranco, curated by Rossella Farinotti, Castelfranco Veneto, Italy
THYSELF AGENCY VIDEO CALL, performance, Alma Pearl Gallery, London, UK
Thyself Agency OPEN-AIR INFO POINT, Marseille, France
Thyself Agency INFO POINT, curated by Acid Tank, Reggio Emilia, Italy
Thyself Agency INFO POINT, INVISION, Milan, Italy
2024
Thyself Agency performance delle due rose, Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
Thyself Agency INFO POINT, Cremona art week, Italy
Thyself Agency INFO POINT, miart art fair, Milan, Italy
Thyself Agency INFO POINT, BiM, Milan, Italy
2023
Thyself Agency INFO POINT, Genoa, Italy
Thyself Agency INFO POINT, Milan, Italy
www.thyself.agency, Pinksummer, Genoa, Italy
2019
È stato bello pensarti, ADA, Rome, Italy
Hai paura dell’uomo nero? Curated by Daniela Zangrando, Museo Burel, Belluno, Italy
2018
TWO, VR projectroom, Manifesta, collateral event, Palermo, Italy
2017
Ultime Volontà, ADA, Rome, Italy
Cronache da un altro Occhio, performance, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli, Italy
2016
Ricreazione, Studio Amaro, Neaples, Italy
Horses and Virgin Marys. Sentimentally inspired by Arnaldo Badodi, INPRATICA project in Giuseppe Iannaccone Collection, Milan, Italy
2015
ThySelf Talk: Chronicles from another eye, performative conference, Museo Villa Croce, Genoa, Italy
Requiem, Basilica S.Marco, project with Artache, Milan, Italy
2014
Fiammetta dixit, Cura.basement, Rome, Italy
Ceci n’è pas, Private house, project with Artache, Vienna, Austria
2013
Ho perso gli anelli, ma mi restano le dita, Room Galleria, Milan, Italy
Blarney 5×3, Almanac Projects, London, UK
2012
ThySelf, De Walvisch Culture Ship, London, UK
2011
Thy Self Talk, Zicohouse, Beirut, Lebanon
2009
Ottut, Room Galleria, Milan, Italy
GROUP SHOWS
2025
Journeys/Viaggi, Alma Pearl Gallery, London, UK
2024
Supercondominio curated by Treti Galaxie and Fondazione CRT LATANA, Milano Triennale, Italy
2023
Postcards from Genova, Wouters Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
Their Volumes, Artworks from Cristella Collection, curated by Treti Galaxie, Piacenza, Italy
2019
Straperetana curated by Saverio Verini, Pereto, Italy
2018
C’est toi ou c’est moi? Curated by Luca Gennati, Fondazione Pini, Milan, Italy
Rosina #1, Limone, London, UK
2017
Self-care while smoking, TILE + CLOG, CLOG, Turin, Italy
Viva arte viva curated by Treti Galaxie, Future Dome, Milan, Italy
Glimmerate, Marsèlleria New York, New York, USA
Collezione Agovino – Frammenti di Paradiso, Le Scalze, Neaples, Italy
2016
Encounters program, performance, Central Saint Martin’s, London, UK
2015
Rob Pruitt’s flea market, A plus A, 56th Venice Biennale, Italy
Italia Happening, 21er Haus, Vienna, with Yes I am Writing A Book, Austria
Club of matinee Idolz, Co2, Turin, Italy
2014
Keep it real, Ventura XV, Milan, Italy
Studio visit on Cura, web project
LDL, performative lecture at Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy
2013
Corso Aperto, curated by Simone Menegoi, Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Como, Italy
Do you know because I tell you so or do you know, do you know?, Viafarini, Milan, Italy
2012
Straight Up, project by Elena Tavecchia and Alice Conconi, Family Business New York, USA
80, GUM studio, Turin, Italy
Record, curated by GUM studio and Gianandrea Poletta, Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa, Venice, Italy
Underneath the Street, the Beach, curated by Benoit Antille, Michele Fiedler, Andrey Parshikov, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
Polline e cerniere, Anonima Nuotatori, for Bureau for Art Nerds, Istituto Svizzero, Casa Morigi, Milan, Italy
Better than beter, Anonima Nuotatori, Copenhagen Place, London, UK
2011
MotelLucie, Artissima LIDO, Turin, Italy
Aghilisti, GUM Studio, Artissima LIDO, Turin, Italy
Run3, Room Galleria, Milan, Italy
Studiovisit.it, G.C.A.C. Monfalcone curated by Andrea Bruciati, Monfalcone, Italy
De dreit Nien – Serpi corallo, Anonima Nuotatori, Spazio Borgonovo, Museo Pecci, Milan, Italy
Born in Harem, Klenova, Czech Republic
After Prisma, Villa Romana, Florence, Italy
Tu Mi Piaci, workshop curated by MotelLucie, Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza, Italy
Exploding Fluid Inevitabile, Anonima Nuotatori, Piscine Caimi, Milan, Italy
2010
Il raccolto d’autunno, curated by Chiara Agnello and Milovan Farronato, Viafarini/Docva, Milan, Italy
Certo Sentimento, curated by Frank Boehm, Turin, Italy
Armless monkey suck bananas from bananos, GUM studio, Carrara, Italy
Titolo Grosso, Cripta 747, Turin, Italy
Arte desputatio, Miart, curated by Milovan Farronato, Milan, Italy
RESIDENCIES, WORKSHOPS
2013
CSAV Fondazione Antonio Ratti, workshop with Mat Mullican, Como, Italy
Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’arte, workshop with Marta Kuzma, Turin, Italy
2012
Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’arte, workshop with Tim Rollins & K.O.S. Turin, Italy
Artegiovane, Global Art Program, London, UK
2011
Zicohouse, Beirut, Lebanon
Klenova Castle, Klenova, Czech Republic