Giulia Piscitelli explores the para­dox­i­cal aspects of con­tem­po­rary liv­ing through a diverse selection of media ranging from draw­ing, video, paint­ing, pho­tog­ra­phy, and per­for­mance. Her art­work, often full of humor and some­times marked by a note of melan­choly, reflects on the clash between the polit­i­cal dimen­sion and sub­jec­tiv­ity through themes of mem­ory, the pass­ing of time, cor­po­re­al­ity, and ill­ness.

Often the objects and materials that Piscitelli uses in her work—such as books, textiles, and old clothes—are those found or collected over many years. Piscitelli embraces the prosaic by embalming, erasing, restoring, and revisiting everyday objects and in the process imbues them with alternative meanings. Through this process Piscitelli meditates upon the complex relationship between labor, subjectivity, and gender, often making reference to symbols found within in her Italian cultural history and often with a pointed relation to masonry or, more generally, to ‘work’. Within these processes Piscitelli often inserts her own presence, emphasizing the tension between mundane action and its alienation from the ‘correct’ context.

Piscitelli was born in 1965 in Naples, Italy, where she lives and works. Her works have been included in exhibitions at the Venice Biennale (2011), The Fondazione Giuliani, Rome (2011), Kunsthalle Basel (2010), the Berlin Biennial (2008), and Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2007).