Paola Pivi

The first complete survey of the work of the much-loved and collected contemporary Italian multimedia artist Paola Pivi - with more than 250 images, including previously unpublished work. Published in association with Anchorage Museum, Alaska; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach; [mac] musée d’art contemporain de Marseille; and MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome. Probably best known for her playful, complex installations of life-sized, brightly-hued, feathered polar bears, Paola Pivi has created work across a range of media - including sculpture, video, photography, performance, and installation - throughout her 27-year career. Often using recognisable objects that are modified to introduce new scale, material, or color, her work challenges viewers to rethink their position. This in-depth monograph, made with the close involvement of the artist, is her most substantial publication to date and features more than 250 images, including previously unpublished work, together with five newly commissioned essays giving insight and perspective on her incredibly diverse body of work.

Paola Pivi received the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale in 1999 and has since had many solo museum exhibitions worldwide, most recently: Arken Museum, Denmark (2020); MAXXI, Rome (2019); and SCAD, Savannah, GA (2018). Justine Ludwig is Executive Director of Creative Time. A former curator at Dallas Contemporary and the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, she has curated projects with many artists, including Pivi.