Simo Neri

Born in Italy, I have lived and worked in California, Paris, and New York. Influenced by these different cultures, as well as by studies in art and philosophy, I have been combining photographic and painting techniques since 1978. I use my camera to capture palettes of colors and textures, creating compositions in rhythmic patterns, and producing works, large and small, for both public and private spaces. Sequential, rhythmic photography allows me to combine painterly elements with a sculptural format, all while working at different scales. The compositions become interactive and meditative, providing a glimpse of the infinite within the physical world. I observe the writing of water on sand, the pattern of bark on a tree, a building’s glass façade, the shimmer of cloth, the veins in a leaf. I experience a different perception of time, not presented in a seamless flow, but as time broken down into moments, captured one after the other. For the last ten years I have been experimenting with printing on a number of different fabrics to create wearable objects, using designs derived from my original compositions. I enjoy the great creative possibilities found by printing my work directly onto fabric. Though I continue to experiment, my favorite product to date is the silk scarf. Wearing a particular composition on one’s body conjures up a personal sense of identity with the colors, design, and graphic content of that composition. My scarves wrap, drape, and hang on the body like banners of belonging.

Simo NERI / San Francisco, 2019

SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS

_WEARING CITIES at NYCxDESIGN (2014), Industry City, NY

_SEQUENTIAL BEAUTY (2009), lot84, Mt. Kisco, New York

_BHU (2007), MyOwnGallery, Milano

_RECENT WORKS (2006-2007), US Eastern District Courthouse, Brooklyn, New York

_SOME OF THE PARTS (2005), Kiesendahl+Calhoun Contemporary Art, Beacon, New York

_ENTRE CIEL ET TERRE (2004), Ministère des Finances, de l’Economie et de l’Industrie, Paris

_KITCHEN WORKS (2003), Bulthaup Bastille, Paris

_INAUGURATION (2003), law offices Eversheds Frere Cholmeley, Paris

_RID’EAU (2002), FIAP Jean Monnet, Paris

_WINTER COLLECTION (2002), Thierry Mugler headquarters, Paris

_BETWEEN THE LINES (2001), Yume Gallery, Tokyo

_VIRTUAL WOOD (2001), Belcher Gallery, San Francisco

_PASSPORT (2001), Fort Mason, San Francisco; Barker Hangar, Los Angeles

_RECENT WORKS (2000), The Presidio, San Francisco

_THE FACTORY AND ITS DOUBLE (1980), Magazzini del Sale, Biennale di Venezia

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

_”SPRING OPEN STUDIOS” (2019), Mission Artists United, San Francisco, CA

_ “FALL OPEN STUDIOS” (2018), Artspan, San Francisco, CA

_”HE LIKED THE ACT OF READING, THE MAGIC OF TURNING SCRATCHES ON A PAGE INTO WORDS INSIDE HIS

HEAD” (2015), Say What Contemporary Art, Tannersville, NY

_SMALLS (2015), Atelier du Fond de la Cour, Paris

_ART CONTEMPORAIN POUR M.R.S. (2014), La galerie du jour Agnès b., Paris

_”WHEN I PAINT A STILL LIFE, I WANT IT TO BE ANYTHING BUT STILL” (2014), Say What Contemporary Art,

Tannersville, NY

_WE LIVE IN A RAINBOW OF CHAOS (2013), Say What Contemporary Art, Tannersville, NY

_MSTADT (2005), Kunsthaus Graz, Austria

_EX-PEAU (2004), Espace Beaurepaire, Paris

_ENTRE 2 (2004), Alliance Française de Paris

_LIFT TO WONDERLAND (2003), Resodiversion, Paris

_CIEL D’INTERIEUR (2002), Hotel Dieu, Brie-Compte-Robert

_GCC /IGS 5 (2000), World Trade Center, Osaka

_GCC /IGS 4 (1999), Museo de Arte Moderna, Toluca, Mexico

_TRANSPOSITIONS (1994), FIAP Jean Monnet, Paris

_GROUP SHOW (1999) Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco

_ARTE E NUOVE TECNOLOGIE (1984), Electrografica, Pavia

_ENVIRONMENT (1980) Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco

_ELECTROWORKS (1980) Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design, New York ;Canadian Center of Photography and

Film ; International Museum of Photography, Rochester, NY

COMMISSIONS

FIAP Jean Monnet, Thierry Mugler, American Express, Macy’s, SO-AN, Bulthaup, Holland + Holland, O’Design,

RATP, Kunsthaus Graz, New York School of Visual Arts