mario
picardo
Mario Picardo,a former student of semiology,photographs,films and collects traces of our society to feed a library of signs and forms at the heart of his many drawings. Educated by American painting and the popular culture of the 90s, he uses this vast survey as a basis for his paintings.
Growing up alongside his father, a house painter, Mario Picardo inherited an attraction for building materials like polyurethane, largely preferred to those of the Beaux-Arts.
The urban landscape is a daily inspiration source for Mario Picardo. Whenever he’s moving in town, he draws his phone to shoot, film and collect hints of our society. Be it a simple food wrap or abandoned object, everything comes together to form a library of clues and shapes fueling the many concepts that will later fill whole sketchbooks.
This is from this well of references that Mario Picardo, himself passionate about semiology, American painting and the 90s’ popular culture, draws the inspiration to paint.
However, his work couldn’t be narrowed to a mere reproduction of what he’s seen and collected in his notebooks : in the serenity of his studio, the painter dedicates all his energy to express the shapes and signs of the city on large canvas, patchworks etc.
In his creations, flashy colors meet with black, sober elements on various supports such as re- coated elements, stretched on frames, paper, fulfilling the artist’s purpose to raise handicraft to the state of art.
Growing up alongside his father, a house painter, Mario Picardo inherited an attraction for building materials, widely preferred over those of the fine arts, and a certain taste for thoroughness.The times he spent in his fathers’ truck, used as a traveling workshop, gave him a taste for optimisation and the reappropriation of spaces and materials.
Condorito 6, 2024
Acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
160 x 120 cm
Fireworks, 2023
Acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
35 x 50 cm
Portrait of Mario Picardo © Photo : Guido Borso
View of the exhibition "Quatre-heures", Galerie Romero Paprocki Paris, 2024
© Photo : Allison Borgo
Extra Time, 2023
Acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
210 x 140 cm
Malabar Express 5, 2022
Acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
200 x 300 cm
Condorito 4, 2024
Acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
175 x 130 cm
Fireworks, 2023
Acrylic and polyurethane on canvas
40 x 50 cm
awards and residencies
2023
Résidence Château de Forbin, Marseille, France
2022
Kith, Paris, France
2021
Fonds de dotations Weiss, Paris, France
2020
Vitrines d’Hiver, Hermès, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, France
2019
Vitrines d’Hiver, Hermès, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, France
Winsor and Newton Residency, Colart Head building, London, UK
solo exhibitions
2024
Sugar Rush, Valerius Gallery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Quatre-Heures, Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2023
Noisy Garden, Long Short Story Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2022
« Catch’em All » , a-topos’ curator, Gaya Goldcymer, Jonathan Taieb, Poush Clichy, France
Kick-Off, Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2021
« Malabar Express », Fonds de dotation Weiss - Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
« Catch’em All », Nanoville film - Poush Manifesto, Paris, France
2020
« Choc Psycko », Karl Marx Studio, Paris, France
« Momentum », a-topos’ curator, Gaya Goldcymer, Jonathan Taieb, Galerie Épisodique, Paris, France
« Saludos Amigos », Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris, France
2018
« The fifth turtle », Galerie P38, Paris, France
collective exhibitions
2024
Collaboration with Valentin Bony, Romero Paprocki
2023
Good Symptoms, Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
The Cuteness Factor, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hongrie
Mixed Pickles 12, Galerie Ruttkowski68, New-York, USA
2022
A Parallel View Point, commissaire Leo Orta, Les Moulins
Noisy Pals, Another Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Blur Me Tender, Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2021
« Daily Cat Essen », Galerie Ruttkowski68, Paris, France
« Both ends burning », La Volonté 93, Saint Ouen sur Seine, France
« So Close II », Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2020
« Cosmopolis », Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
« So Close », Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
« Living Room », Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris, France
2019
« Abstract Expresionism », Quentin Euverte X Mario Picardo feat. Eddie Martinez, Paris, France
« Exposition automatique : pas de raison », Commissariat Lou Ros, Paris, France
« Paris Peinture Plus .2 », Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon, Galerie Slika, Lyon, France
« Paris Peinture Plus », Galerie MR14, Paris, France
« Print Fighter – Round 2 », Galerie 100 titres, Bruxelles, Belgium
« 2nd CAA INTERNATIONAL PRINTMAKING TRIENNALE », Curators : Wernher Bouwens with Marc Desgrampchamps, Dajmel Tatah, Camille Poulie, Edouard Wolton, Baptiste Caccia, Taline Zabounian, Gfeller and Hellsgaard, Damien Deroubaix, Olivier Moriette, PrintJam, Mathilde Ollitraut-Bernard, Miquel Mont, CAAmuseum of Art, Hangzhou, China
2018
« Kissaria Print Exhibition », Curators : Nassim Azarzar, Hicham Bouzid, Amina Mourid, with Guillaume de Ubeda, Antoine Eckart, Yto Barrada, Anuar Khalifi, Theo Ampilhac, Charlotte Pollet, Sandrine Corbin, Soukaina Jaoual, Rita Alaoui, Zinab Benjelloun, Tanger, Marocco
« L’Entre-Deux », a-topos’ curator, Gaya Goldcymer, Jonathan Taieb, Galerie Épisodique, Paris, France
2017
« Post-insulte », curators : Antwan Horfée & Hugo Vitrani, with Alix Desaubliaux, Antwan Horfee, Frédéric Platéus, Jon Pilkington, Ken Sortais, Nicolas Momein, Simone Zaccagnini, SKKi©, Stéphane Calais, Stevie Dix, The Bells Angels, Clichy, France
« Printers Matters 2 », Multiple art days 3, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
« Casse et vole », curators : Stéphane Calais, Antwan Horfée, Hugo Vitrani, with : Aline Bouvy, Stéphane Calais, Idir Davaine, Louis Granet, Antwan Horfée, Renée Levy, Galerie MR14, Paris, France