Info
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.
CV
Solo Exhibition
Group Exhibition
Award - Residency
2024_ Sugar Rush, Valerius Gallery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
2024_ 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
2022_ Kick-Off, Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2021 _ « Malabar Express », Fonds de dotation Weiss - Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2021 _ « Catch’em All », Nanoville film - Poush Manifesto, Paris, France
2020 _ « Choc Psycko », Karl Marx Studio, Paris, France
2020_ « Momentum », a-topos’ curator, Gaya Goldcymer, Jonathan Taieb, Galerie Épisodique, Paris, France
2020 _ « Saludos Amigos », Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris, France
2018 _ « The fifth turtle », Galerie P38, Paris, France
2024_ Collaboration with Valentin Bony, Romero Paprocki
2023_ Good Symptoms, Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2023_ The Cuteness Factor, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hongrie
2023_ Mixed Pickles 12, Galerie Ruttkowski68, New-York, USA
2022_ A Parallel View Point, commissaire Leo Orta, Les Moulins
2022_ Noisy Pals, Another Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2022_ Blur Me Tender, Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2021 _ « Daily Cat Essen », Galerie Ruttkowski68, Paris, France
2021 _ « Both ends burning », La Volonté 93, Saint Ouen sur Seine, France
2021 _ « So Close II », Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2020 _ « Cosmopolis », Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2020 _ « So Close », Galerie Romero Paprocki, Paris, France
2020 _ « Living Room », Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris, France
2019 _ « Abstract Expresionism », Quentin Euverte X Mario Picardo feat. Eddie Martinez, Paris, France
2019 _ « Exposition automatique : pas de raison », Commissariat Lou Ros, Paris, France
2019 _ « Paris Peinture Plus .2 », Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon, Galerie Slika, Lyon, France
2019 _ « Paris Peinture Plus », Galerie MR14, Paris, France
2019 _ « Print Fighter – Round 2 », Galerie 100 titres, Bruxelles, Belgium
2019 _ « 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
2018_ « 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
2017 _ « Printers Matters 2 », Multiple art days 3, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
2017 _ « 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
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
2019 _ Winsor and Newton Residency, Colart Head building, London, UK
