Painter Paolo Fresu was born in Asti on 13 November 1950, where he still lives and works. After graduating from the Turin Art School, he attended the Albertina Academy before leaving his studies to focus on theatre, film and television set design.
His work in scenography includes productions such as Come e perché crollò il Colosseo by Luigi De Filippo in Naples, Grunt by Giorgio Faletti and Andy Luotto in Rome, and the RAI 1 television programme Fantastico 90. With Gruppo Teatro Asti he also designed sets and costumes for The Imaginary Invalid and The Merchant of Venice. He has additionally worked as an illustrator in publishing and advertising.
In 1992 he created the poster and award sculpture for the Astiteatro 14 theatre festival. Three years later he produced a large permanent panel for the entrance hall of Asti railway station to mark the 900th anniversary of the foundation of the municipality. In 1997 he painted the two banners for the Palio di Asti, one of which is preserved in the Collegiate Church of San Secondo.
Since the 1970s Fresu has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Italy. His early production reveals a strong sensitivity to European Expressionism and an interest in experimenting with different materials, colours and pictorial substances. During the 1970s and 1980s he worked with ink and pastel before moving towards collage and mixed-media assemblage with Surrealist influences.
His unique works and screenprints are often enriched with fabrics and fine papers. Kings, queens, puppets, Pinocchio figures, generals, prelates and reinterpretations of famous historical characters populate his paintings. This ironic repertoire becomes an allegory of human life, with each character occupying a role in a world suspended between reality and imagination.
Among his most appreciated subjects are royal couples, zodiac signs, professions and figures wearing traditional Venetian Carnival costumes.
