Maria Primolan

She creates mainly wooden, bronze or terracotta sculptures

Place: Turin, Italy

Maria Primolan was born in 1971 in Turin; she first attended Vittorio Veneto Art School in the Piedmontese state capital, then she graduated in Architecture at Polytechnic of Turin.

Up to 2010 she is mainly involved in furniture design, drawing and producing unique pieces of furniture and artistic handicraft creating many wooden everyday things.

Since 2010 she has gone back to wooden sculpting.

In 2011 she sculpts the bust of Camillo Benso Count of Cavour for the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy. For this sculpture she used a special technique gluing together overlapped boards, each of different thickness and different extract – walnut, durmast, cherry wood; once built the block, it was than sculpted using the traditional tools for wood carving.

Between 2011 and 2012 she creates a panel carving lime wood representing “Supper at Emmaus” for the altar of the church of Trana (Turin). The work is done gluing together many boards and obtaining then a parallelepiped sculpted in high relief.

In 2012 she creates bronze tiles on the main door of Mary’s Nativity Church in Trana representing eight Virgin Mary’s privileges.

In 2013 she opens a laboratory as well as exhibition space in Trana together with Gregorio Balestra: there she works and organizes sculpting and painting courses for children.

In 2015 she creates – together with Gregorio Balestra – the “Formella del Pellegrino” (the Tile of the Pilgrim) for Museo della Sindone (Museum of the Holy Shroud) to celebrate the exhibition of the Holy Shroud; she also creates the wooden carved boxes used for the moving of the Holy Shroud’s full copy.

In 2016-2017 she startes several works inspired to the great musician and artist David Bowie, who died in January 2016, committing herself to the lime wood sculpture “The Angel’s Gift”.

In 2017 she realizes – together with Gregorio Balestra – the wooden monument “La Fonte del Latte” (The Well of Milk) at Municipio di Usseglio (Town Hall of Usseglio – Turin).

In 2017 Maria creates“Bowie Bust of Beckenham-Bromley”, lime wooden bust dedicated to David Bowie entitled “Goodbye Mr Bowie”, exposed at the Library of Beckenham, Borough of Bromley, London.

In 2018 she ends two bust of terracotta dedicated to David Bowie inspired to Scary Monsters Record images, and Space Oddity Cover Record.

In 2018-2020 she created many sculptures portrait dedicated to David Bowie made of clay and raku ceramic.

Exhibitions

Group – 1999, TRACES, Town Hall main hall, Vercelli – Italy

Solo – 1999, UNDER THE WING, Old Church of Usseglio – Italy

Group – 2011, CAVOUR MASTER OF THE WORK, Galleria Subalpina, Turin – Italy

Group – 2011, CAVOUR MASTER OF THE WORK, Cavour Foundation in Santena, Turin – Italy

Group – 2011, I LOVE IT, International Cars Museum, Turin – Italy

Group – 2017, “BOWIE BLACKSTARDUST”, second edition, Galleria Spazio Cima, Rome – Italy

Group: 2018, “Vette D’Arte” seconda edizione, Casa Olimpia, Sestriere, Turin, Italy

Solo : 2018, “David Bowie Sculptures”, Ripley Arts Centre, Bromley, London, UK

Solo : 2018, “Angels – Energy Vision”, Hydroelectric power plant Crot, Enel Green Power, Usseglio, Turin, Italy

Solo : 2018, "The Angel's Gift - Il Dono Dell'Angelo", Chiesa di Santa Croce, Avigliana, To, Italy

Group: 2018, "Subterraneans", Corpo Di Guardia Castello Degli Ezzelini, Bassano Del Grappa, Vi, Italy

Group: 2019, "The Fantastic Voyage starts", Exhibition David Bowie Sculptures, Meander and Mooch Art Gallery, Newark, UK

Solo: 2019, ""Fantastic Voyage", Exhibition David Bowie Sculptures, Dot Athena Art Gallery, London, UK

Solo: 2019, ""The Fantastic Voyage continues", Exhibition David Bowie Sculptures, Matthews Yard, Croydon, UK

Group: 2019, “La Terra Degli Dei”, Gli artisti della ceramica nel Centro Storico di Avigliana, Chiesa di Santa Croce, Avigliana, Turin, Italy

Group: 2019, “#Artslab50”, David Bowie: tribute in paint and sculpture by Sara Captain and Maria Primolan, Ripley Arts Centre, Bromley, London, UK

Group: 2020, “Silhouttes & Shadows”, with Sara Captain, Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, Ireland, Dublin Bowie Festival 2020

Solo 2020, “Word On A Wing”, Exhibition of David Bowie Sculptures, Westminster Library, London, UK

Group: 2020, “The Wall”, Meander and Mooch Art Gallery, Newark, UK

Exhibitions Events

2017 Bowie Beckenham Festival, Beckenham, London, UK

2017 Omaggio a David Bowie, Blah Blah, Turin, Italy

2018  Bowie Convention 2018, Queens Hall, Derby, Uk

2018  Golden Years, Raven Wood School, Bromley, London, Uk

2018  A night of Bowie, Hilton Hotel, Bournemouth, Uk

2018  Omaggio a David Bowie, presso Blah Blah, Torino, Italy

2019  David Bowie Tribute at The Grand, Clapham, London, Uk

2019 Bowie Beckenham Festival, Beckenham, London, UK

2020 Dublin Bowie Festival, Dublin, Ireland

Contests

2011 Sculpting contest “Trucioli d'Artista”, Rivoli, Turin, Italy

2011 Sculpting contest a Pinerolo, Turin, Italy

2011 Sculpting contest, Montricher, France

2011 Sculpting contest di S.Ambrogio, Turin, Italy

2012 Sculpting contest “Bussolegno”, Bussoleno, Turin, Italy

2012 Sculpting contest di Biella, Biella, Italy

2013 Sculpting contest di Pinerolo, Turin, Italy

2014 Sculpting contest di Bussoleno, Turin, Italy

2015 Sculpting contest “Trucioli d'Artista” di Rivoli, Turin, Italy

2016 Sculpting contest "Trucioli d'Artista" di Rivoli, Turin, Italy

2018 Art contest  “Rassegna Artistica Internazionale Vette d’Arte”, Sestriere, Turin, Italy

Awards

2011, Sculpting contest, Montricher (France), audience award

2011, Sculpting contest, Sant’Ambrogio (Turin-Italy), second award

2012, Sculpting contest “BUSSOLEGNO”,Bussoleno (Turin-Italy), second award

2012, Sculpting contest, Biella (Italy), special award of the committee

2018 Art contest “Rassegna Artistica Internazionale Vette d’Arte”, Sestriere, Turin, Italy, second award

Public works

2012, Virgin Mary’s privileges, bronze main door of the Nativity Church in Trana, Turin – Italy

2012, “Supper at Emmaus”, panel of the altar in the Church of the Nativity in Trana – Italy

2015, “Formella del Pellegrino” (the Tile of the Pilgrim), Museo della Sindone (Museum of the Holy Shroud), Turin – Italy

2017, “Goodbye Mr Bowie”, Bowie Bust at Beckenham-Bromley, Beckenham Library, London – UK

2017, “La Fonte del Latte” (The Well of Milk), Municipio di Usseglio (Town Hall of Usseglio – Turin) – Italy

Contacts email: primolanmaria@gmail.com

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