Paolo Medici

Paolo Medici (1955, Rome), through his works, brings significant innovation to the technique of frottage. He learned this technique from Maestro Corrado Cagli, attending his studio from 1970 to 1976, observing him at work and thereby refining his own studies. Medici was captivated by the frottage technique and adopted it as his exclusive medium. He mastered it with exceptional skill and creativity, creating paintings whose visual effect evokes the same density and clarity as oil brushstrokes. His works, however, are made with oil wax pastels rubbed onto thin sheets of paper, allowing the underlying cliché (printing plate/matrix) to emerge, experimenting to achieve more compact patterns and more intricate textures.

Since 2000, his artistic path has undergone a major turning point, definitively embracing figuration and primarily depicting faces—signs of the soul. He considers himself an emotional realist; what he seeks to represent is emotion. While he draws inspiration from what he sees around him, his personal thoughts serve merely as a starting point and source of inspiration for his exploration of humanity and the human condition.

Since 1990, he has lived and worked in Bologna.

His exhibition activity began in 1975. He has held numerous solo exhibitions in museums and public and private galleries in Italy and abroad, and today his works belong to important international collections.