| Nicola Toffolini was born in 1975 in Udine, Italy. He still lives and works there. Nicola Toffolini’s work is characterized by an exact aesthetic and a prolific use of transparent cases. Toffolini uniquely combines synthetic materials such plexiglass and glazed propylene with natural forms. Some of his pieces suggest the use of fluorescent light or halogen lamps. Despite his use of these materials in combination with sensors, timers, loudspeakers, and CD players, natural elements ironically pervade his work. The unexpected presence of these forms surprises the viewer. Whereas living organisms usually enjoy the freedom of life in the wilderness, Toffolini ’s nature remains trapped within boxes. It is transformed into a precious but lifeless commodity. Toffolini’s work examines how nature exists in the contemporary world. In particular, he explores how it is artificially preserved and transplanted into sterile environments. The transparent cases that contain the natural elements create tension between natural growth and artificial cultivation. The elements Toffolini places in these cases (such as halogen lamps and irrigation systems) emphasizes nature’s newly dependent state. Rather than human existence depending on nature, nature now depends on human cultivation for survival. In some of his pieces, the natural element also depends on the presence of the viewer (Naturale che piove: fare il bello e il cattivo tempo, for example). Toffolini’s work, which at first appears stiffly structured upon geometrical grids, ironically mirrors nature and its susceptibility to external alterations. Why does Toffolini create such complex apparatuses? What is the purpose of his work? The answer, if there is one, can be located in the experience of viewing and creating. For the audience, Toffolini’s work reveals relationships between elements of intrinsically different natures. His transparent enclosures act as "didactic transparencies" that elucidate latent truths. For the artist, it represents the challenge of the creative process. Toffolini’s work attempts to mimic the true Model of Nature but also attempts to re-model it. In the end, Toffolini’s work interprets the relationship between natural and artificial life. Angela Serino |
| Nicola Toffolini - Selected Group Exhibitions | |
2010 |
Still in Motion - The 10th Anniversary, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Roma (Italy) |
2009 |
Greenhouse (Autumn) Bonetto Toffolini Viale, PAV Parco Arte Vivente, Torino (Italy) |
| New Italian Epic, Brown, Milan (Italy) | |
| Roots/Radici, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Madrid (Spain) | |
| Plenitudini, Galleria delle Logge dei Balestrieri, San Marino (San Marino) | |
| Green Platform. Arte Ecologia Sostenibilità, Centro Cult Cont Strozzina, Firenze (Italy ) | |
| Principi di Responsabilità, Furini Arte Contemporanea, Arezzo (Italy ) | |
| Still in Motion - The 10th Anniversary, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy) | |
2008 |
Summer Kisses, Palazzo Lucarini, Comune di Trevi, Perugia (Italy) |
| Summer Kisses, Museolaboratorio-ex manifattura tabacchi, Città Sant'Angelo, Pescara (Italy) | |
| Soft Cell. Dinamiche nello spazio, Galleria comunale d'arte contemporanea, Monfalcone, Gorizia (Italy) | |
| Notgallery, Artecontemporaneamodernaroma, Roma (Italy) | |
| Allarmi 4, Caserma de Cristoforis, Como (Italy) | |
| Arrivi e partenze, Mole Vanvitelliana, Ancona (Italy) | |
| Il rimedio perfetto, Galleria Riccardo Crespi, Milano (Italy) | |
2007 |
Art(verona, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Verona (Italy) |
| Open Air, Orto Botanico, Parma (Italy) | |
| Drawing Out, Biagiotti Progetto Arte, Firenze (Italy) | |
| Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Is There Anybody Out There?, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy) | |
| Wundergarten. Il giardino delle meraviglie., Orto Botanico, Palermo (Italy) | |
| Bazarone (Notfiera), Lanificio 25, Napoli (Italy) | |
| Insiumus-Projet, Colonos di Villacaccia, Lestizza (Italy) | |
| Toffolini-Cvijanovic-Uzunovski-Interview, Accademia di Belle Arti, Napoli (Italy) | |
| On, Piazza Verdi, Bologna (Italy) | |
2006 |
Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) |
| Fragment Show, Viafarini, Milano (Italy) | |
| Contatto Contemporaneo On Video, SPAC - Spazio per l'arte contemporanea, Buttrio, Udine (Italy) | |
| Quaranta per Quaranta. Circa, PAD, Verona (Italy) | |
| Media 06. L'arte della città digitale, Galleria d'Accursio, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Premio Razzano, Rocca dei Rettori, Benevento (Italy) | |
| MiArt, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Milano (Italy) | |
| Fruz: una nuova generazione di artisti, Sala Antiche Mura, Monfalcone (Go) (Italy) | |
| Fabrizio Braghieri / Nicola Toffolini: Contrasto, Stile BK, Torino (Italy) | |
| Riparte, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Napoli (Italy) | |
| Tende a infinito, Palazzetto Tito, Venezia (Italy) | |
| Tende a infinito, Fond. Bevilacqua La Masa-Palazzetto Tito, Venezia (Italy) | |
2005 |
XXII Premio Oscar Signorini dedicato alla Bioarte, Studio D'Ars, Milano (Italy) |
| Il serafico succedaneo, Galleria Pier Giuseppe Carini, San Giovanni Valdarno (Ar) (Italy) | |
| L'immagine sottile: disegni per una collezione, Galleria Comunale d'Arte Contemporanea, Monfalcone (Go) (Italy) | |
| Sinnaturismo, Castello di Rivara, Rivara (To) (Italy) | |
| Il senso del corpo, Galleria San Fedele, Milano (Italy) | |
| Immersioni emersioni, Colonos, Villaccia di Lestizza, Udine (Italy) | |
| Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) | |
| Carta bianca, Galleria Nuvole artecontemporanea, Montesarchio (Bn) (Italy) | |
2004 |
Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) |
| XIV Quadriennale, Palazzo delle Belle Arti, Torino (Italy) | |
| Framework - strutture del desiderio, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy) | |
| MiArt, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Milano (Italy) | |
| Maravee Clorofilla, Villa Ottelio-Savorgnan, Ariis di Rivignano - Udine (Italy) | |
| Glass Paper, Andrea Arte Contemporanea, Vicenza (Italy) | |
| Arco, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Madrid (Spain) | |
| Mehrlicht: Targetti Light Art Collection at MAK, MAK, Wien (Austria) | |
| Biennale Adriatica di Arti Nuove, S. Benedetto del Tronto (Ap) (Italy) | |
| Katacomben und Granaten, Völkermarkt (Austria) | |
| WallPaper, GAMEC, Bergamo (Italy) | |
2003 |
Targetti Collection at Chelsea Art Museum, Chelsea Art Museum, New York (USA) |
| Hicetnunc, Torre Scaramuccia, San Vito al Tagliamento (Italy) | |
| The Digital Mother, Galleria Inga Pin, Milano (Italy) | |
| MiArt, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Milano (Italy) | |
| Arte Fiera, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Bologna (Italy) | |
| I Care Because You Do, Galleria Contemporaneo, Mestre (Italy) | |
| Fil rouge 03, Galerie Renè Steiner, Erlach (Switzerland) | |
2002 |
TECHNE O2 - tra arte e tecnologia, Spazio Oberdan, Milano (Italy) |
| 42° Premio Suzzara, Galleria Civica d'Arte Contemporanea, Suzzara (Mantova) (Italy) | |
| Art of Light, from Targetti Art Light Collection, Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw (Poland) | |
| Last Minute, Vecchio Ospedale Soave, Codogno (Lodi) (Italy) | |
| In ralenti, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venezia (Italy) | |
| Arte Fiera, Targetti Sankey, Bologna (Italy) | |
2001 |
Sistemi analogici, Galleria Otto arte contemporanea, Bologna (Italy) |
2000 |
84° Collettiva dei giovani artisti, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venezia (Italy) |
| On the Rocks, saggi sull'immortalità dell'arte, Palazzo Frisacco and Palazzo Gortani, Tolmezzo (Udine) (Italy) | |
| CarPark, Chateau St. Gerlach di Houthem, Maastricht (The Netherlands) | |
| Nicola Toffolini - Selected Solo Exhibitions | |
2009 |
Bradisismica, Biagiotti Progetto Arte, Firenze (Italy ) |
2008 |
Oltre la siepe, Rocca Estense, San Martino in Rio, Reggio Emilia (Italy) |
2007 |
Crescere come un pesce fuor d'acqua, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Roma (Italy) |
| Tradire il fare, Not Gallery, Napoli (Italy) | |
| L'erba del vicino è sempre più verde, Istituto italiano di cultrura, Ljubljana (Slovenja) | |
2006 |
Parassita si nasce, Placentia Arte, Piacenza (Italy) |
2005 |
Forzatamentealverde, SpazioFVG - Villa Manin, Passariano (Udine) (Italy) |
2004 |
Centometriquadri di verde acido, LipanjePuntin artecontemporanea, Trieste (Italy) |