Angelo Filomeno

Smart­Stamp authen­ti­cat­ed Ange­lo Filomeno’s tex­tile ‘paint­ings’ while the works were on view at CHART gallery in Tribeca, New York, in 2021.

Regard­ed inter­na­tion­al­ly as a mas­ter of embroi­dered tex­tile paint­ings, Ange­lo Filomeno’s pre­cise­ly stitched scenes first caught the world’s atten­tion at the 52^nd Venice Bien­nale. Since then, he has con­tin­ued to receive crit­i­cal acclaim for high­ly sym­bol­ic art­works that incor­po­rate a vari­ety of fab­rics and mate­ri­als — includ­ing den­im, shan­tung silk, metal­lic thread, and gem­stones — to cre­ate pieces that are both allur­ing and provoca­tive. Filomeno infus­es his embroi­dery with a deep knowl­edge of art his­to­ry. Of par­tic­u­lar inter­est are memen­to mori—still-life paint­ings pop­u­lar in ear­ly mod­ern Europe meant to serve as reminders of our mor­tal­i­ty and the tran­sience of earth­ly goods.

Filomeno received his MFA from the Acad­e­my of Fine Arts in Lec­ce, Italy, and has a back­ground as a tai­lor and cos­tumer. In addi­tion to solo muse­um exhi­bi­tions at the Fon­dazione Museo Pino Pas­cali, Italy, Savan­nah Col­lege of Art and Design, Frist Cen­ter for the Visu­al Arts, Ital­ian Cul­tur­al Insti­tutes, NY and Toron­to, his work has been includ­ed in group exhi­bi­tions at the Muse­um of Arts and Design, NY, Blaf­fer Gallery at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Hous­ton, Grey Art Gallery, New York Uni­ver­si­ty, Katon­ah Muse­um of Art, Hecksch­er Muse­um of Art, NY, and the 52^nd Venice Bien­nale. Filomeno’s work can be found in numer­ous pri­vate and pub­lic col­lec­tions includ­ing the Cen­tre Georges Pom­pi­dou Paris, Muse­um of Arts and Design NY, 21^st Cen­tu­ry Muse­um of Con­tem­po­rary Art, Kanaza­wa, Japan, and the Muse­um of Glass: Inter­na­tion­al Cen­ter for Con­tem­po­rary Art, Taco­ma, among oth­ers. Born 1963 in Ostu­ni, Italy. Lives and works in New York.

Images cour­tesy of the artist.