Michele D’Avenia
Artist Bio Artist Work
Michele D’Avenia is a contemporary Italian artist. He was born in Sesto San Giovanni (Milan) on December 9, 1964, and currently lives and works in Messina. After completing high school, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Reggio Calabria and briefly attended the Free School of Nude Drawing. Disappointed by this experience, he distanced himself from the academic sphere and independently pursued the study of painting techniques and the masters of the past. This led to his interest in decoration and the restoration of antique paintings. He began collaborating with specialized workshops and, at the same time, carried out significant work in the fields of decoration and set design. These activities supported his creation of paintings and sculptures, to which he eventually dedicated himself full-time.
His works often use refined techniques and a strong sense of realism to present emotionally powerful imagery, evoking feelings and sensations tied to everyday gestures and fleeting, captured moments. Within the intimate spaces of the feminine soul, D’Avenia moves with technical mastery—evident in his use of light, blending the styles of Caravaggio and cinematic lighting—to uncover emotions of love within domestic simplicity: from subtle and refined eroticism to romantic revival, from desperate longing to seduction and disillusionment. He follows a path akin to Jack Vettriano, though while the Scottish artist draws upon Hopper and the “American scene,” D’Avenia has chosen the “Italian scene” (L. Barbera).
Awards
2004
Arte Mondadori Prize
Exhibitions
Present
Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
Ric Michel Fine Arts, Southampton, NY, USA
2019 - 2021
Cavalier Gallery, New York, USA
2019
Contemporary Realisms, Cavalier Ebanks Galleries, Greenwich, CT
2013
“La bellezza è possibile,” Palazzo Reale di Palermo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
2012
Selected by Whirlpool for the “Brief Roadshow 2012”; one of his works was acquired by the Whirlpool Museum
2011
54th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Arcidiocesi di Messina, Messina, Sicily, Italy
1998
One of the artists who represented Sicily at the Columbus Citizen Foundation Inc.
1994 - 1999
Created scenography for the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina in collaboration with the Teatro La Scala in Milan