Anna Capolupo

Anna Capolupo (Lamezia Terme, 1983) lives and works in Florence.

She graduated in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. In 2023, she conducted the educational experience “Estate in pittura,” a series of workshops for young people at Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. She won the Behnoode Foundation Prize at The Others Art Fair 2022; she was among the winners of the Premio Nocivelli 2020; winner of the Premio Combat Prize in the graphic arts category in 2016, and finalist for the Premio Terna in 2014. In 2022, she was invited to the international residency program Vis à Vis Fuoriluogo 25, curated by Limiti Inchiusi. In 2019, she was selected for the residency program at LA CASAPARK art residency in New York. She also participated in Landinapainting experiences en plein air in Omegna and the Simposio di Pittura of the Fondazione Lac o Le Mon in San Cesario di Lecce. Anna Capolupo’s research revolves around the life of everyday objects, carefully organized in the tradition of still-life painting, understood as a space where things happen. Her works are characterized by the presence of a platform—a horizontal surface on which childhood toys, plants, and everyday objects rest; items with the power to bend and shape reality. What we see is a theatrical scene, where the ordinary and the prosaic come together to create an extraordinary and enigmatic dimension. The artist’s dreamlike world connects with her personal memories and the daily search for a space where her imagination can free itself from merely representing objects and transform into a place with a surreal atmosphere. The artist’s interest is not so much in investigating dreams for their own sake or delving into their meaning, but in creating another moment—distant from the reality we live every day—a moment enveloped in uncertainty, in the ambiguity of things, and especially the supernatural, which becomes visible to our eyes through interferences, disturbing elements, and “shadows” with a sense of protagonism. This supernatural world emerges from the study of magical-religious rituals that characterize the popular history of Southern Italy and the Global South. Starting from the practice of painting, the artist explores various disciplines, from sewing to installation, ceramics to edible sculptures. For Capolupo, painting is both the starting point and the means by which to investigate the world, a way to jot down thoughts as one would write a diary of their life.