Barbara Pietrasanta

Barbara Pietrasanta is an Italian contemporary artist based in Milan. Graduated in Sculpture from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, she lived and worked in New York in the 1980s, where she held her first exhibitions in the West Broadway galleries and developed her figurative language.

Her work spans oil painting on large-format canvas, fresco and installation. Her main cycles — Shipwrecks (Naufragi), Awakening (Risvegli), Black in Blue and Elsewhere (Altrove) — explore the female figure, identity and the contemporary condition. Her works are held in public collections including the Collezione Farnesina in Rome, the Museo della Permanente in Milan, the Provincia di Milano at Palazzo Isimbardi, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in New Delhi and the M.I.M.A.C. in Alessano.

She teaches Communication Design in the Master's programmes at the Politecnico di Milano. She is also co-founder and Creative Director of Anyway, a Milan-based communication agency — a dual practice that places her in a distinctly Warholean dialogue between art and visual culture.

As Francesco Poli writes: "Barbara Pietrasanta's figurative style is clear and precise, but her paintings suggest a vision of reality that is loaded with fascinatingly complex existe...

Barbara Pietrasanta was born in Milan and graduated in Sculpture from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. In 1984 she moved to New York, where she developed her personal artistic project, exhibiting in the West Broadway galleries and learning fresco technique from Antonio Romano.

Back in Milan, she has exhibited internationally in New York, San Francisco, Zagreb, New Delhi, Jaipur, Barcelona, Milan, Rome, Turin and many other cities. She was invited by Christie's to participate in the charity installation Red Windows alongside internationally renowned artists, and by UNICEF for a group show in New York.

Her fresco works include the Via Crucis cycle for the Sacra Famiglia Church in Cinisello Balsamo, Milan, and a full-scale reproduction at the Parroquia Jesús Divino Maestro in Huacho, Perù. Her works are held in public collections including the Collezione Farnesina in Rome, the Museo della Permanente in Milan, the Provincia di Milano at Palazzo Isimbardi, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in New Delhi, the M.I.M.A.C. Museo Internazionale di Arte Mariana in Alessano and the Palazzo Comunale di Tricase (Lecce).

She teaches Communication Design in the Master's programmes at the Politecnico di Milano. She is co-founder and Creative ...

Selected Exhibitions 2006–2026:

2026 — "Risvegli", Sala Veratti, Varese. Solo show. Critical essay by Francesca Pensa.

2025 — "Ora e sempre. Quando l'arte è testimonianza", Casa della Memoria, Milan. Group show curated by Francesca Pensa and Giorgio Seveso.

2025 — "Se", Museo della Permanente, Milan. Two-person show with Pino di Gennaro.

2024 — "Corpo a corpo. Linguaggi nella figurazione", Studio Arti Visive, Matera. Group show.

2024 — "Prospettive", Galeriile de Artà ale Academiei Române, Bucharest. Group show curated by Lisandru Neamtzu.

2024 — "Ma/donne", Galleria Silvy Bassanese, Biella. Group show.

2023 — "Fabrica", Passante Ferroviario, Stazione Garibaldi, Milan. Group show.

2023 — "Canto Civile", Bipielle Arte, Lodi. Group show.

2023 — "Riscoprire Ciri", Casa della Memoria, Milan. Group show.

2022 — "Naufraghi e naufragi", Galata Museo del Mare, Genoa. Curated by Elisabetta Polezzo.

2022 — "Canto Civile", Casa della Memoria, Milan. Group show.

2021 — "Naufraghi e naufragi", Acquario Civico, Milan.

2021 — "Windows", Studiodieci, Vercelli.

2021 — "Artisti per Dante", Museo della Permanente, Milan / Rocca Malatestiana, Fano.

2021 — "Femminile plurale", Artepassante, Milan. Group show.

2019 — "Between", Rassegna ...