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In Armida GANDINI's (b. 1968 Brescia, Italy) artistic practice the themes of social and cultural identity play a central role, which evolve through a variety of media including drawing, photography, installation, and video. Instead of committing to a single medium or narrative form, she adopts a hybrid language, allowing each subject to find its most resonant physical and symbolic expression. Her works often operate as spatial interventions—installations or compositions that embody thought and reflection within the exhibition environment.
Her work is marked by a deep conceptual rigour and poetic sensitivity, often investigating the dialogue between public and private spheres, as well as the intimate processes of self-construction in a shifting social landscape.
The constant interplay between public and private stems from Gandini's attempt to find cultural roots in a context that is increasingly broad and complex from both a social and anthropological point of view. Significant in this regard are the artist's series dedicated to Spiritual Mothers and Fathers, where Gandini pays homage to formative figures in her intellectual and emotional life. These works, grounded in visual gestures of gratitude, explore influence, reverence, and the passage of wisdom across generations.
A recurring thread in Gandini's work is the search for personal and collective origins—a process that reflects broader questions of identity, displacement, and cultural inheritance. This search often unfolds in projects that blur disciplinary boundaries, blending elements of literature, cinema, and visual art.
Since her project (2000) called Il bosco delle fiabe ("The Fairy Tale Forest"), literature and cinema have remained constant reference points in her work, offering a rich and dialectical source of inspiration — from The Forgotten Idiot, a reference to Dostoevsky’s novel, to her more recent homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie. These works illustrate Gandini’s interest in the unconscious and the interior worlds' narrative structures, and how they inform identity construction.
Visually, Gandini's work is both precise and lyrical. Her drawings often convey a delicate tension between the visible and the concealed, while her photographs and video works explore stillness, repetition, and ritual. Her installations frequently integrate textile elements, archival materials, or poetic fragments, creating immersive environments that invite reflection and slow engagement.
Armida Gandini currently lives and works in Verolanuova (BS).
Her artworks has been widely exhibited across Italy and internationally, including at institutions such as MART in Rovereto, Museo Santa Giulia in Brescia, Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin, and the Art Center at Silpakorn University in Bangkok. She has also participated in major art fairs and biennials, and her video art has been featured in numerous festivals, often in collaboration with Visualcontainer.
Recent and duo solo exhibitions include: Standing Up – Coordinates of the Identity, Red Stamp Art Gallery, Amsterdam (2016-2017); A più piani,
Archimania, Sanremo (2017); Di moto infinito"
Collezione Paolo VI, Concesio (2019); Connexxion Part II: Contemporary Art in Savona, Ex Carcere di Sant’Agostino, Savona (2019); Anàstasi. Turbamenti, immersioni, attese, rinascite, Galleria Giovanni Bonelli, Pietrasanta (2022);
Identità e Miti, Oratorio Santa Maria Assunta, Spinea, Veneto (2024); Embryonic Journey, Richard Saltoun Gallery, Rome (2025)
Armida Gandini won several artistic prizes as the Visible White Award (2014) for Mi guardo fuori, and the Paolo VI Prize for Contemporary Art (2018) for her video Pulses. Her work Noli me tangere was acquired by the MAGA Museum after being selected for the Premio Gallarate.