Michele Del Campo was born in 1976 in San Nicandro Garganico, a small town in rural South Italy. When he was 18 he moved to Milan (Italy), where he started his Fine Art studies, then he went to study in Falmouth (UK), Dundee (UK) and Madrid (Spain). In 2008 he moved to London (UK), where he now lives and works. He has a degree in Fine Arts from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid (Spain, 2007), and a degree in Illustration and Printmaking from the University of Dundee (UK, 2001). Del Campo has had solo exhibitions in Italy, Spain, UK, Switzerland and Peru, and group exhibitions around Europe, US and Asia, and has won many art prizes, among which the 35.000 Euros Premio BMW in 2006, given by Queen Sofía of Spain.
In his ongoing series of paintings “Daydreamers”, he generally depicts an idle and melancholic youth, beautiful and kissed by the bright Mediterranean sun, but they appear aloof and immersed in an unfulfilled inner world. In his other ongoing series “Life on the edge” he expresses, in a more dramatic form, the isolation, the loneliness and the sense of loss of the individual, and the degradation of the society and the environment.
He paints both from life and from photos, according to the complexity of the composition. His works from photos are careful combinations of a number of different reference photographs that he has taken to models, objects and spaces in different times and places. He paints often on large formats with the freshness and sensuality of a very personal wet on wet technique.
Curriculum
Born in 1976 in Sannicandro Garganico (Italy)
Works in London and Valencia
Education
2007 Fine Arts Degree, Universidad Complutense, Madrid
2001 Bachelor of Design (Honours) Degree in Illustration and Printmaking, University of Dundee, UK
Solo exhibitions
2013 Stranded and Adrift, Alpha Gallery, London
2012 Il Muto Rumore dell’Acqua, Imago Art Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland
2011 Viaje de no retorno, Galería Enlace Arte Contemporáneo, Lima, Peru
2010 Close Strangers, Mark Jason Gallery, London
2008 Urban Chic, Mark Jason Gallery, London
2007 Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
2006 Gente di mare, Galería Fernando Alcolea, Barcelona
2005 Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
Galería Fernando Alcolea, Barcelona
2004 Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
Galería American Prints, Valencia
1998 Villa Zoya, Concorezzo, Milan
Selected group exhibitions
2013 Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2012 Royal Society of Marine Artist Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, Londres
Ten Paths to the Future, Imago Art Gallery, London
Once pintores realistas + 1, Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
2011 Summer Exhibition, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece
Premio BMW de Pintura, Winning paintings 1986-2010, Casa de Vacas del Parque del Retiro, Madrid
2010 Captured, Catmose Gallery, Oakham, Rutland
Originals10, Mall Galleries, London
2009 Threadneedle Art Prize, Mall Galleries, London
2008 Urban Chic, FRINGEMK Project Spaces, Milton Keynes
2007 Ideas sobre diarios, Faculty of Fine Arts, Madrid
Premios BMW de Pintura, obras ganadoras 1986-2006, Granada
2006 Gran Formato, Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
2005 Spagna il colore della passione, Milan, San Donato Milanese and Trento
72º Salón de Otoño, Madrid
X Certamen Unipublic de Pintura Deportiva, Oviedo and Las Rozas (Madrid)
XIII National Printmaking Prizes 2004, MGEC Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo, Marbella
2004 Gran Formato, Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
Extraordinaria de verano, Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
XVI Premio de Pintura Fundación Amigos de Madrid, Museum of the City, Madrid
2003 70º Salón de Otoño, Madrid
Extraordinaria de verano, Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
Pequeño formato, Galería Gema Lazcano, Madrid
Small Sizes, Galería Jorge Alcolea, Madrid
X Premio Nacional de Grabado, MGEC Museo Español de Grabado Contemporáneo and CAAS Centro
Andaluz de Arte Seriado, Alcalá la Real, Spain
2002 Tentaciones, Estampa 2002, Madrid
Premio Arte 2002, Museo della Permante, Milan
2001 New Designers, Business Design Centre, London
Realtà Riflesse, Basilica di San Celso, Milan
1997 Menotrenta, Spazio Hayek, Milan
Art fairs
2014 Patchings Art Festival, Nottingham
Art in Action, Oxford, UK
2013 Asia Contemporary Art Show Hong Kong, Galería Jorge Alcolea
London Art Fair, Mark Jason Gallery
2012 ArtMadrid, Galería Jorge Alcolea
2010 London Art Fair, Mark Jason Gallery
Art Chicago, Mark Jason Gallery
AAF New York, Mark Jason Gallery
ArtLondon, Mark Jason Gallery
2009 London Art Fair, Mark Jason Gallery
AAF New York, Mark Jason Gallery
Art in Action Oxford
Buy Art Manchester, ArtLounge Gallery
ArtLondon, Mark Jason Gallery
2008 London Art Fair, Mark Jason Gallery
MIART Milan, Galería Jorge Alcolea
ArtLondon, Mark Jason Gallery
Art in Action Oxford
2007 MIART Milan, Galería Jorge Alcolea
ArtLondon, Mark Jason Gallery
2006 AAF London, Mark Jason Gallery
AAF New York, Mark Jason Gallery
Estampa Madrid, Museo del Grabado de San Clemente
ArtLondon, Mark Jason Gallery
2005 Scope New York, Galería Jorge Alcolea
Estampa Madrid, Galería Jorge Alcolea
2002 Estampa Madrid
Awards
2014 Finalist at the International 2013/14 Art Renewal Centre (ARC) Salon in Figurative and Still Life categories,
New Jersey, US
Royal Talens Prize, Patchings Open Competition, Calverton, Nottinghamshire, UK
The Artist’s Exhibition Prize, Patchings Open Competition, Calverton, Nottinghamshire, UK
2013 Joint Second prize in the Art Event Evening, Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters,
Mall Galleries, London
Honourable Mention in the II Curso de Pintura Realista, course taught by Antonio López García and Andrés García Ibañez, Olula del Río
2012 Winner of Winsor and Newton Oil Prize, Royal Society of Marine Artists annual exhibition, Mall
Galleries, London
First prize Premios Luces to the Best Solo Exhibition of the Year in Peru, Lima
2009 Selected in the Threadneedle Art Prize, Mall Galleries, London
2008 Third Price Best of the Best, Art in Action, Oxford
2006 First Price XXI Premio BMW de Pintura
2005 First price X Certamen Unipublic de Pintura Deportiva, Madrid
First Printmaking Prize Espina y Capo, 72º Salón de Otoño, Madrid
2003 First prize XIV Premio de Pintura Rápida Fiestas del Pilar, Madrid
Second prize Premio Nacional de pintura X aniversario Universidad de Huelva, Spain
Third prize VIII Premio Unipublic de pintura deportiva, Madrid
2002 First prize, Certamen de Pintura XXV Aniversario de C. E. V. Valencia
Selected in the Premio Arte 2002, Museo della Permante, Milan
