Augusto Gadea (Montevideo, 1989)
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay
Lives and works in Bologna
Augusto Gadea's practice arises from an intimate relationship with the territory. He extracts earth from places with which he has a bond, transforming them into the raw material of his works. Using pre-industrial techniques, he processes these sediments into pigments, establishing an evocative and symbolic dialogue with the origin of each color. His work delves into deep time through the real material of the landscape, turning earth into a pictorial representation of the present.
He is currently deepening this line of research in collaboration with the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) on the project Atlante delle Terre.
Born in Montevideo in 1989, Gadea began his training with prominent Uruguayan artists and at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. In 2018, he specialized in contemporary painting at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, thanks to a scholarship from the Uruguayan Ministry of Education and Culture. He has held solo exhibitions in museums, galleries, and archaeological sites, and has been invited to present his work at institutions such as the Department of Arts of the University of Bologna. Throughout his career, he has received several awards, including the National Painting Prize of Uruguay (MNAV, Montevideo) for the work Tierra de nadie, at the age of twenty-five.
Selected solo exhibitions:
2026 – “De la tierra, lo frágil”. Maurizio Nobile Fine Art Gallery, curated by Marco Fosatti and Attilio Ametta.
2025 – Atlante delle Terre / “Tyrrhenian” stage in Sant’Antioco: “Non Terrae Plus Ultra” / “Sogno della Signora Grazia”. Sant’Antioco Archaeological Park, Sardinia.
2023 – Atlante delle Terre “Nel mezzo della terra”. National Research Council of Italy (CNR). Bologna, Italy.
2019 – “I luoghi della polvere”. Studio Cenacchi Contemporary Art Gallery, with critical text by Raffaele Milani. Bologna, Italy.
2018 – “En las tierras re-vueltas”. Montevideo Museum of Fine Arts, Juan Manuel Blanes. Montevideo, Uruguay.
Selected group exhibitions:
2026 – MIART - New Directions / Maurizio Nobile Fine Art Gallery. Milan, Italy.
2025 – Art Verona / Pittura Oggi, curated by Leonardo Regano / Studio Cenacchi Gallery. Verona, Italy.
2025 – “Paesaggi accidentali”, curated by Pasquale Fameli. Studio Cenacchi Gallery. Bologna, Italy.
2023 – Biagi Collection, Emilia-Romagna Region Headquarters. Bologna, Italy.
2022 – Arteam Cup, Fortezza del Priamar, Palazzo del Commissario. Savona, Italy. Curated by Antonello Tolve, Maria Vittoria Pinotti, Maria Chiara Wang, Livia Savorelli and Davide Sarchioni.
2020 – “Archivio aperto” at Studio Cenacchi Contemporary Art Gallery. Bologna, Italy.
2019 – “Touch the space”, Makedonia Foundation, curated by Pance Velkov. Skopje, North Macedonia.
2018 – Pozo de Agua. Cervantes Palace in Montevideo, cycle of visual arts exhibitions. Montevideo, Uruguay.
2016 – “La luna” and “Sierras de Mahoma” with the collective TDUEPURC, within the framework of the “Memoria Futura” call for artistic interventions in public space in Barrio de las Artes,Montevideo, Uruguay.
2016 – “L'occhio nel botanico” with the collective TDUEPURC, within the framework of the Montevideo City Council’s “Festival of Urban Interventions”.
2014 – 56th edition of the National Salon of Visual Arts “José Gamarra” at the National Museum of Visual Arts. Montevideo, Uruguay.
2013 – “Ten abstracts, two eras”. Museum of Contemporary Art. Curated by Enrique Gómez. Montevideo, Uruguay.
Awards:
2014 – Winner of the “Julio Alpuy National Painting Prize” at the 56th National Salon of Visual Arts. The selected work “Tierra de nadie” was acquired by the National Museum of Visual Arts (MNAV). Montevideo, Uruguay.
Education:
2018 – Specialization in contemporary painting techniques at the Academy of Art of Florence,Italy.
2017 – Visual arts training scholarship “Eduardo Victor Haedo” granted by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay, within the framework of the “Fomento a la Formación y Creación Artística” program.
2016 – Training and professionalization scholarship for visual artists “Profesión Artista 2.0” from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAECI), in collaboration with the Ottovolante Association of Bologna and the Dante Alighieri Society of Montevideo.
2012 – Painting workshop with Clever Lara.
2010/2011 – Scholarship at the National School of Fine Arts to deepen drawing skills under Gabriel Bruzzone. Montevideo, Uruguay.
2007/2010 – Scholarship at the National School of Fine Arts for training in visual arts at the Musso Workshop. Montevideo, Uruguay.