Pierre Portelli was born in 1961 in Malta, where he lives and works.
He works mainly in conceptual art and installation, and studied at Swindon School of Art and Design in England. Portelli is a founding member of START, a Maltese contemporary art group. He is a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences at the University of Malta.
Portelli has exhibited at the National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik; Museum of Contemporary Art Villa Croce, Genoa; European Commission in Brussels; Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan; Kunstraum Engländerbau in Liechtenstein; Palais Liechtenstein, Feldkirch, Austria; Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art in Nicosia, Cyprus; Musée de la ville de Tunis, Tunisia; Chiesa Santa Chiara, San Marino; Magazzini del Sale, Cervia and Citric Gallery, Brescia, Italy; Central Connecticut State University, USA; the National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta Contemporary Art Foundation (MCA); St. James Cavalier, Centre for Creativity, Malta.
The artist collaborated with Lovedifference and Michelangelo Pistoletto at the 50th Venice Biennale. He was chosen by curator Chloé Heyraud to exhibit in the 2008 Biennale du Design in St Etienne, France; in 27 Graphiste pour l’Europe curated by Philippe Apeloig in Paris, France and 30 Posters on Migration in Athens, Greece in 2009. His work is found in the National Collection, National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta, The National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavic, The US Embassy in Malta and in private collections both locally and abroad .
Artist Statement: “My work investigates processes of change, the meeting of social worlds. It challenges the idea of the constancy of meaning as the sole prerogative of the artist. The works are meant to incite interaction: physical and intellectual to willing participants ready to rouse themselves from the stupor of passivity. The viewer is no longer a passive onlooker but becomes an interactive part of the work. The barrier between the onlooker and the work is transcended, thus permitting the meeting of different social worlds and the forging of many new meanings.”
Facade of Palazzo Ferreria called ROPEWORK - Photograph by Daniel Cilia.
