Pierre Bonnefille's monumental work arrives at the Venice Art Biennale (and in an exhibition in Volterra)

French artist and designer Pierre Bonnefille (born 1958 in Saint-Quentin), based in Paris and represented by Tuscany's Galleria KALPA since 2024, is the subject of a dual event in 2026: a new exhibition at Galleria KALPA in Volterra and a monumental installation at the 61st Venice Biennale. The Volterra show, curated by Eleonora Raspi, presents selections from Bonnefille's iconic series of abstract landscapes built from layered minerals, metal powders, and resins. In Venice, a monumental Bronze Painting and two bronze Rhizome seats will be installed in the 14th-century cloister of Madonna dell'Orto as part of the group exhibition "Il corpo della materia" (curated by Carole de Bona, organized by Bel Ouvrage), running from May 5 to July 20, 2026.

This double event matters because it marks the consolidation of Bonnefille's collaboration with Galleria KALPA, a gallery known for promoting art that dialogues with materiality and craftsmanship. The Venice Biennale platform gives the artist significant international visibility, while the Volterra exhibition reinforces the gallery's identity of returning to earth, minerals, and sensory experience. Bonnefille's practice—bridging design sensibility with abstract painting through rigorous non-figurative language and hypnotic surface depth—represents a contemporary exploration of color and material that resonates with both Italian art traditions and global contemporary trends.