Mireille Arditi · Perceptions

Vert de Venise Contemporary Art is pleased to unveil a selection of works on paper by the French-Italian artist, Mireille Arditi. Arditi was born in Alexandria in 1933 and attended French schools in Egypt, India, Switzerland and Milan. She has enjoyed a distinguished career as an international interpreter for the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, UNESCO and many other major institutions. In 1998, following her retirement, she dedicated herself to the development of her art, in watercolour and engraving but principally in woodcut printing, examples of which we now show here in Venice.

Over the years, Arditi has remained consistently captivated by the tactile qualities inherent in her chosen media and the infinite expressive possibilities they offer. “I discovered the physical pleasure of working with a natural, living material like wood," she explains, "transitioning from the lightness of the brush to the strength of the chisel. Engraving creates marks, shapes, voids, and solids in the wood, which, through the use of color, successive inking, overlays, and masks, open up endless possibilities for variations and different effects. In my work, I focus particularly on the selection and combination of colours. It is this continuous exploration and experimentation — whether figurative, geometric, or abstract — that has captivated me and continues to fascinate me to this day.”

Arditi studied woodcut techniques at the International School of Graphics in Venice, attended seminars at Atelier Aperto in Venice, and trained under Franco Vecchiet and Andreas Kramer. She participated in both solo and group exhibitions in Milan (including the Federica Galli Foundation, Spazio28, Chie Gallery, and Galleria Diciodesign), Venice (Venezia Viva, International School of Graphics), Carpi, Naples (Atelier Controsegno), as well as in Greece and Switzerland. Between 2011 and 2024, she took part in several editions of the Artista-in-formato collective exhibition organized by Venezia Viva – Atelier Aperto in Venice.

In 2016, she published an autobiographical work, Briciole – journeys in flavour, scent and colour, with the Centro Internazionale della Grafica Venezia (president Silvano Gasparini), enriched with reproductions of her watercolours. In 2018, a new edition of the text alone was released under the title Vol au Vent ad Alessandria d’Egitto, published by Linea d’Acqua Editions in Venice.