Artists

Fernando BORDONI

Fernando Bordoni was born in Mendrisio in 1937. After completing compulsory education and teacher training, he graduated in 1962 from the Brera Academy in Milan with a thesis on Giovanni da Milano, under the supervision of Guido Ballo. During his years in Milan and the period immediately after, he was closely connected to the Informale art movement.

Two years later, he returned to Ticino, where he opened his first studio at Palazzo Reali on Piazza Manzoni in Lugano—today one of the exhibition venues of the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana. He regularly visited the studios of Carlo Cotti, Filippo Boldini, and Remo Rossi in Locarno, where he also had the opportunity to meet Jean Arp, Hans Richter, and Fritz Glarner. It was especially Glarner who encouraged him to travel through Europe.

In 1963, Bordoni visited London for the first time and discovered Pop Art. That same year—and for the next two—he was awarded the Swiss Federal Grant for Pictorial Research, which allowed him to deepen his exploration of Pop-inspired language.

In 1967, he won the National Award for Black-and-White Drawing in Cantù, the Innovation-Art Prize in Lugano, and, commissioned by the Swiss Confederation, carried out an artistic decoration project for the Federal Printing Office in Bern.

In 1969, he moved his Lugano studio to Via Nassa 59, sharing a building with three young artists—Giancarlo Tamagni, Sergio Piccaluga, and Gottardo Ortelli—each occupying a different floor. This created a stimulating context for exchange, including with art critic Walter Schönenberger.

That same year, Bordoni participated in the Venice Biennale and documenta in Kassel, thanks to the Minimultipli project promoted by Enrico Bianda, founder of Galleria Flaviana.

Between the 1960s and 1970s, he began experimenting with automobile tire imprints—an artistic breakthrough that laid the foundation for much of his later work.

By the mid-1970s, Bordoni had solidified his personal artistic language. From that point on, he went through several phases, continuously exploring new creative possibilities and renewing his practice—from alphabet-based works to polychromatic hatching and polyptych compositions—while always remaining faithful to the grid as a foundational structure.

From early on, he was very active in exhibitions, especially in Ticino but also throughout Switzerland and neighboring Italy. In 1989, the municipal art gallery Casa Rusca in Locarno dedicated a solo exhibition to his work. He has also been featured in many group shows, including at the Museo Cantonale d’Arte in Lugano and in various Swiss museums that have highlighted the Ticinese art scene over the years—for instance, the Kunsthaus Zürich (1980), the Musée Cantonal d’Art in Sion (1985), and most recently, the Aargauer Kunsthaus in the exhibition Swiss Pop Art (2017).

Over the course of his career, Fernando Bordoni has been represented by several art galleries, including Arte Struktura in Milan, Galeria Klus and Galeria Agi Schöningh in Zurich, Galleria Colomba in Lugano, as well as Galleria Flaviana and Galleria Ammann in Locarno. His works are part of important private collections, public museum collections in Switzerland, and the Swiss Confederation’s official art collection.

He has also completed numerous Kunst am Bau (Art in Architecture) projects—most recently, for the elementary school in Massagno (2014–2015).

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Born

1937 Mendrisio, Switzerland

Education

1962
Brera Academy, Milan

Solo Exhibitions

2018
Tracce dell’ (in)visibile, Museo Civico Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona, Switzerland

2014
Caviano, Galleria al Centro, Lugano, Switzerland

2012
Distance and Dimensions, ART LABOR Gallery, Shanghai (two person exhibition with LU Xinjian)

2011
Casa Pasquée, Massagno, Switzerland

2009
Galleria Colomba, Lugano, Switzerland

2007
Galleria Colomba, Lugano, Switzerland

2005
Via Nassa 3, atrium, mosaic, Novamosaici Toniutti, Bollate, Lugano, Switzerland

2003
Galleria Arteba, Lugano, Switzerland

2001
Galleria Colomba, Lugano, Switzerland

1997
Galleria Pagine d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland
Casa Cavalier Pellanda, Biasca, Switzerland

1992
Galleria Agi Schöningh, Zurich

1989
Municipal Art Gallery Casa Rusca, Locarno, Switzerland

1987
Galleria Klus, Zurich

1985
Galleria Pro Arte, Lugano, Switzerland

1983
Galleria La Loggia, Carona, Italy

1978
Galleria Design, Lugano, Switzerland

1977
Galleria del Bosco, Bosco Luganese, Switzerland

1976
Galleria Barbagutt, Gnosca, Switzerland

1975
Galleria Pannelle 8, Locarno, Switzerland

1970
Galleria Tonino, Campione d’Italia

1964
Galleria il Nocciolo, Lugano, Switzerland

1962
Galleria Spotorno, Milan, Italy

1960
Galleria Elite, Lugano, Switzerland

Group Exhibitions

2017
Swiss Pop Art – Forms and Tendencies of Pop Art in Switzerland, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland

2016
Museo Civico Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona, Switzerland

2014
TI-CH, Museo cantonale d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland
L’Occhio della pittura, Biblioteca Cantonale, Lugano, Switzerland

2012
Primavera, Ammanart Gallery, Locarno, Switzerland
Profumo di mare, Ammanart Gallery, Locarno, Switzerland
Swiss Pop, Mercato coperto, Giubiasco, Switzerland

2011
parole & figure, Museo Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona, Switzerland
mostra speciale in occasione del decimo anniversario, Amman Modern Art, Locarno, Switzerland

2010
SHContemporary 10, Fuxin Gallery, Shanghai, China

2009
Sommertime, Amman Modern Art, Locarno, Switzerland

2008
Sguardi sulla Collezione, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland

2007
Quaranta 19677 – 2007, Galleria Civica, Campione d’Italia
Colours, Galleria Ammann, Locarno, Switzerland

2006
25° La passione per l’arte, Galleria la Colomba, Lugano, Switzerland
La Passione per l’Arte”,”La Colomba 25 anni dopo, Galleria la Colomba, Lugano, Switzerland

2005
Arte in Ticino 1803-2003″,”Il superamento delle avanguardie, Museo Civico di Belle Arti, Lugano,
Opere d’Arte della Collezione, Museo Civico di Belle Arti, Banca dello Stato
Opere d’Arte della Collezione della, Museo Civico di Belle Arti , Banca dello Stato del Cantone Ticino

2003
9th International contemporary ART FAIR, Zurich, Switzerland
Galleria Amman, Locarno, Switzerland
Brera anni sessanta, Centro culturale Mosso, Biella
Fiera Internazionale del Mobile, “Intarsia” di Bruno Longoni, Soazio Arte Via Bigli, Milano
Galleria Arteba, Lugano

2002
Farina del mio sacco, Mulino, Maroggia
Arslocus 1967-2002, Consolato Generale d’Italia, Lugano

2001
Piccola storia dell’Arte nel Ticino (percorso didattico), Museo in Erba, Bellinzona
Opere in collezione, Pinacoteca Comunale Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona

2000
Collezione della Banca del Gottardo, Castello di Sasso Corbaro, Bellinzona
percorso artistico Arte e Cervello, Malo, Lugano

1999
Opere in collezione, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Lugano

1998
La Collezione, Opere d’Arte della città di Lugano, Pinacoteca Comunale di Villa Ciani, Lugano
Bellinzona, Pinacoteca Comunale Villa dei Cedri, Opere in collezione.

1997
Nuove contaminazioni: Mosaico – Architettura – Arte – Design, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Udine

1996
Sala F. Franco, l’Arte costruisce l’Europa, Costruttivismo, Concretismo e Cinevisualismo Internazionale. Opere di sintesi 20×20, Palazzo Economo, Trieste
Galleria Arte Struktura Milano.

1995
Novazzano, Casa Huber, Omaggio a Max.

1994
Bucarest, Museo delle Collezioni, 99 Idee per l’Arte.
Lugano, Museo Cantonale dell’Arte, La Collezione di proprietà della Repubblica e del Cantone Ticino.
Bellinzona, Villa dei Cedri, Aspetti della Collezione.
Città della Pieve – PG, Palazzo della Corgna, Costruttivismo, Concretismo e Cinevisualismo Internazionale per l’unificazione europea.

1993
Zurigo, Galerie Agi Schöningh, Accrochage Originale und Originalgrafik.
Chiasso, Sala Diego Chiesa, Percorsi dell’astrattismo in Ticino.

1992
Montichiari, Fiera Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea, Costruttivismo, Concretismo e Cinevisualismo Internazionale per l’unificazione europea, Galleria Arte Struktura, Milano.

1991
Bachenbülach, Galerie Lidia Jametti, Costruttivismo, Concretismo e Cinevisualismo Internazionale per l’unificazione europea. (Istituto Italiano di Studi, Zurigo).

1990
Milano, Galleria Arte Struktura, piccolo formato 20×20, un omaggio costruttivista per l’unificazione europea.

1989
Campione d’Italia, Tonino Art Galery, Arte di Frontiera.

1988
Lugano, Palazzo dei Congressi, 125 Croce Rossa Svizzera.
Carona, Galleria La Loggia, 10 anni di presenza.

1987
Campione d’Italia, Galleria Tonino, Premio Tonino.

1986
Brig, Galerie zur Matze, Das Schweizer Aquarell.
Ascona, Galleria Beato Berno, Creatività = Libertà.
Lugano, Credito Svizzero, Pittura d’oggi nel Ticino.

1985
Sion, Musée Cantonale d’Art, Selection d’Artistes Tessinois.
Lugano, Credito Svizzero, Pittura d’oggi nel Ticino.

1984
Eglisau, Galerie am Platz, Künstler aus dem Tessin.

1983
Lugano, Rewisuisse, 4 Artisti Ticinesi.

1982
Losanna, Palais Beaulieu, Artistes Tessinois.
Losanna, Galérie Philip Morris, Artistes Tessinois.

1981
Delèmont, Comptoir, Exposition Suisse 81, Une oeuvre un artiste, un artiste une oeuvre.

1980
Zurigo, Kunsthaus, Schweizer Museen sammeln aktuelle schweizer Kunst.
Losanna, Musée Cantonal des Beaux Arts, Les Musée Suisses collectionnent l’Art actuelle en Suisse.

1979
San Gallo, Università, Giovani Artisti Ticinesi.

1978
Lugano, Villa Saroli, Opere per Amnisty International.
Stabio, Centro Internazionale d’Arte, Aspetti armonici dell’Arte infigurata.

1977
Stabio, Centro Internazionale d’Arte, 45 Artisti Ticinesi.

1975
Locarno, Galleria Pannelle 8, Fernando Bordoni – Carlo Cotti – Manfred Freund.

1973
Nänikon, Kunstgesellschatt, Die 15.

1971
Ginevra, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, III Salon de la gravure Suisse.
Lugano, Innovazione Centro, Premio Innovazione Arte.

1970
San Gallo, Industrie und Gewerbe Museum, 13 Artisti Ticinesi.
Losanna, Musée des Arts, L’Estampe en Suisse.

1969
Fribourg, Université, Tendences Actuelles de l’Art au Tessin.
Lugano, International Arts Club, Minimultipli, Edizioni Flaviana, Lugano.

1968
Zofingen, Galerie 68, 75 Kunstlerzeigen 600 minis.
Losanna, Musée des Arts, L’Estampe en Suisse.
Munchen, Ambasciata Svizzera, Malerei + Plastic III.
Venezia, Biennale d’Arte, Minimultipli, Edizioni Flaviana, Lugano.
Kassel, Dokumenta, Minimultipli, Edizioni Flaviana, Lugano.
Sesto Calende, Museo d’Arte, Premio Sesto della Giovane Pittura italiana.
Zurigo, Galleria Stummer.

1967
Berna, Kunsthalle, Eidgenössiches Kunststipendium.
Varese, Sala Comunale, Aspetti della Giovane Pittura.
Premio Innovazione, Innovazione Centro, Lugano
Cunardo, Fornaci, Artisti Contemporanei, Cunard 4.

1966
Berna, Kunsthalle, Eidgenössisches Kunststipendium.
Lugano, Galleria il Nocciolo, Artisti premiati dal Dipartimento Federale degli Interni.
Locarno, Galleria Flaviana, Tendenze Artistiche nel Ticino.
Martigny, Comptoir, Tendances Actuelles de l’Art au Tessin.
Artisti contemporanei, Cunard 3, Cunardo, Fornaci

1965
Eidgenössiches Kunststipendium, Kunsthalle, Berna
Pittura contemporanea Svizzera, Villa Olmo, Como, Italy
Mostra di grafica contemporanea, Galleria Approdo, Turin, Italy

No relevant exhibition was found