Biography
Danilo Preto (born 1950, Vicenza, Italy) is an installation artist based in Vicenza, working predominantly with mixed media. His academic formation includes university studies in political science, a professional qualification in journalism, and formal registration with the Order of Journalists. During the 1990s, he was actively engaged as an organiser of national artistic events within major trade fair contexts, collaborating with leading Italian galleries.
Through his installation practice, Preto explores postmodern and post-structuralist inquiries into memory, commodification, and affect. He is best known for his use of unconventional materials—such as frayed stuffed animals, beans, resin, stickers, and glass urns—which he reshapes into intuitive, symbolic forms. His Faux Naïf aesthetic conveys childhood memory as both fragile and precious, offering viewers a playful yet critically reflective perspective on authenticity, value, and emotional preservation.
Danilo Preto has exhibited widely at institutions and galleries including the Crocetti Museum, Rome; Alexander Museum, Pesaro; Accorsi Art Gallery, Turin; Roccart Gallery, Florence; Captaloona Gallery, Madrid; and Evrim Sanat Gallery, Istanbul. He has participated in major events such as The Cherry Tree Road Event at Sannicandro Castle, Bari, and prominent Italian art fairs. His works are held in various national and international private collections.
CV
Selected Exhibitions
2026 The best choice, The Warehouse Gallery, Dubai, UAE
2025 Art Exhibition, Accorsi Arte Gallery, Turin, Italy
Dialogues with Time, Megaart + AroundArt, Corchiano, Italy
The Balance of Chaos, RoccArt Gallery, Florence, Italy
Permanent Artists' Exhibition, Accorsi Arte Gallery, Turin, Italy
Art Fair, Genoa Fair, Genoa, Italy
2024 A Window on International Contemporary Art, Galleria il Leone, Rome, Italy
Seasoned or not Seasoned, art has no borders, Accorsi Gallery, Turin, Rome
Seasoned or Not Seasoned, Art Has No Borders, Arteka Gallery, Rome, Italy
Seasoned or not Seasoned, art has no borders, Captaloona Gallery, Madrid, Spain
July in Bologna, ArteBo Gallery, Bologna, Italy
Synthesis 2024, Harmonies and Divergences, Evrim Sanat Galerisi, Istanbul, Türkiye
The Road of the Cherry Trees, Sannicandro Castle, Sannicandro, Italy
Art Itineraries, Galleria Gregorio VII, Brera, Milan, Italy
2023 Synthesis 2023 - Contaminations in Contemporary Art, Crocetti Museum, Rome, Italy
The Beauty and the Ugly of Art, ArteBo Gallery, Bologna, Italy
God Save Venice, Captaloona Gallery, Madrid, Spain
A Window on Contemporary Art, Mo.CA Gallery, Rome, Italy
Vernice, Forlì Fair, Forli, Italy
2022 Infinity is art, Alexander Museum, Pesaro, Italy
Italian Artists Award, Espacio Gallery, London, England
Contemporary Artists, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris, France
International Contemporary Art Fair, Art 3F, Marseille, France
Exhibition, Loreta Larchina Gallery, Venice, Italy
Selected Press
"Les Essences de Preda" in Art on World magazine, n. 24 (2025)
Pasquale Di Matteo, "PREDA" in Agenda d’arte 2026 (2025)
Pasquale Di Matteo, publish in The Soul of Art Contemporary Italian Masters (2025)
Danilo Preto, "Irony in art" in Art on World magazine, n. 23 (2025)
Danilo Preto, "Preda and the game of Irony" in Art on World magazine, n. 22 (2025)
Danilo Preto, "We will have grown up without" in Art on World magazine, n. 21 (2025)
Pasquale di Matteo, "L’equilibrio del Caos" in Catalogue raisonné (2025)
Pasquale Di Matteo, "Danilo Preto" in Artists in Japan (2025)
Pasquale Di Matteo, "Danilo Preto" in True Contemporary Artists (2025)
"The hearth as a work of art: Danilo Preto" in Art on World magazine, No. 19 (2024)
"Prey", Art on World, n.18 (2024)
"Danilo Preto - Preda" in Luglio in Bologna (2024)
"Danilo Preto. Preda" in Art on World magazine, No. 17 (2024)
"My Island. Your island" in Art on World magazine, n.16 (2024)
Pasquale Di Matteo and Danilo Preto, "Doubts and truths. Art helps to understand" in Art on World magazine, n. 15 (2024)
Book co-written with international art critic Pasquale di Matteo, Dubbi & verità-L’arte aiuta a capire
Pasquale Di Matteo, "The Great Deception" in Art on World magazine, n.14 (2023)
Pasquale Di Matteo, "Critical Essay: Danilo Preto, the Language That Knows How to Go Beyond", Book (2023)
The enormous labor of Captaloona Art to support the art is dejando su huella, by Claudio Fiorentini. Article on “The voice of Italy” in La voce d’Italia (2023)
Carmela Brunetti, "The Beautiful and the brutal in current art in Bologna, in ArteBo" in Art on World magazine, n.12 (2023)
Photo by Danilo Preto on the cover on Art on World magazine, n.11 (2023)
The artist protest of Preda #1 in Art on World magazine, n.10 (2023)
PREDA (Danilo Preto) in LC Captaloona Art magazine (2023)
"Preto: the manifesto" in Art on World magazine, n.9 (2022)
Carmela Brunetti, "The evolutionary research of the conceptual in the art of Danilo Preto" in Art on World magazine, n.8 (2022)
Carmela Brunetti, "From Manager to Creative: An Interview with Danilo Preto" in Art on World magazine, No. 7