Felipe Cardeña was born in Balaguer (Spain) in 1979.
A street mime well as an artist, he lived as an artist "sans papier" in many European and extraeuropean countries, representing, as a performer, scenes from classical and Renaissance iconography for tourists and ordinary people.
He exhibited, among other, in Milan, Rome, New York, London, Rio de Janeiro, L'Havana, and other countries around the world.
At the end of 2007, he launched the project Power Flower, based on the idea of "surprise" and "wonder", with large - sometimes monumental - and colorful compositions and collages overflowing with crazy shapes, creating an eccentric and exaggerated effect, based mainly on floral patterns, that touch the themes of the sacred, of different cultural identities, of the contamination of human nature and natural forms.
Artist "stateless" par excellence, in 2011 he was invited to exhibit at the 54th. Venice Biennale in two different national pavilions (the Italian Pavilion and the Pavilion of the Republic of Cuba). In 2012 he was invited to participate in the great collective dedicated to the theme of kitsch curated by Gillo Dorfles, Il kitsch oggi, at the Palazzo della Triennale in Milan, in which is retraced the theme of kitsch and its revisions and interpretations in the works of great artists historical and contemporary.
In 2013 he exhibited at the 55th. Venice Biennale, in the Syrian Pavilion, featuring an installation of works of different sizes called Mitologica. In 2014 he was invited to participate in the social project, sponsored by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture, Deu Na Telha, in the favela Morro do Alemão, in Rio de Janeiro, where he made over the roofs of the houses a large mural, to make known and promote the art among young people in local communities.
SELECTED SHOWS
2014
POP UP - Revolution!, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Caserma XXIV Maggio, Milan and MdM Museum, Porto Cervo
Superheroes 2.0, Villa Bertelli, Forte dei Marmi
Deu Na Telha, Morro do Alemão project, curated by Ricardo Duarte, Rio de Janeiro
Hungry for art - Food Right Now, CESVI, street art project, curated by Christian Gancitano, Superstudio Più, Milan
2013
55. International Art Exhibition. La Biennale di Venezia, Mitologica, The Syrian Arab Republic Pavilion, curated by Duccio Trombadori
Road Maps, Officine Creative dell'Ansaldo, Milan
2012
Il kitsch oggi, curated by Gillo Dorfles, Palazzo della Triennale, Milan
Poesie della fine del mondo, curated by Philippe Daverio, First Gallery, Rome and
Superstudio Più, Milan
Apokalips, curated by Giacomo Maria Prati, Palazzo della Regione, Milan
MISIAD, curated by Alessandro Mendini, Cattedrale della Fabbrica del Vapore, Milan
XXS - extraextrasmall, Visconti Fine Art, Ljubljana
Vivendo no Vermelho, curated by Ricardo Duarte, Graphos: Brasil, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro
2011
54. International Art Exhibition. La Biennale di Venezia, L'arte non è cosa nostra, Padiglione Italia, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi
54. International Art Exhibition. La Biennale di Venezia, Cuba mon amour, Padiglione della Repubblica di Cuba, curated by Duccio Trombadori
The First Italian Show, curated by Luca Beatrice, First Gallery, Rome
2010
Ritratti italiani, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Cento (Ferrara) and Fondazione Durini, Milan
Polemically Small, curated by Edward Lucie-Smith, Charlie Smith Gallery, London
Flowers, curated by Fabio Migliorati, Superstudio Più, Milan; San Domenico Museum, Forlì; Palazzo Casali, Cortona
2009
The Black Dahlia, curated by Chiara Canali, in Take Off, Fabbrica Borroni, Bollate (Milan) and MystFest, Festival del giallo e del Mistero, Cattolica
Arte Mas 2009, curated by Ana Pedroso, Festival Internacional de arte y Literatura joven, Habana (Cuba)
Beauty Farm, Fondazione Durini, Milan
Another break in the wall, Wannabee Gallery, Milan
Heart, Onishi Gallery, New York and Asia Kay Art Projects Gallery, Chicago
Abraham Lincoln 1809-2009, tra storia e mito, Triennale Bovisa, Milan
2008
Rumors, ex Arsenale Borgo Dora, Turin
Scala Mercalli – Il terremoto creativo della Street Art Italiana, curated by Gianluca Marziani, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome
2007
Vade Retro – Arte e omosessualità, curated by Vittorio Sgarbi and Eugenio Viola, Palazzo della Ragione, Milan
Street Art Sweet Art, curated by Alessandro Riva, PAC - Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea, Milan
2005
Miracolo a Milano, curated by Alessandro Riva, Palazzo della Ragione, Milan