Sylvano Bussotti 

Florence, 1931-2021

He was an Italian multidisciplinary artist whose practice spanned music, visual art, and theatre. He collaborated with leading cultural figures including John Cage, Pierre Boulez, Federico Fellini, Filippo de Pisis, Carmelo Bene, and Cathy Berberian. In 1964–65, he was awarded a Rockefeller Foundation grant in New York City, followed by a Ford Foundation DAAD fellowship in Berlin in 1972.

Bussotti served as Artistic Director of Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Venice Biennale, and the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago. His operas, ballets, and concerts were staged at prestigious institutions such as Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Arena di Verona, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and Teatro Lirico di Palermo.

Among his most celebrated theatrical works are La Passion Selon Sade (1965), Lorenzaccio (1972), Oggetto Amato (1975), Rarafonìa (1977), and L’Ispirazione (1988), all of which integrated innovative set design and multimedia elements.

As a visual artist, his first exhibition was held in 1962 at Galleria Numero in Rome with Giorgio Chiari. More recently, his multidisciplinary practice was featured in a dedicated monographic section at the XVII Quadriennale in Rome (2020), curated by Sarah Cosulich and Stefano Collicelli Cagol.

Works by Sylvano Bussotti
Written, Visual & Graphic Publications:
I miei teatri, Il Novecento, Palermo, 1982.
Letterati ignoranti. Poesie per musica, Quaderni di Barbablù, Siena, 1986.
Sylvano Bussotti, nudi ritratti e disegnini (texts by Romani Brizzi), Il Polittico, Rome, 1991.
Non fare il minimo rumore, Edizioni Girasole, Ravenna, 1997.
Disordine alfabetico, Spirali, Milan, 2002.
La calligrafia di un romanzo uno e due, in Peccati veniali (ed. A. Veneziani), Coniglio Editore, Rome, 2004.
“L’acuto”, postface to Angelo d’Edimburgo (Fabio Casadei Turroni), Le Mondine, Molinella, 2006.
I Mozart vanno vanno, interlude in La notte delle dissonanze (ed. Sandro Cappelletto), EDT, Turin, 2007.

Exhibitions
1962: First exhibition of visual art at Galleria Numero, Rome (with Giorgio Chiari).
Exhibition of visual art at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris (date unspecified).
Show at MART Rovereto (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto) — featured in the exhibition “Eretici: Arte e Vita” (20 November 2022 – 19 February 2023), curated by Denis Isaia.
Galleria Clivio, Milan (permanent collaboration, recent exhibitions of drawings and works on paper, 2020s).
1990: Participant in the XLIV Venice Biennale (44th International Art Exhibition), Venice. (if applicable—check
archival records)
-2008 – 2009: NOW JUMP, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
2020–2021: Featured in a monographic section at the XVII Quadriennale di Roma (“2020 Art Quadriennale FUORI”),
Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome (30 October 2020 – 18 July 2021).
-Holy Fluxus: From the Collection Francesco Conz, Berlin (July 13–September 8, 2024)
January 2025: “Sylvano Bussotti – Disegni” exhibition (selection of works on paper), Milan.
July 2025: “Homage to Sylvano Bussotti” installation at Triennale di Milano as part of Voce Triennale—dedicated to his opera Lorenzaccio (4–6 July 2025).

Further Notes
Bussotti regularly exhibited internationally; his visual work appeared in numerous countries.
He founded the “Bussottioperaballet” (B.O.B.) in 1984 in Genazzano, which organized exhibitions, concerts, shows,
and international events.