Giuseppe Mulas: The Sardinian Painter Carving Memory into Canvas

Giuseppe Mulas (b. 1995, Alghero) is an Italian painter known for a distinctive technique of layering and scraping oil paint to reveal figures, often set in nocturnal, tropical landscapes. After his success at Artissima 2021 with Peola Simondi gallery, he was selected for Intesa Sanpaolo's group show at miart 2022. Mulas studied at the Istituto Statale d'Arte di Sassari and Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti in Turin, graduating in 2019. An Erasmus year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw was pivotal, where he drew a banana plant from imagination—a motif that became central to his work. His process begins with a yellow ground, overpainted in blue or other colors, then scraped to create images. He cites influences including Gauguin, Henri Rousseau, Ligabue, Matisse, van Gogh, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Félix González-Torres, and Franko B. Key exhibitions include Caravaggio at Scuderie del Quirinale and Goshka Macuga at Fondazione Prada. Mulas's work explores memory, sexuality, and intimacy, often using the banana plant as a metaphor for vital impulse. He is represented by Peola Simondi in Turin, where he now lives and works. A second solo show is planned, and he hopes to participate in an artist residency abroad.