BIO
Antonella Nicoli (b. 1992, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a Berlin-based mixed-media artist whose work explores the intersection of eroticism, humor, and visual storytelling. Self-taught and with a background in costume design, haute couture, and multimedia, her practice moves fluidly between disciplines. Drawing from early influences in fashion, theater, and pulp culture, Nicoli builds figurative compositions that are both confrontational and playful.
Her current series imagines erotic encounters unfolding in public common areas—neutral, everyday environments that heighten the contrast between fantasy and reality. Language, through the use of typography and wordplay, plays a central role in her work, often appearing as graphic text that reinforces narrative tension.
Inspired by artists such as Eric Stanton, Olivia de Berardinis, Milo Manara, and Emanuele Taglietti, she creates richly textured, small to medium-scale canvases that navigate the edges of filth, beauty, and laughter. Her paintings have been shown in group exhibitions at The Holy Art Gallery (London), The Alchemical Art Gallery (Melbourne), Nebula97 (Berlin), and B23 Space (Berlin). Nicoli is part of a generation of emerging artists reclaiming visual pleasure with irreverence, curiosity, and an unapologetically personal lens.
STATEMENT
I investigate intimacy and fetishism through mixed media paintings that explore desire, humor, and violence in everyday life. Working in a Neo Pulp style, my figurative works feature stylized characters inspired by vintage cartoons and adult magazines, set against realistic urban backdrops. This contrast mirrors the tension between inner fantasy and shared public experience and the collision between private longing and the world we navigate together.
My current series stages intimate scenarios within Berlin's public transport system, exploring the surreal friction when private desire is imagined within collective environments. These settings become stages for encounters that blur boundaries between public and private space. I begin each piece by photographing real locations where I envision these interactions unfolding. The composition is developed digitally, layering characters with photographic settings before translating them onto canvas using various techniques and materials including acrylics, ink, oils, and fabric.
Through bold imagery and graphic text, I create moments that feel both familiar and unsettling. My work examines how past representations of intimacy, gender, and control continue shaping our perception of human connection today, prompting reflection on how desire and power dynamics are portrayed and understood over time.
RÉSUMÉ
Antonella Nicoli
Born 1992 in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Resides and works in Berlin, Germany
EDUCATION & TRAINING
2020–2022: Multimedia Art & Design Studies, Escuela Da Vinci, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2010–2013: Haute Couture Dressmaker Modelist Degree, Instituto de Alta Moda Roberto Piazza, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2011: Costume Design and Production, Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2011: Theatrical Makeup and Hairstyling, Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2010: Scholarship for Young Artists, Casa Escuela de Arte, Buenos Aires, Argentina
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024, The Future We Want (group exhibition), Nebula97, Berlin, Germany
2024, Motion (group exhibition), The Holy Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2024, Pixel (group exhibition), The Alchemical Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2024, Group Exhibition, B23 Space, Berlin, Germany