Michele Piovesan, composer, director, performer, eclectic artist, was born in Asolo, Treviso in 1966. He soon discovered his passion for music and visual arts. He attended the A. Steffani Conservatory in Castelfranco Veneto (Treviso) studying piano from 1978 to 1980. He then enrolled at the M. Fanoli School of Arts in Cittadella (Padova) obtaining his diploma. In 1981 he began playing with various independent musical formations of the new art movement called “New Wave”, a journey in the electric and electronic genre with the use of the first monophonic and polyphonic synthesizers, to which he immediately became passionate about.
In 1984 he joined the Degada Saf, a pioneer group in Italy in the field of electronic music; with the Degada, Michele will have the opportunity to experiment with the basic techniques of recording on magnetic tape and mixing. This experience ends in 1986 when the group dissolves. It was during this period that he grew interest in audio recording and composition: so, he decided to open a recording studio, VoxItalia. The VoxItalia project will lead him to write music for nationwide advertising campaigns, and to engage in the field of audiovisual synchronization.
In the 90s, he felt a strong need to merge the classical and electronic experience and began to compose adopting a minimalist style, very close to the soundtrack, mixing acoustic noises and instruments with decidedly electronic sounds; this new experimentation led him to be part of a movement of young artists called Oblio. This is how he participates in some contemporary art exhibitions and performances in Italy in Bassano del Grappa, Conegliano, Bergamo, Bologna, giving sound to the environments with personal musical compositions in 4.0 Surround format.
What interested him the most in this time was the “sound experiences”: sound must not only envelop the listener, but must merge and interact with colors and images. This visual-musical research kept him engaged from 2000 onwards. In 2001, he created an experimental CD with purely acoustic sounds generated by scratching, breaking, and bouncing some pencils; this project, linked to minimalism and conceptual art, led him to compose music for “Le Jour de Tadao”, a theatrical play that won national and international competitions such as: the French Louis d’Or prize in 2002 and the Italian Schegge d’Autore in 2003.
Between 2004 and 2005, his interest in surround system became a priority, just like images and colors, and Michele approached the world of directing. During the following year (2006), he worked on the video-installation of Andrea Mantegna’s 500th anniversary. During this period, he met Enrico Merlin and Massimo Barbot. This encounter led to the creation of one of the most important exhibitions ever made for Miles Davis; “The sounds of Miles” and “The colors of Miles,” which were hosted at Palazzo Agostinelli in Bassano del Grappa and at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The production of audiovisual documentation for the well-known “Veneto Jazz” festival is also notable. Some of these photographs were exhibited during the “Non Sole Jazz Festival” in Trento, Italy at a group exhibition called “Facce di Jazz”.
However, since 2005, Michele felt the need to reform the Degada Saf: after producing a video clip in 2006, a new album was released in 2009 called “Without Religions.” In addition, two compilations were released in 2009 and 2010. Degada resumed their electronic “wave”, revisiting it and receiving excellent criticism from the national press.
At the same time, Michele continued his research in the audiovisual field, producing various short films and documentaries.
In 2011 he faced a synaesthetic journey with the performance of “Inferno,” Dante Alighieri V Canto composed by words, sounds, images and fragrances, 4.1 surround audio installation, and cinema projection. By invitation of the sculptor Gino Masciarelli in 2013, this piece of work entered the “Leonardo da Vinci Science and Technology Museum” in Milan; a live-streaming performance broadcasted on “ilsole24ore.com”.
Additionally, in 2011, he took part in the filming of a documentary and creation of “Luce Fluida”, a multi-sensory gastronomic performance linked to “Illuminazioni” (54th Venice Biennale).
The following year, he was invited by Massimiliano Alajmo, an internationally renowned chef, to compose music for desserts to listen to (a new synaesthetic journey with the name “In&Out”) in the menu of the 3-star Michelin restaurant throughout 2012. He also signed the audio mixing in dolby digital for two feature films present at the Turin Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.
In 2013, he collaborated on the medium-length film “Animated Resistance” which won the prize for best documentary at the 71st Venice Film Festival.
In the same year, he took over the direction of Temperate Projects, making art films and documentaries, including “La Pietà Rondanini”, which is a hermeneutic research on Michelangelo’s unfinished sculpture, in the context of the intervention of four Italian architects (B.B.P.R.) at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan.
His great curiosity towards the contemporary pushed him to the net art, giving life to the work “Dos Das Dict”, a journey where the DOS language coincides with the work itself and the depth of the contents.
In 2014, he published the documentary “Tribute to Giorgio Upiglio”, an art printer who passed away in 2013. In the same year, he had a residency of a few months at the Atelier of Maestro Gianni Brusamolino, which led him to an increasing interest in the visual arts .
In the summer of 2015, he met his good friend Maestro Paolo Schiavocampo in Massa, and spent time with him. During his stay, he took some photographs, the 10 shots of “Trame e Audito.” In September, he was selected for the Art Film Festival of Asolo (34th edition) with the art film titled “The scenic space of sculpture”, a visual-musical performance.
In 2016, Michele was invited as a guest to the Festival of the New Renaissance in Milan by Centro Studi Milano ‘900. Alongside Maestri Gianni Brusamolino and Piero Querques, he was one of the three generations representing ‘900. His site-specific work is entitled “La pietà Condotta” (3.50m x 2.30m), in tribute to the four architects B.B.P.R.
Subsequently, he will set up a personal exhibition “Trame e Audito” at the Crypta “Cybo Malaspina” inside the Duomo di Massa with art work on steel. He will be invited as the only guest artist during the International Literature Prize San Domenichino, Marina dei Ronchi, Italy, with an exhibition of some of his work.
Today, Michele Piovesan lives in Castelfranco Veneto the native city of the internationally famous painter Giorgione.
Michele is pursuing a journey that leads to engaging with physical material. A need to interact between spatiality and tactility and giving life to an artistic approach, that is engraved into the sign of sculptural analytical language through the photographic medium, linked to physical time and the changes it causes, be they predictable or completely unexpected.