Paolo De Grandis

[1] From 1984 to 1990 he directed the Academia Foundation[2][3] where he organized his first exhibition Quartetto (1984) on the occasion of the 41st Venice Biennale at Scuola Grande S. Giovanni Evangelista.

[4] The exhibition included works by Joseph Beuys, Enzo Cucchi, Bruce Nauman and Luciano Fabro and was co-curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Alanna Heiss, and Kasper König.

[15] Artists who exhibited at Open include Yoko Ono, Marisa Merz, Emilio Vedova, Gaspare Manos, Richard Long, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Bernar Venet, Mimmo Rotella, Magdalena Abakanowicz, César, Arman, Beverly Pepper, Erik Dietman, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Carl Andre, Keith Haring, Fabrizio Plessi, Julian Schnabel, Dennis Hopper, Feng Mengbo, Max Neuhaus, Chen Zhen, and Ju Ming".

He acted as commissioner of the Europe section for the Flag Art Festival in occasion of the 2002 FIFA WORLD CUP in Seoul,[17] and two years later organized OPENASIA, a special edition curated with Chang Tsong-zung, Chinese contemporary art critic, presenting Asian artists as Yoko Ono, Ye Fang, Li Chen, Chen Zhen, Ye Hongxing, among others, and included projects as The Etruscans in the East curated by Philippe Daverio.

[37] Countries like Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Latvia, Estonia, Macedonia, Greece, Jamaica, Ukraine, Indonesia, Iran and Morocco turned to him and to his company Arte Communications to find suitable spaces all around Venice in which to exhibit".

Paolo De Grandis at the press conference of OPEN13 in the Excelsior Hotel, Lido of Venice.
Achille Bonito Oliva and Paolo De Grandis during the inauguration of Adi Da Samraj at the 52 Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte – la Biennale di Venezia, 2007.