Born in Italy in 1971, Paola Pivi’s artistic practice is diverse and enigmatic. Commingling the familiar with the alien, Pivi often works with commonly identifiable objects which are modified to introduce a new scale, material, or color, challenging the audience to change their point of view. Animals are often cast as protagonists in Pivi’s world. She draws upon their perceived characteristics and instills them with human mannerisms. In Pivi’s art, Polar bears practice yoga, hang from trapezes, and engage with one another. Sprouting multicolored feathers, the artworks are both life-sized and miniaturized as baby bears. Spanning sculpture, video, photography, performance, and installation, Pivi’s practice trespasses perceived limits to make possible what before seemed impossible. Zebras frolic in the Arctic, goldfish fly on airplanes, and in her 2012 Public Art Fund installation, a Piper Seneca airplane was lifted on its wingtips and installed to constantly rotate forward.

Pivi has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including We are the Alaskan Tourists, Arken Museum, Denmark (2020); Art with a View, The Bass Museum Miami Beach, USA (2018); I did it again, Savannah College of Art and Design, USA (2018); I am tired of eating fish, La Rinascente, Italy (2017); Ma’am, Dallas Contemporary, USA (2016); Tulkus 1880 to 2018, FRAC Bourgogne, France (2014); You started it ... I finish it, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia (2014); Tulkus 1880 to 2018, Witte de With, Netherlands (2013); Share, But It’s Not Fair, Rockbund Art Museum, China (2012); How I roll, Public Art Fund New York, USA (2012); It’s a cocktail party, Portikus, Germany (2008); and It just keeps getting better, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2007). Pivi has exhibited internationally at institutions including Stad Kortrijk, Belgium; Anchorage Museum, USA; Fondazione Prada, Italy; Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Germany; Whitechapel Gallery, United Kingdom; Fondazione Nicola Trussardi, Italy; Malmö Konsthall, Sweden; MOMA PS1, USA; and the XLVIII Biennale di Venezia, Italy. The artist lives and works in Anchorage, Alaska.