Biography

Biographical Summary

From 2004 to 2018, he travelled the world with writer Marco Steiner, visiting the places that inspired Hugo Pratt for the settings of his Corto Maltese saga.

In 2011, at the Locarno Film Festival, he held the world premiere of Projet corrida, his first video and photo work, made together with Swiss photographer René Bur- ri, from the prestigious Magnum agency. Between 2011 and 2013, Projet Corrida was present- ed in various contexts including: Cult TV (RSI); the Centre culturel suisse in Paris; Solothurn Film Festival (Switzer- land); Festival International du Film sur l’Art (FIFA), Mon- tréal; Nuit des images, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne; Musée des Suisses dans le Monde, Geneva; and Fon- dazione Donetta, Corzoneso (Switzerland).

Between 2013 and 2014 he developed the photo- graphicprojectentitledAlleradicidell’innovazioneagro-al- imentare (‘To the roots of agri-food innovation’), commis- sioned by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) as the official image of Switzerland for Expo 2015 in Milan.

From 2014 Marco D’Anna is represented by the Buchmann Galerie Agra/Lugano

In 2018, he won the prestigious King of Photography award and participated in the exhibition The Power of the Image as part of the International Photography Culture Ex- hibition in Datong (China). He lives and works in Lugano.

His most recent works have been exhibited at the Art Museum of the City of Lugano (2011), at the Musée des Suisses dans le Monde in Geneva (2012), at the Expo in Milan (2015), Rome and Turin (2014), and at the Hôtel de Ville de Paris (2015).

His works were featured in the exhibitions Swiss Press Photo 16 at LAC Lugano (2016) and Sulle vie dell’Illuminazione at MASI Lugano (2017).

His latest works have been exhibited at the Interna- tional Photography Culture Exhibition in Datong (2018); at Art Genève, Centre de la photographie Genève (2020); at Space, Scenery & Sentiment, a travelling exhibition or- ganised by the Swiss Embassy in Beijing, at Lv Lang Art Center, Nantong Jiangsu; Art Museum Normal University, Guizhou; Kuanzhai Art Museum, Chengdu (2021); Black Mountain at Art021 Shanghai (2021); at OLTREREALE, La realtà immaginata. Frammenti di memoria infinitamente mutabili, at the Atelier Segantini in Maloja (2022); Alle radici dell’innovazione agroalimentare, WEF Davos Annual Meeting 2022, House of Switzerland (2022).

His works are part of collections such as the Collection of the Swiss Foundation of Photography, the Collec- tion of the State of Canton Ticino, the Collection of the Musée Villa dei Cedri in Bellinzona the Collection of the Musée des Suisses dans le Monde in Geneva, the American Polaroid Collection, the De Pietri Artphilein Foundation Collection and the Collection of MASI in Lugano.

Main Personal and Collective Exhibitions

1985 “Ritratti di musicisti Jazz”, Town Hall, Lugano, personal
1988 “Foto d’autore”, Varese, collective
1992 “Polaroid 50 x 60”, Cons Arc Gallery, Chiasso, collective
1993 “La via della Croce”, Zust Museum, Rancate, collective
1996 “Young Swiss Artists”, National Congress, Montreux, collective
1997 “Polaroid stand”, Photokina, Köln, collective
1997 “Portraits of Jazz musicians”, Tan Gallery, Zürich, personal
1999 “Portraits of Jazz musicians”, Salle Gavot, Paris, collective
1999 “Con la coda dell’occhio, la Svizzera dal 1848 al 1998”, Swiss Foundation for Photography, travelling exhibition, collective
1999 “10 Years of the Gallery”, Gottardo Gallery, Lugano, collective
2000 “La Svizzera Italiana
1999”, Cantonal Art Museum, Lugano, personal
2000 “International Photography Meeting”, Oskar Barnak Leica Award, Arles, screening
2001 “Durante”, Swiss Cultural Center, Milan, personal
2001 “La Svizzera Italiana”, Swiss Museum of Photo Cameras, Vevey, personal
2003 “Cara a Cara”, Culturgest Centre, Lisbon, collective
2004 “Je t’envisage”, Elysée Museum, Lausanne, collective
2004 “Art Objects from the Municipality of Chiasso”, Cons Arc Gallery, Chiasso, collective
2004 “Il ritorno della memoria”, Swiss Cultural Center, Venice, personal
2004 “Odyssey”, Leica Gallery, Nidau, collective
2004 “Il ritorno della memoria”, Casa Rusca Museum, Locarno, personal
2005 “Ethiopia -The Track of the Scorpion”, Hugo Pratt, Jean-Claude Guilbert, Pierre Wazem, Marco D’Anna, Comic Strip Festival Angoulême, France, travelling exhibition to several European cities, the island of Reunion and at the Swiss Cultural Centre in Rome.
2006 “Merlot: the land, the people, the wine”, Matasci Art Centre, Tenero, personal
2006 “Merlot: the land, the people, the wine”, Italian Cultural Institute and Hyatt Hotel ; an exhibition organised by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Centre responsible for foreign cultural policy, New Delhi, India, personal
2007 “Mnemosine for Venice”, Church of San Stae, Pierre Casé sculptures, Angelo Casé poetry, Marco D’Anna photography, Venice, collective
2007 “Teff”, Ex-gallery de l’Elac, Hugo Pratt words, Marco D’Anna photography, Lausanne, personal
2007 “Bianconero immagini rivelate”, Cons Arc Gallery, Chiasso, collective
2008 “Oltre la trama”, Fabrik Raum 5 Gallery, Melchnau, personal 
2009 “Images of Passion BSI”, Gallery H, Bangkok Thailand, collective 
2010 “Teff”, Künstlerhaus S11, Solothurn Film Festival, Hugo Pratt words, Marco D’Anna photography, Solothurn personal 
2010 « Fotografie contro la leucemia per Mario De Stefanis », Bel Vedere Gallery, Milan, collective  
2011 « Lo scorrere del fiume, l’opera dell’uomo », Sasso Corbaro Castel, Bellinzona, collective 

2011 “I luoghi dell’avventura”, Museum of Modern Art, Hugo Pratt drawings and watercolours, Marco Steiner words, Marco D’Anna photography, Lugano 

2011 “Projet corrida”, Ammann Gallery of Modern Art, René Burri and Marco D’Anna photography, Locarno 2011 “Hugo Pratt, i luoghi dell’avventura”, Koiné Gallery, Scicli, Sicily, personal 
2012 “Le marin et le photographe”, Swiss in the world Museum, Geneva, personal 
2012 “Polaroid Transfer”, Donetta Foundation, Corzoneso, personal 
2014 “At the roots of the food and agriculture innovations”, Expo 2015, Milan, Rome, Torino, personal 2014 “To follow the train of thought”, Buchmann Gallery, Agra, collective 2014 “The crow’s artists”, Nuages Gallery, Milan, collective 
2014 “ At the roots of food and agriculture innovations”, Soirée Suisse, Mission of Switzerland to the EU, Brussels, personal 
2015 “De Cordoue à Palerme ”, Hôtel de ville, Paris, personal 
2015 “Flowers for You.”, Buchmann Gallery, Agra, collective 
2015 “Flowers for You ”, Kunst 15, Zürich, collective 
2015 “Ticino in luce" Castelgrande, Bellinzona, collective
2015 “Official Swiss Image”, Swiss Pavillon Expo 2015, Milan, personal 
2016 “Oltre”, Buchmann Gallery, Agra, personal 
2016 Swiss press photo 16, LAC, Lugano, collective
2017 Corto Maltese, Conversation avec Irène, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Tournai, BE, multimedia project
2017 Sulle vie dell’Illuminazione. Il mito dell’India nella cultura occidentale 1808- 2017, MASI, Lugano, collective
2018 “ Power of the Image “ International Photography Culture Exhibition, Datong, China,  collective.
2018 “ Oltre Corto Maltese – Miraggio di Memoria” Palazzo Leone da Perego, Legnano, Italy,  collective.
2019 “ Estival ”, Buchmann Gallery, Lugano, personal 
2020 “One Belt One Road", Artgenève, Centre de la photographie Genève, Artphilein Editions, collective
2020 “One Belt One Road“, Choisi, Artphilein Editions lugano, personal
2020 “Non-Gasoline Stations“, Choisi, Artphilein Editions lugano, collective
2020 “Commodities - from Russia to Ticino“, Art Gallery, Axion Suiss Bank Lugano, personal
2021 “Let’s meet on a cloud of freedom“, Galleria Focus, Artphilein Foundation,lugano, collective
2021 “Space, Scenery & Sentiment“ Travelling exhibition,organized: Embassy of Switzerland, Beijing, China. Lv Lang Art Center, Nantong Jiangsu. Art Museum Normal University a Guizhou. Kuanzhai Art Museum, Chengdu.
2021 His latest work “Black Mountains” is presented at Art021 Shanghai
2022 Oltrereale, Atelier Segantini Maloja, Preview of exhibition project 2022
2022 House of Switzerland “ At the roots of agri-food innovation” WEF Annual Meeting 2022, Davos, personal
2022 Oltrereale, Gallery la Stalla, Madulain, Engadina
2022 Transiti, Atelier la Piscina, Paradiso, personal
2023 Oltrereale, Villa Arconati, Castellazzo, Milano. Personal
2023 Oltrereale, Ambasciata Svizzera, Parigi, Francia. Personal
2023 Transiti, Gallery la Stalletta, Madulain, Engadina. Collective
2024 Oltrereale, Gallery la Stalletta, Madulain, Engadina. Collective

Collections 

1991 In the Collection of the Swiss Foundation for Photography 
1992 In the Collection of the Gotthard Bank Foundation 
1996 In the Collection of the Municipality of Chiasso 
1998 In the American Polaroid Collection 
2005 In the Ticino Cantonal Collection 
2007 In the Banca Stato Collection 
2012 In the Collection of the Municipality of Lugano 
2013 In the Collection of the Musée des Suisses dans le Monde, Ginevra
2020 In the Collection of MASi
2023 In the Collection of  Museum Civico Villa dei Cedri of Bellinzona
Since 1990, in numerous private collections 

Books 

• 1996 Published the volume about the World Cycling Championships “Those days for everyone, the story of an idea that became global”, Enrico Carpani, Buona Stampa Publisher, Lugano 
• 1997 Published the volume “Winds of Estival”, Twenty years of Lugano Estival Jazz, Fontana Publisher, Pregassona 
• 1999 Published the volume “La Svizzera Italiana 1999”, RTSI Publisher, introduced by René Burri. Work also visible on the www.rtsi.ch website
• 2004 Published the volume “Il ritorno della memoria”, Swiss General Consulate, Milan 
• 2005 Published the volume “Ethiopia -The Track of the Scorpion”, Casterman and Lizard Publishers, Belgium, Rome, photographs also published in the prestigious National Geographic magazine 
• 2006 Published the volume “Danke - Thank you”, Portraits of the Lantal Groupe Personnel, Renata and Urs Baumann, Langenthal 
• 2006 Published the volume “Merlot”, Matasci and Poncioni Publisher, Losone, introduced by Mario De Biasi and Alberto Nessi 
• 2007 Published the volume “Teff”, Hugo Pratt words and Marco D’Anna images, Flon Publisher, Lausanne 
• 2008 Published the preface of “La giovinezza” of Hugo Pratt, with the writer Marco Steiner, Casterman-Rizzoli Publisher 
 • 2009 Published the volume “…Oltre la trama”, Polaroid Transfer, introduced by Pierre Casé, Lantal Groupe, Renata and Urs Baumann, Langenthal 
• 2008-2010 Published the Prefaces of the fourteen volumes about “Corto Maltese ” of Hugo Pratt, with the writer Marco Steiner, Casterman-Rizzoli Publisher 
• 2011 Published the volume “I luoghi dell’avventura”, which collect in a unique volume the synthesis of all the prefaces of the fourteen Corto Maltese’s adventures around the world, Rizzoli-Lizard-Casterman Publisher 
• 2012 Published the volume “Le marin et le photographe”, Infolio Publisher, Swiss in the world Museum, Geneva 
• 2012 Published the volume “Rencontre avec Marco D’Anna”, Camille Verdier text, Infolio Publisher, Swiss in the world Museum, Geneva 
• 2012 Published the volume “Polaroid”, Donetta Fondation, Corzoneso 
• 2013 Published the volume “Projet Corrida”, René Burri e Marco D’Anna, Infolio Publisher, Swiss in the world Museum, Geneva 
• 2016 Published the volume ““Il gioco delle perle di Venezia” Gianni Berengo Gardin, Marco D’Anna, Hugo Pratt, Marco Steiner , Rizzoli-Lizard Publisher
• 2019, Published the volume “Isole di ordinaria follia” Gianni Berengo Gardin, Marco D’Anna, , Marco Steiner, Antonio Dragonetto, Marcianum Press Publisher
• 2019 Published the volume “One Belt One Road", Artphilein Editions, Lugano 
• 2022 Published the volume “Scatti", Bancastato, Artphilein Editions