PIERO CLEMENTE GARREFFA

Born 1982, Mildura, Australia
Lives and works Melbourne, Australia

Master of Fine Art, RMIT University, Melbourne, 2021

AWARDS & FINALIST

2018 — Paul Guest Arts Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery
2024 — Pro Hart Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill City Art Gallery

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025 — It’s In My Blood, Mario’s, Melbourne
2022 — Poking a Stick at an Ant’s Nest, Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura
2021 — Look and See, Mario’s, Melbourne
2019 — Icons and Nostalgia, Mario’s, Melbourne
2018 — Untitled, Babe Space, Melbourne

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026 — Dream On, Siger Gallery, London
2026 — Grammar Art Show, Toowoomba Gallery, Toowoomba
2026 — Portraits: Past to Present, Mildura Arts Centre, Mildura
2025 — AKIDA, Arthouse Selective, Melbourne
2025 — Rosetta, Jacky Winter Gallery, Melbourne
2025 — Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2024 — Centrepiece, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2024 — Pro Hart Outback Art Prize, Broken Hill City Art Gallery, Broken Hill
2024 — No Vacancy Annual Art Show, No Vacancy, Melbourne
2024 — Gioia, with Melissa Grisanach, On the Corner Gallery, Melbourne
2023 — National Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra
2023 — Sun-Raysed, Workspace3496, Mildura
2021 — RMIT School of Art Graduate Show, Melbourne
2021 — RMIT Hall & Wilcox Acquisitive Art Prize, Melbourne

EARLIER EXHIBITIONS — SELECTED

2019 — Self Portrait 2019 A.D., 45 Downstairs, Melbourne
2019 — Trouble Makers II, Versus Gallery, Melbourne
2019 — Eat Sleep Paint Repeat, BSIDE Gallery, Melbourne
2019 — Breathru, Montsalvat, Melbourne
2018 — Paul Guest Arts Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery
2018 — 50x50 Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2018 — Inquisitive Palette Prize, Tacit Gallery, Melbourne

RESIDENCIES

2011 — Premiere Art Studios, Mildura
2009 — Yard Studios, Hackney Wick, London
2008 — Studio 70 Rosso, Florence, Italy

COLLECTIONS

Victorian State Parliament House Collection
Mildura Arts Centre Collection (Elliott Collection)
Stefano Di Pieri Collection
Private collections across Australia, Italy, France, United Kingdom, United States, Germany and Spain

PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA

Middleton, C., “Ones to Watch,” Art/Edit Magazine, Issue 30, 2021
National Portrait Gallery, National Photographic Portrait Prize, 2023
The Design Files, 2023
SBS Italian, It’s in My Blood: L’identità Calabrese di Piero Garreffa

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Piero Clemente Garreffa is a Melbourne-based painter whose practice explores identity, memory and cultural inheritance through figurative and narrative-driven works. Drawing on his Calabrian heritage and personal history, his practice functions as a personal anthropology, examining psychological and symbolic relationships between place, memory and identity.

His work has been recognised through national prizes and institutional exhibitions, and is held in public and private collections in Australia and internationally. His practice balances personal narrative with broader cultural themes, contributing to contemporary conversations around identity, memory and representation in Australian painting.

ONLINE

Website: www.pieroclementegarreffa.com
Instagram: @ohnopiero
Blog: ohnopiero.blogspot.com
RMIT Art Grad Festival Archive

 

Self Portrait in studio, 2021. Acrylic on canvas, 116 x 191cm

ANOTATION

Forming a relationship between the viewer and gesturing a mark. It is a necessary process and reflection in my practice; it is one of trial and error. There is always a moment of the unknown where it slips through design possibilities, where artistic sensibilities take over the idea of representation. For me making a quantity of work, whether it is an immediate recording of my own throughs drawing, is quick and shorthand of such then more permeant through painting choosing an object to stand out from the background. Painting comes from a pursuit of frustration at times. There is always a constant struggle, be it the environment constraints we are in or intimate surroundings finding the balance between the academic and pushing myself with and against while being true to what I want to represent in some ways it can go against the academic system. The world is full of so many complications. I am endeavoring to be clear and concise. The challenge is to represent these ideas as purely as possible for my reflection process. I always drawback on my heritage and family upbringing, and throughout my work, you can capture a sense of romanticism.

MY NONNA

 

It's the weekend, and I've been sent to my Nonno and Nonna's house in town. Their home is a distinctive white brick two-story with concrete lions on the front gate and a water fountain adorned with mythical figures and cherubic angels. The veranda is tiled in blue and white geometric and floral patterns.

Inside, I'm greeted by a brown, black, and gold paisley carpet that sets the scene amidst a plethora of religious and Italian iconography. The living room, adorned with wallpaper of repetitive designs, features chandeliers with faux crystals. It's here that I'd spend hours, captivated by the surroundings, often trying to sketch every detail.

I vividly recall one night catching "The Exorcist" on TV and being thoroughly spooked.  I would occasionally sneak a chair to grab one the " crystals" off the chandeliers to draw when my Nonni were out.

Then, there was the sewing room—a treasure trove of markers, needles, threads, fabrics, and the giant black scissors. The old manual Singer sewing machine not only served as a place for sewing but also housed treats in one drawer and loose change in another.

Growing up and spending countless hours at my Nonni's house allowed me to explore and express myself. While my Nonno spoke a bit of English, my Nonna didn't speak a word, often requiring me to translate phone conversations. I fondly remember my Nonna teaching me how to draw flowers, a skill that would shape my artistic journey.

As I grew more aware, I began to see Picasso, Matisse, and Warhol's works and couldn't help but think, "Hey, they copied my Nonna!" She had immigrated from Italy shortly after the war, finding work as a dressmaker in Melbourne while my Nonno had settled in Mildura earlier. They spent much of their lives working the land, imparting sincerity and honesty into everything they did.

Looking back, I now appreciate my Nonna's artwork without needing to translate or understand the technicalities; it speaks to me in my own artistic language. Her pieces have become teaching aids in my own practice, offering me comfort in my mistakes and teaching me to embrace and be proud of them—there's no need to conceal imperfections.

GIANNI VESARCE

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWtaRvqvw9s

I remember in 1997 getting ready to go to school, the morning tv in the back round, Versace is dead. My father mentions he his Calabrese like us. A man from humble origins. Gianni hails from the Province of Reggio Calabria. The same part of Italy were my family are from. The area is rich in history particularly of the classical greek era. His mother being the greatest influence on his life. She was a dressmaker. He did not excel academically and spend the the best parts of his childhood in his mothers atelier . I admire his use of colour there all mixed together. bordeaux with yellow colours that you wouldn’t normally see together but he works it with his form being the clothes and makes it his own. In a sense I use it with my imagery. 

LACK OF FAILER = LACK OF TALENT

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YryiZX2bhmE

The words of Eugene Hutz is a constant reminder when faced with the struggles with what I am creating, be it with my own studio practice or within the academic space working against something being true being fearless of the chance of failure. " The lower you are going to fall. The higher your going to fly."