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Valentina Ornaghi (Milan, 1986) and Claudio Prestinari (Milan, 1984) live and work in Milan.

After graduating respectively in Industrial Design and Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano, they continued their studies at the IUAV University of Venice.

They began collaborating in 2009, combining their skills in a continuous dialogue founded on sharing and experimentation.Their multidisciplinary approach, which intertwines art, design, architecture, and art history, lies at the core of a research that explores the domestic, fragile, and intimate dimension of things.The practice of Ornaghi & Prestinari moves between concept and action, with particular attention to materials and processes of transformation.Delicacy, care, time, lightness, and irony are recurring themes in their work.

Represented by GALLERIA CONTINUA since 2014, they have held numerous solo exhibitions at its international venues: Paris (2025), San Gimignano (2014, 2018, 2021), Rome (2021), and Les Moulins (2018).

In 2025 and 2023, their works were presented at the Museum Voorlinden in Wassenaar, while in 2024 they took part in a group exhibition at Bozar – Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels.In 2023, they exhibited at the Musée Picasso in Paris, the Misk Art Institute in Riyadh, and the Kunsthalle Bern.In 2022, they participated in group exhibitions at the GAMeC – Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, and at the Ceramic Art Avenue Art Museum, Jingdezhen.In 2021, they took part in the Amant Residency, Siena.

In 2020, their works were included in exhibitions at the Fondation d’Entreprise Martell, Cognac, and at the Rocca di Angera; in 2019, at the Kasteel van Gaasbeek, Brussels.In 2018, they exhibited at the MAAT – Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Lisbon, and received the Club GAMeC Prize.In 2017, they held a solo exhibition at the MAMbo – Casa Morandi, Bologna, and presented the public sculpture Filemone e Bauci for the ArtLine CityLife Park, Milan.

In 2016, they participated in exhibitions at Arte Continua, Havana; Casa Morandi – MAMbo, Bologna; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar; and Museo Pietro Canonica, RomeThat same year, they held their first solo exhibition in New York, promoted by Magazzino Italian Art at New York University – Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, and participated in the Artista x Artista residency, the first international residency in Havana.

In 2015, they took part in group exhibitions at Le Centquatre, Paris, Palazzo Reale, Milan, and Museo Pietro Canonica, Rome.In 2013, they joined the VIR – Viafarini in Residence, Milan, while in 2012, they received the Regione Veneto Prize from the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice.In 2011, they participated in a residency at the Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’Arte, Turin.

Among their public commissions, notable works include the sculptures Filemone e Bauci for CityLife, Milan (2017), and Costume for Bush Terminal, Brooklyn (2025).

In addition to their artistic practice, Ornaghi & Prestinari are co-founders of T.NUA, an experimental, self-managed, and self-funded collective of artists that develops hybrid projects on an international scale, at the crossroads of art, community participation, and education.

Education

Valentina Ornaghi

2012 MFA Degree in Visual Arts, IUAV, Venice, IT

2009 BA Degree in Industrial design, Politecnico di Milano, IT

2005-2006 Brera Academy of Fine Arts, Milan, IT

Claudio Prestinari

2013 MFA Degree in Landscape Architecture, IUAV, Venice, IT

2008 BA Degree in Architecture, Politecnico di Milano, IT

Study and Teaching

2015

Dynamo Camp, workshop with Dynamo children, San Marcello Pistoiese (PT), IT

Artista X Artista, curated by Estudio Carlos Garaicoa, La Habana, CU

2014

Conversation, curated by Claudia Santeroni, The blank residency, Bergamo, IT

Fondazione Spinola-Banna per l’arte, tutor: Liliana Moro-Mario Airò, Poirino (TO), IT

2013

VIR Viafarini-in-residence, curated by Simone Frangi, Milan, IT

Effetto Venturi, workshop with Gianni Pettena, curated by Peep Hole, Museo del ‘900, Milan, IT

2012

Penso con le mie ginocchia, workshop per la Cattedrale, Viafarini DOCVA, Milan, IT

2011-2009

IUAV visiting professors: Lewiz Baltz, Tania Bruguera, Enrico David, Antoni Muntadas, Francesco Vezzoli, Cesare Pietrosi, Venice, IT

2011

In un luogo imprecisato, opera radiofonica con Liliana Moro, curated by Lelio Aiello, Bologna, IT

Fondazione Spinola-Banna per l’arte, visiting professor: Massimo Bartolini, Poirino (TO), IT

Museo dell’arte italiana in Esilio, workshop with Cesare Pietroiusti, 54° Biennale di Venezia, IT

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2025

Blursday, Galleria Continua, Paris Marais, FR

2023

Sbilenco, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, IT

2021

Toccante, Galleria Continua, Roma, IT

2020

Tre Vani, curated by Jessica Bianchera, Spazio Cordis in collaboration with Formigari, Verona, IT

2019

Affiorare, curated by Matilde Galletti, Ex-chiesa di Ognissanti, Fermo, IT

2018

KEEPING THINGS WHOLE, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, IT

Early Autumn, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, FR

2017

Grigio lieve, Casa Morandi, Bologna, IT

Solo Show, Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, IT

STILLE, Villa Pacchiani, Santa Croce sull'Arno, IT

2016

Ornaghi & Prestinari, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, New York University, New York,  USA

Artista X Artista, Open Studio, La Habana, CU

2014

Amoir Libre, Dedar, Paris, FR

Familiare, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, IT 

2013

Pentagona: un percorso a Ferrara dopo il terremoto, Palazzo Paradiso- Biblioteca Comunale Ariostea, Ferrara, IT

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025

The Life of Things, Voorlinden Museum, Wassenaar, NL

2024

Love is Louder, Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, BE

2023

À toi de faire, ma mignonne, as part of Sophie Calle's Collection inside her solo show, curated by Cécile Godefroy, Musée Picasso, Paris, FR

Toucher Terre, Espace Monte Cristo, Fondation Villa Datris, Paris, FR

Brand new ancients, curated by Wassan Al-Khudhairi and Cecilia Ruggeri, Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, SA

Heavy Rotation Infra-habibi-technics, Lantian Xie mit Aarushi Surana, İpek Hamzaoğlu, Kaushal Sapre, Aasma Tulika, Alla Semenovskaya, Sabih Ahmed, Laura Nitsch, Ornaghi & Prestinari, FRAME, Nanni, 7 Winds, Kunsthalle Bern, CH

Ato (Act), Galleria Continua, Sao Paulo, BR

2022

In the heat, Galleria Continua, Dubai, UAE

Il est ici, jamais ailleurs, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, FR

Il est ici, toujours ailleurs, Galleria Continua, Paris, FR

New wave, Galleria Continua, Dubai, UAE

La Collezione Impermanente #3.0, GAMeC, curated by Sara Fumagalli, Valentina Gervasoni e A. Fabrizia Previtali, Bergamo, IT

Toucher Terre, Fondation Villa Datris, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, FR

2021/
2022

In bianco. La porcellana nella ceramica d’arte italiana contemporaneae, International Ceramic Art Biennale, curated by Matteo Zauli and Xiuzhong Zhang, Ceramic Art Avenue Art Museum, Jingdezhen, CN

2021

Nota Bene, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, FR

Passages / Paysages, curated by Roberto Lacarbonara, Palazzo Barbò a Torre Pallavicina (BG),  IT

Intersections, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, FR

Truc à faire, curated by JR, Galleria Continua, Paris, FR

2020

Una Boccata d'Arte, curated by Galleria Continua and Fondazione Elpis, Ex cinema storico, Sant'Agata dei Goti, IT

Places to becurated by Nathalie Viot, Fondation d’entreprise Martell, Cognac, FR

Utopie fantastichecurated by Ilaria Bonacossa, Rocca d’Angera / with Galleria Continua, Angera, IT

2019

Immersione LiberaPalazzina dei Bagni Misteriosi / with Galleria Continua, Milano, IT

Feast of Fools. Bruegel rediscoveredcurated by Luk Lambrecht and Lieze Eeneman, Gaasbeek Castle, Lennik, BE 

Ossessione, Palazzo Monti, Brescia, IT

2018

Eco-Visionaries: Art, Architecture and New Media after the Anthropocene, MAAT, Lisbon, P

Immagini Ombre Idee / Images Shadows Ideas, The Open Box, Milano, IT

Young Italians 1968-2018, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, New York, USA

Caducità, MIDeC – Museo Internazionale del Design Ceramico, Cerro di Laveno Mombello, IT

About a Vase, Montelupo Fiorentino, IT

anteprima a palazzo, Palazzo Bernetti Evangelista, Fermo, IT

2017

Mythologies,  Palazzo Palmieri, Monopoli, IT

2016

The Habit of a Foreign Sky, FutureDome, Milan, IT

Full Moon, Voorlinden Museum, Wassenaar, NL

Microonde, The Blank Residency, Bergamo, IT

Substantial, curated by Ginevra Bria, The Open Box, Milan, IT

Artista X Artista (III), curated by Estudio Carlos Garaicoa, La Habana, CU

Homeworks in gita, curated by Samuele Menin, Careof, Milan, IT

Linea del tempo annodata, StudiFestival #2, Milan, IT

YOU + ME = US, Arte Continua, Aguila de Oro, La Habana, CU

2015

ArtLine, curated by Roberto Pinto and Sara Dolfi Agostini, Palazzo Reale, Milan, IT

Talent Prize, Museo Pietro Canonica in Villa Borghese, Rome, IT

Rebuilding the future, curated by Marco Pierini in collaboration with Laura Barreca, Andrea Bruciati and Claudia Loffelholz, Chiesa dei Cavalieri di Malta, Siracusa, IT

Follia Continua! Les 25 ans de GALLERIA CONTINUA, curated by José-Manuel Gonçalvès, Le Centquatre, Paris, FR

Homeworks, Esercizio numero 1, Corso Monforte, Milano, IT

Ever Present Past, Relais La Suvera, Casole d'Elsa (SI), IT

Milano Roma Palermo Torino, StudiFestival #1, Milan, IT

2014

On another scale, curated by Ricardo Sardenberg, GALLERIA CONTINUA, San Gimignano, IT

Extradelicato 2, via privata Pantelleria, Milan, IT

2013

Come se tutti avessero smesso di respirare nello stesso istante, curated by Lelio Aiello, Zola Predosa (BO), IT

Open studio VIR Viafarini-in-residence, curated by Simone Frangi, Milan, IT

Tutta colpa dell’amore, Premio d’arte città di Treviglio, curated by Sara Fontana, ALT, Alzano Lombardo (BG), IT

Jeune Création Européenne, (November 2012-January) Galerie im traklhaus, Salzburg, AT and  (April-June) Museu Amadeo De Souza Cardoso, Amarante, PR

2012

96ma collettiva Giovani Artisti, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Galleria di San Marco, Venice, IT

Tutta colpa dell’amore, Premio d’arte città di Treviglio, curated by Sara Fontana, Museo della Torre, Treviglio, IT

The Self-Moving Number, curated by Sils project, Duende studios, Rotterdam, NL

Jeune Création Européenne, touring biennal of young artists: (October-November) Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, Pécs, HU; (June-July) GMB - Centre for Contemporary Art, Bratislava, SK; (April-May) Hamburg Kunsthaus, Hamburg, DE; (February-March) KCCC - Klaïpeda Culture Communication Center, Klaïpeda, LT

Extracurricular Activity, curated by Daniele Capra, Superfluo, Padova, IT

2011

Jeune Création Européenne, (October-November) La Fabrique, Mountrouge, FR

Senza Soggetto - Sul fare, workshop by Enrico David, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Palazzetto Tito, Venice, IT

2010

Il museo immaginario, workshop by Antoni Muntadas, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Palazzetto Tito, Venice, IT

Cielo di pietra, curated by Francesco Vezzoli, Pietro Rigolo and Claudia Cremonini, Ca d’Oro, Venice, IT

2009

Ogni limite ha una pazienza (Esperienze non lineari del tempo), curated by Cesare Pietroiusti and Filipa Ramos, Fondazione Gervasuti, Venice, IT

XIV Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, BJCEM, Museum of Contemporary Art, Skopje, MK

Quotidiana 09, curated by Teresa Iannotta and Stefania Schiavon, Palazzo Trevisan, Padova, IT

IMMAGINI OMBRE IDEE / IMAGES SHADOWS IDEAS, The Open Box, Milan, Italy

Projects

2021

Treccani Arte, curated by Ilaria Bonacossa, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, Roma, IT

2019

Artissima Junior, curated by Ilaria Bonacossa, Artissima in collaboration with Juventus, Oval Lingotto fiere, Torino, IT

2015

Dynamo Art Factory, Dynamo Camp Onlus, Limestre, IT

2014

Amoir Libre, curated by Antonella Crippa, Dedar showroom in collaboration with Galleria Continua, Paris, FR

Awards

2022

Percent for Art program, winner of the contest inded by the Department of Cultural Affair in NY for a public art project in Bush Terminal, Brooklyn, USA

2021

Premio Santa Croce Grafica, hons mention, Villa Pacchiani, Santa Croce Sull'Arno, IT

2018

Club GAMeC Prize, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, IT

2017

Under35 prize SIAE/Sillumina, Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza, IT

2015

Talent Prize, Finalist, Museo Pietro Canonica, Rome, IT

2012

Premio Regione Veneto, 96ma collettiva Giovani Artisti, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, IT

2009

A box of dreams, menzione d’onore, Fondazione Claudio Buziol, Venice, IT

Residences

2021

Siena Residency, curated by Amant Foundation, Chiusure, IT

2017

Residenza d'artista Faenza, Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza, IT 

2016

Artista X Artista, artist residence curated by Estudio Carlos Garaicoa, La Habana, CU

2013

VIR Viafarini-in-residence, curated by Simone Frangi, Milan, IT

2011

Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’Arte, curated by Gail Cochrane, Guido Costa, Poirino, IT

Public collections

Museum Voorlinden, Caldic Collection, Wassenaar, NL

Magazzino Italian Art, Olnick Spanu Collection, New York, USA

Cleveland Clinic Art Collection, Cleveland, USA

GAMeC – Galleria d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Bergamo, IT

Museo Carlo Zauli, Faenza, IT

MIC - Museo internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza, IT

Permanent works

2025

CostumeBush Terminal, Brooklyn, NY

2017

Filemone e Bauci, Artline, Milan, IT