© 2025 Antonella Ippolito
pastelli a olio
I am a self-taught painter, born in Palermo in 1974.
My passion for art has been with me since childhood, developing alongside a deep interest in literature and history. I now live in Germany, where I work as a university lecturer. Alongside my academic research, I cultivate a personal artistic path that combines study, experimentation, and – once again – research.
My choice of medium came from a mistake. I was, I think, in middle school - about 11 years old - when we were asked to bring wax crayons to our art class. At the stationery shop, I was shown some that had a wonderful smell – linseed oil, though I didn’t know it at the time – and more vibrant colours than the others. I chose them instinctively. At school, I realised they were “different” and asked the teacher why. “They’re not wax, they’re oil pastels,” she said. “Look – you can blend them.” She ran her finger over the drawing – it was a fish – and transformed it in a way that seemed magical to me. From that moment on, oil pastels became my main expressive tool. I sometimes use other techniques as well, such as traditional oil paint or, more rarely, soft pastels.
. Being self-taught is not easy. You learn above all by observing – objects, shapes, colours – but then you have to turn intuition into discipline, and discipline into language, with perseverance and humility. It’s a path where trial and error play a central role, alongside individual study and engagement with the history of art – something I’ve been lucky enough to explore through both my academic work and my personal passion.
My works emerge from the slow observation of things or situations that fascinate me – for their colours, or for what they evoke, or may evoke, in those who look at them.
Precisely for this reason, I set no thematic boundaries.
For me – someone who works daily with words and the conventions of academic discourse – painting is, beyond its technical aspects, a form of absolute freedom: a way to say what I could never fully express in words.
Read an interview on Exibart (in Italian)
Mostre
Personali
Mittelmeer-Impressionen, Urania-Verein (Potsdam) | 16. 11. 2022 - 30.01.2023
Grenzenlos, Freundschaftsinsel Potsdam | 01. 09. – 22. 10. 2023
Räume des Lichtes, AWO-Kulturzentrum Babelsberg, Potsdam | 01. 02. – 4. 04. 2024
Farbengeschichten, Freundschaftsinsel Potsdam | 01. 09. – 01. 10. 2024
Fresco secco trifft Ölpastell. Pompejische Malerei und mediterrane Landschaften im Dialog (mit KATRIN SEIFERT), Rechenzentrum Potsdam | 16. 02. – 9. 03. 2024
Collettive
Galleria Purificato-Zero (Roma) „Artisti d’Italia 2022“ | 17. 11. - 31. 12. 2022 (videoesposizione), menzione speciale per l'opera Hen Enkelte
Barbagelata Art Foundation (Barcelona), „Woman” | luglio 2023 (online)
Barbagelata Art Foundation (Barcelona), „Nature” | agosto 2023 (online)
Barbagelata Art Foundation (Barcelona), „War and Peace” | settembre 2023 (online)
Barbagelata Art Foundation (Barcelona), „Woman” | luglio 2023 (online)
Barbagelata Art Foundation (Barcelona), „Landscapes” | febbraio 2024 (online)
Barbagelata Art Foundation (Barcelona), „Flowers” | aprile 2024 (online)
Barbagelata Art Foundation (Barcelona), „Four Elements” | agosto 2024 (online)