A multi-disciplinary artist inspired by the natural world and driven by a desire to explore texture and materiality.
I am a multidisciplinary artist of French and Italian heritage born in France and moved to London in the 1980s where my interest in art remained an on-going passion. This led me to train at the Hampstead School of Art (HSOA) where I still enjoying being a member of the community.
When art makes an appearance later in life it is both exhilarating and liberating; an opportunity to explore and document my own ideas, thoughts and experiences in ways I’ve spent years admiring and researching – a fascination sparked by a childhood experience. Age brings a maturity, knowledge and freedom to my practice that allows experimentation without inhibition and boundaries. I continually strive to make new discoveries; exploring the fluidity, materiality and the ebb and flow of my mediums. My inspiration comes mainly from nature and music.
I exhibit regularly in the UK and abroad, have my work published in magazines and books and have won awards and prizes along the way.
Francesca Catarinicchia, Art Curator, comments on mixed media piece "More Trees for the Planet"
“The period of the pandemic and the lockdown was controversial and difficult for all of us for sure, yet in this phase of discouragement and isolation many people, especially artists, found the stimulus to create something beautiful. During this time, in fact, Brigitte Toffano Ali has experimented and perfected collage and printmaking. The work under examination is, in fact, multi-material; in it, collage, print, acrylic and ink are mixed together creating a medium-sized work of contemporary art with bright and strong colors. The inspiration certainly comes from nature, but in it we can also read a reminder to the present: it is necessary that humanity reforests the Earth.
The French-Italian artist, who has been living in London for more than 35 years, has created an energetic work, a work that strikes our eyes and awakens our senses. At the center of the canvas, we can distinguish the trunks of the trees while everything else appears not well defined. We are not able to identify and distinguish the individual components, and yet, we are still able to receive sensations from it, and this is, after all, the real purpose of an artwork.
With "More Trees for the Planet", Brigitte Toffano Ali transmits us those emotions and those feelings that reside first of all inside her. In her canvases she lets her most intimate sensations flow freely, and so joy, curiosity and an almost uncontrollable vital energy are spread in the canvas and from there to the viewers. We find ourselves in an enchanted and mysterious forest; is it perhaps a forest of Wonderland? One of those in which little Alice could walk chasing the White Rabbit. Who knows? Any interpretation is possible. What we know for sure, however, is the creativity of Brigitte Toffano Ali and her skill in transporting it into art.”
Current & Upcoming Exhibitions
2022 (20 October-10 November) Venice Contemporary - 11th Edition, It’sLiquid Group, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
Past Exhibitions
2022 (9-30 September) Venice International Artfair - 15th Edition, It’sLiquid Group, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
2022 (24-28 August) SwissArtExpo, Zurich, Switzerland
2022 (5-10 August) “The New Artist, Third Edition”, Boomer Gallery, London, UK
2022 (3 July) Hampstead Art Fair, London, UK
2022 (28 June-4 July), “Visceral” M.A.D.S. Gallery, Milan, Italy and Fuerteventura, Spain
2021 (23 November-6 December), Contemporary Painting, Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK
2021 (11-21 September) “Vibes” (Nartwork) Maschio Angioino, Naples, Italy + catalog
2021 (4-12 June) “Inside” (Nartwork) Foundation Luciana Matalon, Milan, Italy + catalog
2020 (31 October - 5 November) “Modern Transitions” (Nartwork) Centro d’Arte San Vidal, Venice, Italy + catalog
2020 (25 July - 28 September) “Incontemporanea” Galerie L’Atelier in Hunibach, Switzerland and Palazzo Della Cultura, Santa Lucia del Mela, Sicily, Italy
2020 (August) Healthcare Heroes (NHS Portraits), Paintings in Hospital (Digital Exhibition)
2020 (2-8 March) “A Changing Landscape & The Female I” Van Der Plas Gallery, New-York, USA
2020 (25 January- 22 February) “Central St Giles Exhibition”, (HSOA) Covent Gardens, London, UK
2020 (10-20 January) “Scandagli”, (Nartwork) Maschio Angioino, Naples, Italy + catalog
2019 (30 November) Solo Show, Art Dealer Naheed Osman’s résidence, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2019 (22 August - 2 September) “Art in Mind Exhibition”, Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK
2019 (8-19 August) “Works on paper Exhibition”, Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK
2019 (May-September) “Summer Exhibition”, Gallery du 808, Bristol, UK
2019 (23 June) “Hampstead Pond Art Fair”, HSOA, London, UK
2019 (July) “Summer Exhibition”, Hampstead School Of Art, London, UK
2019 (28 June - 4 July) “Advanced Students Exhibition”, HSOA, London, UK
2019 (18 May - 23 June) “Play”, Baptist Church Hampstead, London, UK
2019 (February-March) “Central St Giles Exhibition”, (HSOA) Covent Gardens, London, UK
2018 (6 May - 3 June) “Everything must Change”, Baptist Church Hampstead, London, UK
2018 Hampstead School Of Art exhibitions (3 per year) including Dr Eithne Healy student’s exhibition
2017 Artists trail, Wandsworth, London, UK, by invitation
2017 Hampstead School Of Art Exhibitions (3 per year)
2011-2016 Hampstead School Of Art Exhibitions (3 per year)
Publications & Awards
Atlante dell’Arte Contemporanea, De Agostini 2021, (Atlas of last 80 years of Italian art, page 946)
The World of Interiors, magazine (July-August, September and October 2020 issues)
Featured Artist (main page header artworks x 7), Hampstead School of Art Spring Guide (January 2020)
Colour Composition Prize, Hampstead School of Art End of Year Exhibition (July 2017)
Category Award Winner, Hampstead Art Fair (2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019)
Design for program End of Year Circus show, Theatre Train, Mill Hill, London (May 2014)