Augusto Gadea (Montevideo, 1989) lives and works in Bologna. Over the past decade, his practice has focused on developing a distinctive approach to painting rooted in the earth itself. He works with geological sediments and draws on painting techniques that predate industrial production.

Gadea is currently extending this research in collaboration with Italy’s National Research Council (CNR) through the Atlante delle Terre project.

He has received several awards, including Uruguay’s National Painting Prize, one of the country’s best-known public awards for the visual arts. He received the prize at the 56th National Salon of Visual Arts for Tierra de nadie (2014), which subsequently entered the collection of the National Museum of Visual Arts (MNAV) in Montevideo.

His work has been included in numerous group exhibitions in Italy and internationally.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

En las tierras re-vueltas, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes “Juan Manuel Blanes”, Montevideo, 2018
I luoghi della polvere, Galleria Studio Cenacchi, Bologna, 2019
Nel mezzo della terra, part of the Atlante delle Terre project, CNR, Bologna, 2023
Atlante delle Terre – Mar Tirreno: Sant’Antioco, including Non Terrae Plus Ultra and Sogno della Signora Grazia, presented in the Hypogeum Village at the Archaeological Park of Sant’Antioco, 2025

Alongside his exhibition practice, Gadea has been invited to present his research into painting at a number of institutions, most recently at the Department of the Arts at the University of Bologna.

His work is held in public and private collections in Italy and abroad.