Paolo Fresu is an Italian painter, set designer and sculptor born in Asti in 1950. He is known for his visionary, theatrical style, marked by symbolic figures, intense colours and surreal atmospheres. His works combine painting, collage and assemblages of different materials, creating fantastical scenes rich in irony and allegorical meaning.

He attended the Liceo Artistico in Turin and then the Accademia Albertina, but broke off his studies to devote himself to set design for theatre, film and television. He worked as a set designer on major Italian productions, including Luigi De Filippo's play Come e perché crollò il Colosseo in 1981, the film Grunt with Giorgio Faletti and Andy Luotto in 1982, and the Rai television show Fantastico 90.

His importance in the art world stems from his ability to fuse painting and stagecraft into an original, recognisable style. After an early period influenced by European Expressionism, Fresu developed a personal painting populated by kings, harlequins, prelates, generals and popular characters, portrayed with irony and theatrical flair. He used materials such as fabric, metal, wood and newspaper cuttings, creating mixed-media works of strong visual impact.

Over the course of his career he has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Highlights include:

• the exhibition at Palazzo Alfieri in Asti in 1961;
• the shows at Studio Zero in Milan in the 1970s;
• his participation in Artefiera Bari in 1978;
• the exhibition at the Coliseum in New York in 1980;
• the retrospectives at the Teatro Alfieri in Asti in 1992 and at the Complesso di San Francesco in Alessandria in 2000;
• the exhibition at the Museo del Burcardo in Rome in 2007.

In 1992 he also created the poster and sculpture for the “Astiteatro 14” award, and in 1997 he was chosen as the master artist of the Palio di Asti, painting the event's celebrated banners. Today Paolo Fresu is still regarded as an important interpreter of contemporary Italian figurative art, thanks to his imaginative and symbolic painting.