Archivio Conz

Fabrizio Plessi (1940, Reggio Emilia, Italy) is widely regarded as a pioneer of video art and multimedia installation. Trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice, where he later returned as a professor, Plessi has spent decades exploring the fusion of natural elements and digital technology in his work. Since the late 1960s, Plessi has developed a distinct visual language centered around elemental forces—especially water and fire. These themes have flowed through his drawings, performances, films, and installations. In the 1970s, he began creating what he calls video sculptures—installations that merge raw materials like wood, iron, and stone with moving images, sound, and light to create immersive, emotionally charged environments. Plessi’s art has been featured in major international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel. One of his most iconic projects, Mare Verticale (Vertical Sea), was created for the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hanover—a towering 44-meter installation that reimagined the relationship between nature and technology. In addition to his artistic production, Plessi has made significant contributions to education, teaching at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, where he focused on how technology can serve poetic and humanistic purposes rather than purely functional ones. His influence has been honored through the creation of the Plessi Museum near the Brenner Pass—an architectural space dedicated to his career and vision. Splitting his time between Venice, Cologne, and Mallorca, Plessi continues to produce new works that investigate the dynamic balance between organic elements and contemporary media.