Born in Palermo in 1966, Nicola Pucci is an internationally exhibited Italian painter whose distinctive visual language moves between realism, surrealism and the absurd.

After studying advertising illustration at the Istituto Europeo di Design in Rome, Pucci turned to painting and developed a highly individual approach to figurative art. Working from photographs, drawings and found imagery, he combines elements from different sources to create unexpected and often impossible situations. Everyday scenes, human figures, animals, movement and architectural spaces become suspended in dreamlike worlds where reality seems to shift before the viewer’s eyes.

His paintings are characterised by a meticulous figurative technique, layered brushwork, translucent washes and deliberately blurred or fragmented passages. The result is a fascinating tension between precise observation and visual distortion. Influenced by artists such as Piero della Francesca, the Surrealists and, above all, Francis Bacon, Pucci has developed a language that remains unmistakably his own.

Since the mid-1990s, his work has been exhibited internationally in Italy, the UK, France, the USA and South Korea. His exhibitions include the Museo Carlo Bilotti in Rome, Palazzo Collicola Arti Visive in Spoleto, Fondazione Mudima in Milan and Villa Zito – Fondazione Sicilia in Palermo. His works are held in significant public and private collections, including the Fendi Collection, Gagosian Collection, Museo Carlo Bilotti and Fondazione Sicilia.

Although primarily known for his painting, Pucci has also expanded his visual language into the public realm, including large-scale mural projects such as Soffio Aereo su Fulgatore in Sicily.

In 2026, Pucci is featured in Il nuovo realismo magico – Scuola Italiana at Palazzo Merulana in Rome, curated by Gianluca Marziani.