Michele Tocca (Subiaco, 1983) is a painter based in Rome. He studied in Italy, Belgium and the UK, where he received an MA, Painting, from the Royal College of Art, London (2011).

His pictures and writings ruminate on the experience of painting and (or in) the physical world, returning to interrogatives on their reciprocal “actuality”, realism and its paradoxes, perception and artifice, the effects of time and history.

His work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions, including: Michele Tocca. Repoussoir, curated by Elena Volpato, GAM, Turin (2023); Quadri come luoghi, curated by Davide Ferri, Torre Pallavicina, Bergamo (2023); Trattare l’aria. Ipercorpo, curated by Davide Ferri, Exatr, Forlì (2022); Verticale terra, z2o Sara Zanin, Rome, 2021 (double); Le realtà ordinarie, Palazzo de’ Toschi, Bologna, 2020; Reality, Hickster, San Giovanni d’Asso (SI), 2019 (double); Painting Project, LNM, Norwegian Society of Painters, Oslo (NO), 2019; Reazione a catena, 1/9 unosunove arte contemporanea, Rome, 2018; P1: Filling Station, SHE WILL, Oslo (NO), 2018; Belvedere, Caffè Internazionale, Palermo, 2018 (solo); Declinazioni della Pittura, Francesco Pantaleone, Palermo, 2015; Pittura Italiana…e altre storie minori, Musei di Villa Torlonia, Rome, 2015; Studiolo, Pinacoteca San Francesco, Republic of San Marino, 2014; The Fate of Forms, James Fuentes @ The FLAG Art Foundation, New York (USA), 2014 (double); Allegoria, FuoriCampo, Siena and Bruxelles (BE), 2014; Studiolo Project, Spazio Cabinet, Milano, 2014 (solo); Painting notes, MARCA, Catanzaro, 2011; Studiolo Project, Spazio Cabinet, Milano, 2011 (solo); Moscow Biennale, Era Foundation, Moscow (RU), 2010; Impresa Pittura, CIAC, Genazzano, 2010; Prague Biennale 4, Prague (CZ), 2009.

Over the years, the artist has contributed a number of texts and reviews on painting. He has participated in residencies and projects, among which: Creazione di riti, seminar with G.A. Gilli, Mun ange, Turin, 2021; Painting Project: Out looking Inwards, Praksis, Oslo (NO), 2019; Simposio di Pittura, Fondazione Lac o Le Mon, San Cesario, Lecce, 2018; L’artista nel sistema e il suo tempo, Castel di Ieri (AQ), 2013; Landina I, CARS, Omegna, 2013.