Joseph Pisani

Joseph Pisani (born 1971) is an American and Swiss contemporary artist, abstract painter,

Life Pisani was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, the eldest son of Italian-American parents. His maternal grandmother, born in Italy, taught him to draw and paint beginning at a young age. Around 1975, the family moved to Westchester County, and later to Rockland County, New York when he was in third grade. During his youth he was fascinated by the colors of Van Gogh and the surrealist works of Salvador Dalí.

He left New York in 1995 and traveled throughout the United States, visiting more than forty states with his guitar, funding his travels by selling self-designed T-shirts during the Grateful Dead tour and at musical festivals, including a jazz and blues festival in New Orleans. Pisani draws thematic inspiration for his work from Friedrich Nietzsche's statement, "One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star," using his extensive travel journals compiled across dozens of countries as source material for his paintings. and has also been on permanent display at the United States Consulate in Zurich since 2006. Pisani appeared as a guest on the Swiss television talk show Aeschbacher in 2008. Pisani continues to travel extensively, having visited seventy-three countries as of 2026.

Beyond his visual art, Pisani has documented his global travels as a writer and photographer. Between 2007 and 2008, he authored a series of travelogues for Inside Switzerland magazine, chronicling spontaneous journeys through Sri Lanka and Eastern Europe, including the unrecognized breakaway state of Trans-Dniester. In these articles, he detailed his methodology of making unplanned travel decisions at bus and train stations, stating: "Spontaneity keeps things fresh, while serendipity guides me through it all. There have been a lot of rough moments along the way, but they often bear the best memories." He has said: "Traveling sets me free and I find myself most alive when the culture shock I feel is strongest... Painting is the way I capture, savor and express these feelings." Art critics have characterized his abstract paintings as visual travelogues (Reiseerzählung) that capture spontaneous personal encounters and impressions rather than traditional physical landscapes. Art critic Marianne Frey-Hauser similarly described his paintings as 'youthfully unguarded riffs' on Rothko's color-field style, noting recurring geometric motifs that recalled technical drafting plans or aerial views of city blocks. He has described his own method as Existential Landscapes with the poetic titles of his paintings and exhibitions giving clues to the feelings or location or event behind the painting. Pisani's paintings are characterized by large formats with fine traces of a self-developed script, which has been compared to musical overtones. In 2008, three paintings were sold at the Swiss American Golf Championship charity auction to benefit the SOS Children's Village in Iloilo, Philippines; former Olympic bobsledding gold medalist Hans "Hausi" Leutenegger purchased the work on paper titled When I grow up, I want to be Superman for 2,000 Swiss francs.

In 2009, Pisani created two paintings for the same tournament's auction, with proceeds going to the SOS Children's Village in Itahari, Nepal. In 2017, he created the "art braille kanthari" charity exhibition and auction in association with the kanthari Foundation Switzerland in Zurich. The auction was conducted by Stefan Puttaert, Director of Sotheby's Zurich; the exhibition was based on a three-month documentation trip through Southern India, the 71st country Pisani visited, and included photographs, abstract paintings, video clips, and braille prose documenting seven social projects founded by kanthari alumni. In 2026, he contributed to the "Art for Sight" charity exhibition and auction in Lucerne, organized in association with Rotary Club Zurich Circle International and Rotary Club Kasr El Nile (Cairo).

Selected Exhibitions (* denotes solo exhibition)

April 2026, ART1a Gallery, Lucerne, "Art for Sight", charity auction organized by Rotary Club Zurich Circle International in partnership with Rotary Club Kasr El Nile, Cairo, benefiting the "Children's Right to Sight" initiative; Pisani donated the painting Tips & Tricks for Successful Taxi Rides in Cairo. 2017 January–18 March, Galerie Le Sud, Zurich, Switzerland, "The Smoke that Thunders", under the patronage of the Permanent Mission of Zambia to the United Nations (UNO), Geneva.* 2014 January, Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Bergdietikon, Switzerland, "How to do Everything in Just One Lifetime", under the patronage of the US Consulate in Zurich* 2013 October, Galleria Fogga, Helsinki, Finland, "Oneironauts (Explorers of the Dream World)"* 2011, Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Bergdietikon, Switzerland, "Chaos Within - 40 Years Pisani", under the patronage of the US Consulate in Zurich* 2011, Gallery Ferin, Helsinki, Finland, "When The Morning Star Begins to Fade" 28 November 2009–16 January 2010, Gallery Eule-Art, Davos, Switzerland, "Fire & Ice" 15 April 2009, Artseefeld, Zurich, Switzerland, "AGENT 488"* 4 February 2008, United Nations Office, Geneva, "Oh Sweet Serendipity", special showing in association with Sri Lanka's 60th Independence Anniversary* 19 January 2008–23 February 2008, Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Weiningen, Switzerland, "Oh Sweet Serendipity", under the patronage of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva* 29 September 2007–23 December 2007, Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Ost Tirol, Austria, "Kunst Verbindet" — together with work by Le Corbusier, Hans Peter Profunser, Marianne Liegl... 27 January 2007–25 February 2007, Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Weiningen, Switzerland, "Magic Cube" — together with Jan Janczak, Paul Cartier, Paul Racle... 26 October 2006–Present (Permanent Exhibit), Consulate of the USA in Zurich, Switzerland, "All the Colors of My Memories from Home"* 18 November 2006–23 December 2006, Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Weiningen, Switzerland, "Train Station" — together with Charles Sambono (Zambia), Gerry Mayer (Austria) 2006 September–November, Zurich, Switzerland, "That Lasting Tingle of Déjà Vu", under the patronage of the Consulate of the USA in Zurich*