Adriano Abbado has always been interested in non-verbal communication. In 1972 he made his first experiments with photography and environmental sounds. In 1977 he graduated in Electronic Music Composition at the Conservatory of Milan. In 1981 he began working with digital images and sounds.
In 1986 Adriano received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the MIT Media Lab, where in 1988 he earned an M.S. with the thesis Perceptual Correspondences of Abstract Animation and Synthetic Sound.
He taught Computer Graphics at IED in Milan (1983-86) and Electronic Music at the Conservatory of Turin (1985). In the spring of 2007 he taught Audiovisual Art at Media Arts and Technology – University of California, Santa Barbara.
He was co-author of the book Immagini con il computer: le tecniche, l’arte, published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore in 1985. In 2017 his book I maestri della Visual Music was published by Skira. The English version, Visual Music Masters, was released in 2018.
MEET, Milan, 2022; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2013; Danish Film Institut, Copenhagen, 2011; Italian Cultural Institute, New York, 2009; Digital Fringe, Melbourne, 2009; BizArt Gallery, Shanghai, 2005; La Triennale, Milan, 2005; Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C., 2003; Merkin Concert Hall, New York, 2003; Villette Numérique, Paris, 2002; Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan, 2001; School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2000; Institut Universitari de l’Audiovisual, Barcelona, 1999; Santa Cecilia, Rome, 1998; Milia, Cannes, 1994; Grand Palais, Paris, 1993; Ircam, Paris, 1989; La Biennale, Venice, 1986; Videoart Festival, Locarno, 1985; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1983.