Born in New York, Nicky Rieti has lived and worked in France since 1972 as a painter and set designer for theater and opera. He has designed sets for numerous theatrical productions in Paris (Théâtre National de Chaillot, Théâtre National de la Colline, MC93 de Bobigny, Théâtre de Gennevilliers, Théâtre de la Bastille, Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe) and in the provinces (notably at the Théâtre national de Strasbourg, under the direction of Jean-Pierre Vincent, where he pioneered theater hors-les-murs experiments by installing shows in disused factories, stud farms, open spaces and public buildings).He works mainly with André Engel, for whom he has designed the sets for all his theater productions since 1974 and opera since 1988, but also with Bernard Sobel (Ostrovski's The Forest, Napoleon or the Hundred Days by C. Dietrich Gable), Jean Jourdheuil, Jean-François Peyret and André Wilms. He painted a fresco for the ceiling of the Petit-Odéon during the Théâtre Feuilleton project (1993/1995).At the Opéra national de Paris: Mzensk's Lady Macbeth, 1991; Salomé, 1994; K..., 2001; Cardillac, 2005; Louise, 2007; La Petite Renarde rusée, 2008.