GiuseppeMARANIELLO
About
Giuseppe Maraniello’s artistic path, mid-way between painting and sculpture, has been influenced by classical art. In his works ancient and modern, male and female, colour and shape, surface and volume, full and empty, are perfectly combined in a magic coincidence.
An attentive and sensible protagonist of contemporary art, Maraniello created his own universe of ironic, playful and symbolic creatures merging them into a new and wilful iconographic vocabulary, with a special attention to the sculptural body and its memory.
Giuseppe Maraniello was born in Naples in 1945. In 1971 he moved to Milan and began to frequent Luciano Inga Pin’s gallery, where he showed his work from 1973 to 1975.
In the second half of the Seventies, he abandoned photography in favour of painting and the traditional forms of art.
He participated to several collective exhibitions in public spaces, among them, L’estetico e il selvaggio at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Modena (1979), curated by Giorgio Cortenova; Italiana Nuova Immagine at Loggia Lombardesca, Ravenna (1980), curated by Achille Bonito Oliva and, almost simultaneously, Dieci anni dopo i nuovi nuovi at the Gallery of Modern Art, Bologna (1980), curated by Francesca Alinovi, Renato Barilli and Roberto Daolio.
In 1982, he took part in Italian Art 1960-1982 at London’s Hayward Gallery, curated by Guido Ballo, Renato Barilli and Flavio Caroli. He exhibited at Studio Marconi (1984 and 1987). In 1985, Gillo Dorfles invited him to present a major public project for the exhibition-event Intorno al flauto magico at La Scala Opera House, Palazzo della Permanente, Milan.
In 1990, a room was dedicated to his work at the 44th Venice Biennial, with a catalogue introduction by Lea Vergine. In the same year he exhibited at the Virreina Palace in Barcelona, the Crystal Palace in Madrid and the Matildenhöhe at Darmstadt for the show L’altra scultura, curated by Renato Barilli.
He was one of the artists in the itinerant exhibition Cadenze. Figure dell’arte italiana degli anni ’90, curated by Pier Giovanni Castagnoli, which was hosted by South American institutions, such as the Sofia Imber in Caracas and the Museum of Modern Art in Bogota. In 1993, the Municipal Gallery in Trento and the Gallery of Modern Art in Bologna (Villa delle Rose), held a large retrospective of his work, curated by Pier Giovanni Castagnoli and Danilo Eccher, and the grounds of the S. Chiara Centre in Trento became the permanent home of one of his large sculptures.
In 1994, he took part in the exhibition L’incanto e la trascendenza at Castel Ivano, Fracena Ivano, Trento, curated by Danilo Eccher, who will be also the curator of the exhibition Arte italiana, Materiali anomali with Dede Auregli at the Bologna Gallery of Modern Art, in 1997 which since 1996 has had one of his sculptures on permanent display in its gardens.
At the invitation of Lea Vergine he took part in the 1998 exhibition Trash. Quando i rifiuti diventano arte, held at the Palazzo delle Albere in Trento, and at the Archivio del Novecento in Rovereto.
Also in 1998, a major exhibition of his work filled the three floors of the Giò Marconi Gallery in Milan, and he also exhibited with Luigi Mainolfi at the “Pescheria” visual arts centre in Pesaro.
In 2001, together with Arnaldo Pomodoro, he created a work for St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Milwaukee, USA. In 2004, the Municipality of Ischia held a large retrospective of his work at Torre Guevara, which was followed by a major permanent installation in Negombo Park.
That same year, Lea Vergine, George Verzotti and Jean-Hubert Martin invited him to participate in the exhibition Il bello e le bestie at the MART in Rovereto.
He began 2006 with a solo exhibition at the Arco Municipal Gallery in Trento, curated by Giovanna Nicoletti. In 2009, a 24-metre-high permanent public work was installed in the Piazza dei Poeti at Terni.
From July to October a major retrospective, curated by Danilo Eccher, was held at Piazza Pitti inside the Boboli Gardens and the adjoining building, “Le Pagliere”, organized by Nicholas Loi’s Studio Copernico.
In 2012, the Lorenzelli Gallery in Milan housed an important exhibition, In-es, curated by Alberto Fiz, with an essay by Angela Tecce. In the same year, examples of his work, curated by Francesco Tedeschi, went on permanent display in the 20th-century section of the Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Museum, part of Milan’s Gallerie d’Italia. In 2013, a large work was installed in the entrance of the Mario Negri Institute, Milan.
In 2014 a life-size bronze crucifix was hung behind the altar in the St. Thomas Chapel at Yale University, USA. In 2015 a solo exhibition took place at Fondazione Marconi displaying works comprised between the Seventies and the Two-thousands.
Giuseppe Maraniello lives and works in Milan.
An attentive and sensible protagonist of contemporary art, Maraniello created his own universe of ironic, playful and symbolic creatures merging them into a new and wilful iconographic vocabulary, with a special attention to the sculptural body and its memory.
Giuseppe Maraniello was born in Naples in 1945. In 1971 he moved to Milan and began to frequent Luciano Inga Pin’s gallery, where he showed his work from 1973 to 1975.
In the second half of the Seventies, he abandoned photography in favour of painting and the traditional forms of art.
He participated to several collective exhibitions in public spaces, among them, L’estetico e il selvaggio at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Modena (1979), curated by Giorgio Cortenova; Italiana Nuova Immagine at Loggia Lombardesca, Ravenna (1980), curated by Achille Bonito Oliva and, almost simultaneously, Dieci anni dopo i nuovi nuovi at the Gallery of Modern Art, Bologna (1980), curated by Francesca Alinovi, Renato Barilli and Roberto Daolio.
In 1982, he took part in Italian Art 1960-1982 at London’s Hayward Gallery, curated by Guido Ballo, Renato Barilli and Flavio Caroli. He exhibited at Studio Marconi (1984 and 1987). In 1985, Gillo Dorfles invited him to present a major public project for the exhibition-event Intorno al flauto magico at La Scala Opera House, Palazzo della Permanente, Milan.
In 1990, a room was dedicated to his work at the 44th Venice Biennial, with a catalogue introduction by Lea Vergine. In the same year he exhibited at the Virreina Palace in Barcelona, the Crystal Palace in Madrid and the Matildenhöhe at Darmstadt for the show L’altra scultura, curated by Renato Barilli.
He was one of the artists in the itinerant exhibition Cadenze. Figure dell’arte italiana degli anni ’90, curated by Pier Giovanni Castagnoli, which was hosted by South American institutions, such as the Sofia Imber in Caracas and the Museum of Modern Art in Bogota. In 1993, the Municipal Gallery in Trento and the Gallery of Modern Art in Bologna (Villa delle Rose), held a large retrospective of his work, curated by Pier Giovanni Castagnoli and Danilo Eccher, and the grounds of the S. Chiara Centre in Trento became the permanent home of one of his large sculptures.
In 1994, he took part in the exhibition L’incanto e la trascendenza at Castel Ivano, Fracena Ivano, Trento, curated by Danilo Eccher, who will be also the curator of the exhibition Arte italiana, Materiali anomali with Dede Auregli at the Bologna Gallery of Modern Art, in 1997 which since 1996 has had one of his sculptures on permanent display in its gardens.
At the invitation of Lea Vergine he took part in the 1998 exhibition Trash. Quando i rifiuti diventano arte, held at the Palazzo delle Albere in Trento, and at the Archivio del Novecento in Rovereto.
Also in 1998, a major exhibition of his work filled the three floors of the Giò Marconi Gallery in Milan, and he also exhibited with Luigi Mainolfi at the “Pescheria” visual arts centre in Pesaro.
In 2001, together with Arnaldo Pomodoro, he created a work for St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Milwaukee, USA. In 2004, the Municipality of Ischia held a large retrospective of his work at Torre Guevara, which was followed by a major permanent installation in Negombo Park.
That same year, Lea Vergine, George Verzotti and Jean-Hubert Martin invited him to participate in the exhibition Il bello e le bestie at the MART in Rovereto.
He began 2006 with a solo exhibition at the Arco Municipal Gallery in Trento, curated by Giovanna Nicoletti. In 2009, a 24-metre-high permanent public work was installed in the Piazza dei Poeti at Terni.
From July to October a major retrospective, curated by Danilo Eccher, was held at Piazza Pitti inside the Boboli Gardens and the adjoining building, “Le Pagliere”, organized by Nicholas Loi’s Studio Copernico.
In 2012, the Lorenzelli Gallery in Milan housed an important exhibition, In-es, curated by Alberto Fiz, with an essay by Angela Tecce. In the same year, examples of his work, curated by Francesco Tedeschi, went on permanent display in the 20th-century section of the Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Museum, part of Milan’s Gallerie d’Italia. In 2013, a large work was installed in the entrance of the Mario Negri Institute, Milan.
In 2014 a life-size bronze crucifix was hung behind the altar in the St. Thomas Chapel at Yale University, USA. In 2015 a solo exhibition took place at Fondazione Marconi displaying works comprised between the Seventies and the Two-thousands.
Giuseppe Maraniello lives and works in Milan.
