Elio Marchegiani

born in 1929 in Siracusa (Italy)

"During almost 65 years I never abandoned the handicraft-like foundations of my work in the sense of combining operational skills with the physical as well as mental participa- tion of being, a behavioural feature that dates back in some way to the ancien

Elio’s peculiar feature is that he is always able to question himself by working and re-interpreting that what is his best known sign, Colour gram-weights, the weight of painting. In this case, Elio’s capability consists of being able to play, to reverse the meaning of this sign, by using it as a logo that becomes a kind of new logos, a way of thinking about the meaning of art, its paradox and its upsetting, which is the intrinsic characteristic of his thought. Elio always found a way off the beaten track of conformist thought. The distinctive feature of this project is developing a pathway where art is never nostalgic, taken for granted and comforting.

Born in Siracuse in 1929 from Sicilian parents. In 1934 the family moved to Leghorn where Marchegiani lived during his childhood and youth. He started painting as a self-taught artist. Following a familiar tradition, after attending the classical section of the secondary cycle, he enrolled at the Law School of the Pisa University. After meeting Mario Nigro, he decided his pathway, at first organizing exhibitions and cultural encounters. But the acquaintance and friendship with Gianni Bertini suggested him to leave the province and start an artistic adventure in Paris, Milan, Rome, Bologna. In these towns he chose his residence, but preferring to stay in his studio on the island of Favignana during summertime. For the last years he has been residing at Pianoro Vecchio, a residential hill zone on the Via Toscana, leading to the Futa Pass, and spending summers in his studio at Misano Adriatico and on the island of Ischia.

Personal Exhibitions (selected):

2019

Elio Marchegiani. Oro dell’era dell’oro, Primo Marella Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland

2017

Io, ironicamente io, Primo Marella Gallery, Milano, IT
Soffio del Mio Vento, Casa Natale di Raffaello, Urbino, IT

2016
Perché”, Primae Noctis Art Gallery, Lugano, CH

2014
Un “pezzo” di mia vecchia storia … e poca attualità, Rocca Roveresca, Senigallia, IT

2013
Transcultura, Galleria Comunale, Arezzo, IT
Homemade Future, Fabbriche Chiaramontane, Agrigento, IT

2012
1 azione, Cultura è energia, Galleria Allegra Ravizza, Milan, IT

2010
Elio Marchegiani alla Torre di Guevara, Ischia, IT

2009
La fratellanza è nell’epidemia: le mosche 1969-2009, Galleria Delloro, Rome, IT

2008
La verifica certa, Galleria Giraldi, Livorno, IT

2007
Linee di produzione 1957-2007, Marsala, IT

2002
Il viaggio tradito, Spazio Annunciata, Milan, IT

1999
Un supporto: la carta, Galleria civica G. Bedoli, Viadana, IT

1998
Fare per far pensare, Museo Fattori, Livorno, IT

1996
Till the rose-time will be over, Castello di Brunnenburg, Tirolo, IT

1993
Pittori a Teatro, Teatro Argentina, Roma, IT

1991
Grammature ed altro..., Galleria Riggio, Trapani, IT

1989
Grammature di colore, Atelier dell'arte, Sciacca Terme, IT

1986
Sinopia con oggetto, Grand Palis, Paris, FR

1983
Questa mia materia così leggera e così barocca, Expo Arte, Bari, IT
Nuda, Studio d'arte Spazia, Bologna, IT

1981
Et in Mantegna ego…, Galleria Maurizio Corraini, Mantua, IT
Mens agitat molem, Casa del Mantegna, Mantua, IT

1980
Pelle, Studio Santandrea, Milan, IT

1979
L’umano di-segnare, Pinacoteca Comunale, Macerata, IT

Rosa profondo – androgino ginandro, Circolo teatrale dell'Università, Bergamo, IT

1978
Supporti e grammature, Galleria Tommaseo, Trieste, IT
La Piramide aperta, Galleria Due Torri, Bologna, IT

1977
Pergamene, Studio Santandrea, Milano, IT

1975
Galleria Lamanuense, Parma, IT
Centro d’Arte Santelmo, Salò, IT

Studio Nino Soldano, Milan, IT

1974
Più sicuri della punta del tuono, Galleria di Porta Ticinese , Milan, IT
Dal muro alla lavagna, Galleria Centrosei, Bari, IT

1973
Galleria Stefanoni, Lecco, IT
Studio 3Bi, Bolzano, IT

Galleria Seconda Scala, Rome, IT

1972
Il Sedicente, Galleria Duemila, Bologna, IT

Il punto ciò che non ha parti, Galleria Ferrari, Verona, IT

1971
La cultura è energia, Galleria Carbonesi, Bologna, IT

1969
9000 Mosche vive, Galleria Apollinaire, Milan, IT

1966
L’Occhio e la Venere, Galleria Apollinaire, Milan, IT

1958
Galleria Giraldi, Livorno, IT

Group Exhibitions (selected)

2018

Paolo Cotani, Elio Marchegiani, Marco Mazzucconi, Paolo Cotani, Primo Marella Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland
Art Spaces: Nuclear Decommissionning: Science at the service of the future generation, Civico Museo D'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea of the Castello of Masnago, Varese, IT
INDART “Industries Join Art”, Villa Reale, Monza, IT
How Evil Is Pop Art? New European Realism 1959-1966, Spazio -1, Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati collection, Lugano, CH

2017
Pittura Analitica Ieri e Oggi, Galleria Mazzoleni, Tornio, IT

2016
White Surfaces, Primae Noctis Art Gallery. Lugano, CH

2015
Pittura Analitica Ieri e Oggi, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, IT

2014
La grande Scacchiera – partita a scacchi con Duchamp, BAG Bocconi Art Gallery, Milan, IT
L’orlando Furioso – L’Arte contemporanea legge l’Ariosto, Milan, IT

2013

Novanta artisti per una bandiera, Chiostri di San Domenico, Reggio Emilia, IT

2012
Cantierie del 900, Gallerie d’Italia di Piazza Scala, Milan, IT
Arte Programmata e cinetica anni ‘60 e ’70, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome, IT

2009

Monocromo - L’utopia del colore, Pinacoteca comunale, Marsala, IT

2008

Segni Contemporanei, Palazzo di San Galgano, Siena, IT

2007

Cento Anni di Arte Italiana alla Farnesina, Ministero degli Affari Esteri, Rome, IT

2006

Sicilia!, Galleria del Credito Siciliano, Acireale, IT

2003
Arte in Italia negli anni ‘70, Polo Umanistico, Erice, IT

1999

DARDS D’ART Mouches, moustiques…Modernité, Musèe Réattu, Arles, FR

1998