About
Paolo Spoltore
he was born in Lanciano on 7 January 1946. after attending the Art Institute of Lanciano, in 1963 he moved to Milan and for a short time he attended the Brera Academy he met Marino Marini and fell in love with sculpture. Not satisfied with the academic knowledge, he moved from his uncles first to Pavia and then to Varese, during this Lombard period prompted by the innovative ferments of informal art he decided to return to Lanciano and in 1965 in the study of
Paolo Spoltore
historic district begins to model portraits and figures and experiment with neoplastic research with poor material.
In 1966 he entered into a profitable partnership with Michele
Rossi and Vecelio Peverati his first teachers.
In 1968 in Chieti he was a guest for several months in the house of his uncles where he attended the studio of Giustino Fusco who introduced him to the world of ceramics and in 1969 he moved there with his parents and got in touch with some local artists and for two years he shared with them artistic experiences.
The same year, he was appointed as a teacher of "ornate and modeled figure" at the Artistic Lyceum of Pescara, here he lived in an effervescent and stimulating environment, relating to Abruzzese artists who experimented with the use of different materials and techniques. From here all the points of reference take shape in a definitive and decisive way towards which his research will subsequently project. and in 1971 with Andrea Pazienza, first his pupil and later his colleague. he establishes relationships of exchange, of deep esteem and friendship.
In 1972 together with a group of Frentani artists he founded the Art Center "IL CUBO" in Lanciano. In this period he has the opportunity to get to know and relate to established artists such as: Ennio Calabria, Carlo Levi, Franz Borghese, Valter Piacesi, Renato Castellani, Michele Cascella and Mario Ceroli ..
From this moment on, his plastic research is mainly characterized by the use of wood and he starts a series of installations that lead to environmental and social problems.
In 1973, his family was established and he returned definitively to Lanciano and strengthened a new linguistic-formal phase.
In 1975 he was present at the "quadrennial of young people" in Rome, was invited to the international exhibition FP Michetti in Francavilla al Mare, and in 1976 to the contemporary art exhibition "Premio Vasto".
In 1978 he obtained the chair of "Plastic and Visual Education" at the State Art Institute of Lanciano and moved to the outskirts of the city where the large space at his disposal stimulated him to carry out the cycle of great sculpture, at the same time studying works. functional plastics and behind the client furnishes many Abruzzo villas. In the following years he met Tiziano Forni and Alfredo Paglione who encouraged him to pursue the path he had taken, that is, that of research.
Since 1980 he has dealt with multimedia communication, promoting interventions and performances on a territorial scale.
In 1984 he exhibited in Paris at the "Palazzo delle Nazioni" and in 1986 at the Ducal Castle of Crecchio he organized his first anthological exhibition "Forma Scultura" 1970-1985.
In 1996 at the Spanish Castle of L'Aquila he was activated by the Superintendency for Environmental and Artistic Heritage for Abruzzo, the second anthological exhibition "Warriors in time" 1986-1996.
At the beginning of the nineties he created large wooden sculptures with polychrome essences, such as "Minotaur - in the sign of mythology" where the simplicity of wood, combined with the expressive power of the artist's sign, gave life to these icons of the time.
In the mid-90s he became passionate about the use of metals, and through the poetics of recovery he made warriors of the past, zoomorphic forms, totems and demigods that echo the strength and impetuosity of the dawn of civilization.
In 1998, together with the art critic Giuseppe Rosato, they launched the "Ultimonovecento" art gallery in Lanciano, proposing artistic itineraries of the most representative painters of the region and of the "Neapolitan school".
In "2000, together with a group of intellectuals and art lovers, with the art center" CUBO 2000 "he proposes a series of exhibitions by national and international contemporary artists.
In 1999 the municipality of Rocca San Giovanni set up a large exhibition in the historic center "The scintillation of the cosmos", works built with ferrous materials, industrial waste and tools from peasant civilization.
In 2004 he was commissioned a monument for the twinning Rocca San Giovanni, (Ch) e
Chaingj (France) in Maiella stone and steel.
In 2005 he created a monumental fountain in white stone from Apricena for the "Contrada Viva" event in Lanciano. In 2006 he created a "War Memorial" of the two wars in Apricena white stone commissioned by the municipal administration of Roccascalegna (Ch). In 2008 the municipality of Lanciano furnished the restored Diocletian Park with three large zoomorphic works of recycled iron. In 2008 the Lions Club of Chieti commissioned him a monument "San Giorgio e il Drago", installed in the parade ground of the Berardi Barracks in Chieti. In 2008 - 2009 he created the totemic cycle called "Utopian Presences", a set of about fifteen plastic forms in wood and iron with a height of 230 - 250 cm. An animalistic and anthropological tale entrusted to the archaic monumentality of the totem. In 2009, after the earthquake in L'Aquila, he created a cycle of "Petrified Hearts" works dedicated to the victims of Abruzzo, using multiple materials - ceramic, marble and complementary elements such as iron and wood. In 2010 he ventured into a series of bronze sculptures made with the lost wax technique entitled "Bestiary". This cycle is a hymn to life (animals belonging to the domestic sphere of its habitat). In 2011 - 2014, always animated by the passion for the environment, he created the cycle "Stone Faces - Expressions of the Soul", sculpting the stones collected along the banks of the rivers and assembled with iron, creating an admirable "metamorphosis". In 2014, the Confraternity of Maria Santissima dei Recommended recommended a polychrome wooden tabernacle for the church of San Biagio in Lanciano. In 2015 - 2016 there is a return to large-scale sculpture and the fusion of materials such as wood, iron and stone, creating mythological figures.
Personal exhibitions
1966 Caffè Perlanera Corso Trento and Trieste - Lanciano (Ch)
1967 Viale delle Rose - Lanciano (Ch)
1968 State Institute of Art "Palazzo degli Studi" - Lanciano (Ch)
1970 Cultural Artistic Center - Lanciano (Ch)
1971 "Saletta Palizzi" - Tourist and Tourist Office - Vasto (Ch)
1971 Stella Optic - Corso Trento and Trieste - Lanciano (Ch)
1972 Art Gallery "La Stadera" - Sulmona - (Aq)
1973 "Margutta" Art Gallery - Pescara
1973 “Diomedea” cultural center - Termoli - (Cb)
1974 "Piccinni" Art Gallery - Bari
1974 "Ponterosso" Art Gallery - Pescara
1974 Olivetti showroom - Terni
1975 Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
1976 "Ponterosso" Art Gallery - Pescara
1976 Art Center "The Cube" - Lanciano (Ch)
1977 "Saletta Palizzi" - Tourist and Tourist Office - Vasto (Ch)
1977 Art Gallery - Living and Tourism Company - L'Aquila
1978 Art Center "The Cube" - Lanciano (Ch)
1981 Art Center "The Cube" - Lanciano (Ch)
1981 "Sculpture in Piazza Orsini" - Montorio al Vomano (Te)
1981 "Il Bisonte" Art Gallery - Florence
1982 "Expo Art" - Bari Fair - Bari
1982 “Gherda” Art Gallery Studio - Cologne (Germany)
1983 Casoli D'Amico Arredamenti Showroom - (Ch)
1984 Showroom “Sigla Arredamenti” - Lanciano - (Ch)
1984 International Art Exhibition - Palace of Nations - Paris (France)
1985 Barbati Bookshop - Lanciano (Ch)
1985 “Trifoglio” Art Center - Pescara
1986 "Anthological Sculpture Form 1970 - 1975" - Ducal Castle - Crecchio (Ch)
1987 La Cascina - San Vito Chietino - (Ch)
1987 Civic Museum - Palazzo de Giorgio - Lanciano (Ch)
1992 Interbimal Sasmil - Milan Fair - Milan
1992 "The Last Supper" - Angelus Novus Art Gallery - L'Aquila
1993 “Labirinto” Art Gallery - Ortona - (Ch)
1994 "Middle Ages of the 20th century" - Torre Ciarrapico - Francavilla al Mare (Ch)
1994 Art Gallery "The Sphinx Malaspina" - Ascoli Piceno
1996 "Warriors in Anthological Time 1985 -1996" - Spanish Castle - L'Aquila
1996 "Assonanze" - Palazzo Piccirilli - Paglieta (Ch)
1996 "The Scintillation of the Cosmos" - Sodicar Fiat Dealership - Pescara
1996 Sixth Vicenza Arte Market Show - Vicenza Fair - Vicenza
1997 Euroart '97 Salò Internacional d'Artistes Contemporanis Independentes - Barcelona (Spain)
1998 "Etruriarte" Contemporary Art Market Exhibition - Venturina (Li)
1998 "Intermot - 98" Industry, Design, Scrapping the Artist - Munich Trade Fair (Germany)
1998 "Ultimonovecento" art center - Works 1980 - 1999 - Lanciano (Ch)
1998 Hall of the Eucharistic Miracle - Church of San Francesco - Lanciano (Ch)
1999 Heroes' Square - Rocca San Giovanni (Ch)
1999 “Arte Europa” - Reggio 2000 - Reggio Emilia Fair - Reggio Emilia
1999 Motorshow - Bologna Fair - Bologna
1999 Stadtische Galerie in Spitalspeicher - Offenburg (Germany)
1999 "Artists in Pavia - Artexpò 1999" - Palazzo Esposizioni - Pavia
2000 Michetti "Mumi" Museum - Francavilla al Mare (Ch)
2000 "Intermot - 2000" - Milan Fair - Exhibition Palace - Milan
2000 "The Paper Zoo" - Pozzo delle Muse - Mozzagrogna (Ch)
2000 “The Paper Zoo” -Caffè at the Portici - Lanciano (Ch)
2001 "Sculptures in the Historic Center" - Monteferrante (Ch)
2002 International Symposium of Art "Landscapes and Passages" - Palazzo Santucci - Navelli (Aq)
2002 Salon International d'Artist - Montecarlo - Principality of Monaco
2003 "Not Just Time" - Art Studio '88 - Lanciano (Ch)
2003 "Art and Craft" Barbarossa Showroom - Vasto (Ch)
2004 "Of course" - The Portico - Rocca San Giovanni (Ch)
2004 "Naturally" - Gallery "Arianna Sartori" - Mantua
2005 "Light in Sculpture" - Fragments - Lanciano (Ch)
2006 "The Week of Culture" - San Legonziano - Lanciano (Ch)
2007 Megalò - Solidarity Exhibition - Chieti Scalo
2009 "Totem: Utopian Presences 2008 - 2009" Palazzo degli Studi - Lanciano (Ch)
2009 "Sculptures in the Ancient Village" - Historic center of Castelli - Castelli (Te)
2009 "In the Sign of Astrology" - Signs of the Zodiac - Auditorium Diocleziano - Lanciano (Ch)
2010 "Paolo Spoltore exhibits in the Interior Workshop" (Art - Architecture - Design) - Interior Workshop - Lanciano (Ch)
2010 “Abitare Oggi” National Fair - Lanciano Fairs - Lanciano (Ch)
2010 "Giòarte" Art Gallery - Lucca
2010 "The Sacred and the Profane" - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
2011 "Petrified Hearts" Abitare Oggi (Fierarte) - Lanciano Fiera - Lanciano (Ch)
2011 "Petrified Hearts and Bestiary" - Sartori Arte Gallery - Mantua
2011 "Faces ... of Stone" Expressions of the Soul - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
2011 "Totem" - Cloister of the church of Sant'Agostino - Lanciano (Ch)
2013 “Paolo Spoltore Cinquantanni” - Abitare Oggi (Fierarte) - Lanciano Fiera - Lanciano (Ch)
2013 "Bestiario 2010" - Arte Padova 2013 Twenty-fourth Contemporary Art Exhibition Padova Fiere - Padua
2014 National boarding school "Vittorio Emanuele II" - National Day of the Republic of Somalia - Rome
Collective exhibitions
1971 The Sardinian Biennial - Cagliari
1972 XXV Suzzara National Prize - Suzzara (Mn)
1972 XVIII Ras. National Art of the Town Hall - Termoli (Cb)
1973 National Review "City of Brescia" - Brescia
1973 I Edition of the "Città di Cesena" National Award - Cesena
1973 XXVIII International Michetti Prize - Francavilla al Mare (Ch)
1974 The Ras. International Art of St. Vitus of the Normans - San Vito dei Normanni (Br)
1974 VII Regional Exhibition "City of Penne" - Penne (Pe)
1975 III Edition International Prize - "City of Cesena" - Cesena
1975 X Quadrennial "The New Generation" - Rome
1975 XXIX Michetti International Prize - Francavilla al Mare (Ch)
1975 The Dante Society - “Today's Abruzzese Artists” - Toronto (Canada)
1976 Lario Cadorago Prize - Villa Olmo - Como
1976 Leonardo Da Vinci Prize - Rome
1976 "Ten Abruzzese Artists in Japan" - Kofu (Japan)
1978 Vasto Prize for Contemporary Art - Vasto (Ch)
1981 XXII Biennial Sculpture Exhibition - Alatri (Fr)
1982 III Ras. National Art Museum - "Double slope" - Acquaviva Picena (Ap)
1983 XXXIV Art Exhibition - Sassoferrato (An)
1983 XXXV Michetti International Prize - Francavilla al Mare (Ch)
1986 "Visual Arts and Poetry" - Roccascalegna (Ch)
1987 I National Review "Ecology and Art" - Spoltore (Pe)
1988 Botanical Garden - Rome
1990 X Biennale - Penne (Pe)
1993 "Extra Moenia" - Exhibition of Sculptures - Anagni (Fr)
1993 XXVI Vasto Prize "Fifty years of art in Abruzzo presences 1943 - 1993" - Vasto (Ch)
1994 "Katalogos", Spanish Castle - L'Aquila
1995 "Christmas in Art" - Ortona (Ch)
1996 Bologna Fair - Bologna
1996 Palazzo Pretorio - Certaldo (Fi)
1996 "The Nativity in Art" - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
1997 II Biennial of Sculpture - Orsogna (Ch)
1997 VI Vicenza Art Market Exhibition - Vicenza Fair - Vicenza
1997 “The Nativity in Art - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
1997 II Sculpture Exhibition - Avellino
1998 "The Nativity in Art" - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
1998 I National Exhibition of Contemporary Art - "City of Balestrate" (Pa)
1998 Alba art gallery - Ferrara
1999 III Biennial of Sculpture - Orsogna (Ch)
1999 "Italy Prize" - Palazzo Pretorio - Municipality of Certaldo (Fi)
1999 "Seven Sculptors in the Ancient Village - Rocca San Giovanni (Ch)
1999 "Third Remo Brindisi Trophy" - Estense Castle of Mesola (Fe)
1999 "Zaragoza Escultura" Fair in Zaragoza - Spain
1999 "Artexpò New York" (Javits Convention Center) - United States
2000 II International Sculpture Review - Radicondoli (Siena)
2000 “The Nativity in Art - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
2000 "Eight Sculptors in the Ancient Village - Rocca San Giovanni (Ch)
2001 "The Nativity in Art" - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
2001 III International Sculpture Review - Radicondoli (Si)
2001 V Itinerant Exhibition "Sestriere Sculpture" - Sestriere (To)
2001 IV Biennial of Sculpture - Orsogna (Ch)
2002 IV International Sculpture Review - Radicondoli (Si)
2002 "The Nativity in Art" - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
2002 "The Biennial of Iron Sculpture" - Rocca Paolina (Pg)
2003 "Art in the Summer Solstice" - International Award - Trestina (Pg)
2003 "The Nativity in Art" - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
2003 - 2004 "Memory and Consciousness" IV Itinerant Exhibition of Contemporary Sculpture - Turin
2004 "The Nativity in the Art" - Diocletian Auditorium - Lanciano (Ch)
2004 "Artistic Presences of the Italian '900" - Infantry Museum - Rome
2005 III Biennial of Iron Sculpture - Torre Strozzi - Perugia
2005 III Biennial of Iron Sculpture - Museum of Contemporary Art - Foligno (Pg)
2005 I Sacred Art Exhibition - Pretoro (Ch)
2008 "Summer in Torre Strozzi" - June / September 2008 - Parlesca (Pg)
2008 "The Art of Fishing ... Fishing in Art - Convent of Maddalena - Castel di Sangro (Aq)
2008 XXXV Sulmona Prize - International Review of Contemporary Art - Diocesan Civic Museum - Sulmona (Aq)
2009 "The Sacred in Art" - International Exhibition of Sacred Art - SM delle Grazie - Ortona (Ch)
2009 "Peoples of the Sea, Cultures compared Abruzzo - Jordan" - Palazzo De Crecchio - Lanciano (Ch)
2009 "In Caritas" Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Aprilia - Aprilia (Rm)
2009 "Tangible forms and symbolic places" - Silvi Marina (Te)
2010 Art Diffusion Center - New York City Trophy - New York (United States)
2011 "The Virgin of the Vision" 61st International Art Exhibition GB Salvi - Sassoferrato (An)
2012 First Exhibition of Sacred Art "St. Thomas the Apostle" - Diocesan Museum - Ortona (Ch)
2012 "Mainstreaming" Parco dei Priori - Fossacesia (Ch)
2013 "X Biennial of Sculpture" - Orsogna (Ch)
2015 "Mediterranean Labyrinth: Temporary Art Gallery" -Terme di Caracalla - Rome
2016 "Carnival of Abruzzo Association" Art Sketches - Francavilla al Mare (Ch)
2016 "My Christmas Venice" - Rio land of catechumen salons - Christmas 2016 - Venice
2017 "XI Biennial of Sculpture" - Multipurpose Center - Orsogna (Ch)