Nicola De Maria (born 6 December 1954 in

Foglianise Foglianise ( Beneventano: or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about northwest of Benevento. Foglianise borders the following municipalities: ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) is an Italian painter living and working in

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. De Maria is known for his abstract figurative works, which have been characterized as lyrical and colourful.

Biography

De Maria earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in medicine but then in 1977 he executed his first wall painting in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. In the same year of 1977 DeMaria exhibited at the

Paris Biennale The ''Biennale de Paris'' (English: Paris Biennale) is a noted French art festival. History The 'Biennale de Paris' was launched by Raymond Cogniat in 1959 and set up by André Malraux as he was Minister of Culture to present an overview of young ...

. He is most often associated with the art group termed the

Transavanguardia Transavantgarde or Transavanguardia is the Italian version of Neo-expressionism, an art movement that swept through Italy and the rest of Western Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s. The term ''transavanguardia'' was coined by the Italian art criti ...

, a movement named and first exhibited by the Italian art critic and curator

Achille Bonito Oliva Achille Bonito Oliva (born 1939) is an Italian art critic and historian of contemporary art. Since 1968 he has taught history of contemporary art at La Sapienza, the university of Rome. He has written extensively on contemporary art and contempo ...

at the "Aperto 80" section of the 39th Venice Biennale in 1980. Along with De Maria the principal transavantgarde artists were;

Sandro Chia Sandro Chia (born 20 April 1946) is an Italian painter and sculptor. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was, with Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Nicola De Maria, and Mimmo Paladino, a principal member of the Italian Neo-Expressionist mov ...

Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various art ...

Enzo Cucchi Enzo Cucchi (born 14 November 1949) is an Italian painter. A native of Morro d'Alba, province of Ancona, he was a key member of the Italian Transavanguardia movement, along with his countrymen Francesco Clemente, Mimmo Paladino, Nicola De Maria, ...

Nino Longobardi Nino Longobardi (born 1953) is an Italian artist, known for painting and sculpture. Biography Nino Longobardi was born on 30 November 1953 in Naples, Italy. He was primarily a self taught artist. In 1968, Longobardi met curator and art dealer L ...

Luigi Ontani Luigi Ontani (Grizzana Morandi, 24 November 1943) is an Italian multidisciplinary artist, known as a painter, photographer and sculptor. Early life and education Luigi Ontani was born 24 November 1943 in Grizzana Morandi, Italy. Ontani studied a ...

, and

Mimmo Paladino Mimmo Paladino (born Paduli, 18 December 1948) is an Italian sculptor, painter and printmaker. He is a leading name in the Transvanguardia artistic movement and one of the many European artists to revive Expressionism in the 1980s. Biography ...

Exhibitions

In 1982 De Maria's work was included in

documenta 7 ''documenta 7'' was the seventh edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 19 June and 28 October 1982 in Kassel, West Germany. The artistic director was Rudi Fuchs Rudolf Herman "Rudi" Fuchs (born ...

Kassel, Germany Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. ...

. In 1990 De Maria once again exhibited at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

to which he contributed five "Space Paintings". His work was shown in the Italian Pavilion in an exhibition curated by Laura Cherubini, Flaminio Gualdoni and

Lea Vergine Lea Vergine, born Lea Buoncristiano (5 March 1936 – 20 October 2020), was an Italian art critic, essayist and curator. Biography Naples: childhood, youth and early exhibitions Lea Buoncristiano was born in Naples on 5 March 1936, where she w ...

. In 2013 there was a retrospective of his work held at the

Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art The Turin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (Italian - ''Galleria civica d'arte moderna e contemporanea di Torino'' or ''GAM Torino'') is an art gallery in Turin, Italy, founded in 1891-1895 and located in 31 via Magenta. With the MAO ...

, "The Madness to Come" curated by Danilo Eccher.

Collections

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

, Amsterdam *

Pompidou Centre The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

, Paris *

Castello di Rivoli The Castle of Rivoli is a former Residence of the Royal House of Savoy in Rivoli ( Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy). It is currently home to the Castello di Rivoli – Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, the museum of contemporary art of Turin. In 19 ...

in Turin, Italy *

Palazzi dell'Arte Palazzi is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Abdul Hadi Palazzi (born 1961), Italian imam * Andrea Palazzi (born 1996), Italian footballer * Carlo Palazzi (died 2000), Italian fashion designer * Caterina Palazzi (born ...

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

, Italy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Maria, Nicola Italian painters Italian contemporary artists Living people 1947 births People from the Province of Benevento Transavanguardia