Nino Longobardi (born 1953) is an Italian artist, known for painting and sculpture.

Biography

Nino Longobardi was born on 30 November 1953 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy. He was primarily a self taught artist. In 1968, Longobardi met curator and art dealer

Lucio Amelio Lucio Amelio (13 September 1931 – 2 July 1994) was an Italian art dealer, curator, and actor. For decades he contributed to make Naples an international art centre encouraging the dialogue between European and American contemporary arts. Bio ...

, who introduced him to many artists and opportunities. The

1980 Irpinia earthquake The 1980 Irpinia earthquake ( it, Terremoto dell'Irpinia) took place in Italy on 23 November 1980, with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). It left at least 2,483 people dead, at least 7,700 injured, an ...

took place near Naples, causing a lot of damage, while changing Longobardi's art work and career. As a result of the earthquake, Amelio hosted a series of art exhibitions and created a body of curated work titled, ''Terrae Motus Collection (Collezione Terrae Motus)'', the art exhibitions stretched over several years and featuring over 50 artists (including Longobardi) highlighting the theme of earthquakes. After the earthquake, Longobardi started focusing his work on the human figure and the theme of life or death. His paintings began to display imagery such as skulls, swimmers, and nude figures posing. He used a limited color palette, often in black, white, browns, tans, and grays. Sometimes the work would have repeated imagery, visually similar to printmaking. In 1982, Longobardi's work was featured in the exhibition, "Italian Art Now: An American Perspective" at the

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, alongside other Italian artists,

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 ...

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, ...

, Gilberto Zorio,

Giuseppe Penone Giuseppe Penone (born 3 April 1947, Garessio) is an Italian artist and sculptor, known for his large-scale sculptures of trees that are interested in the link between man and the natural world.

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

Vettor Pisani Vettor Pisani (132413 August 1380) was a Venetian admiral. He was in command of the Venetian fleet in 1378 during the war against the Genoese, whom he defeated off Capo d'Anzio; subsequently he recaptured Cattaro, Sebenico and Arbe, which had ...

. Longobardi had his art studio and home in the Palazzo Tarsia, in the historic center of the city Naples. The sculpture pavilion “Codice Italia” was exhibited at the

56th Venice Biennale The 56th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2015. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Okwui Enwezor curated its central exhibition, "All Th ...

, and included work by Nino Longobardi. His work is included in many public museum collections including the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, Madre Museum, Museo ItaloAmericano,

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works o ...

, among others. Longobardi was interviewed in the documentary film, ''Lucio Amelio/Terrae Motus'' (1993) directed by Mario Martone.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longobardi, Nino 1953 births Painters from Naples Self-taught artists Italian contemporary artists Living people Transavanguardia