Silvio Benedicto Benedetto (
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, March 21, 1938) is an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
painter and sculptor naturalized Italian.
Biography
Silvio Benedetto was born in Buenos Aires, on March 21, 1938, from a family of artists of Italian origin. His grandfather
Benito Caldarella was a photographer, portraitist; his mother
Adela Caldarella was a painter,
ceramist
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Whil ...
and
prose actress; his father
Juan Valente Benedetto was an actor and journalist in Buenos Aires, where he founded the first association of journalists.
Argentina from 1950
In 1956, at the age of eighteen, he won the 1st Prize at the 2nd
Biennial of Pan-American Sacred Art in Buenos Aires. Between 1957 and 1961 he made several solo exhibitions, including the "Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes" (now Museo
Provincial de Bellas Artes Timoteo Navarro) of Tucumán.
Italy from 1961
In 1961 he moved to Italy and made some personal exhibitions in various galleries, including the "Penelope", the "Zanini", the "New Weight" in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, the "Compass" in
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, 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 ...
, the "De 'Foscherari" in Bologna and the "Gianferrari" 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 ...
). He settled permanently in Rome, collaborated with photographer
David Racanelli in the foundation and initial management of the Gallery "Due Mondi".
Mexico, Ecuador from 1967
During this period, he traveled and worked in Latin America, collaborating in the creation of the mural "La Marcha de la Humanidad" in the
World Trade Center complex in Mexico City. During this period,
Marta Traba
Marta Traba Taín (Buenos Aires, 25 January 1930 – Madrid, 27 November 1983) was an art critic and writer known for her contributions to Latin American art and literature.
Biography
Traba's parents were Catalan immigrants, Francisco Traba a ...
wrote in the catalog of the Gallery of Modern Art of
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
: "Silvio Benedetto has recently been the scandalous case of Latin American painting, contender of
Guayasamín, protester of
Siqueiros
Siqueiros is a Spanish surname
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other ...
, winner in Mexico of an abnormal mural". At the Casino de la Selva, in
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D.
The na ...
, in fact he painted a mural, with a rectangular plan of 30 meters, for 50, entitled "Progreso y Violencia", which was destroyed. Seventy of his works remain in
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D.
The na ...
and are gathered in a museum named after him (of note in this extensive collection are the "Dialogues": "Great Deposition with Christ by
Mantegna", "The Shooting of Goya in the Studio", "The Flood by
Paolo Uccello
Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italians, Italian (Florentine) Florentine painting, painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. ...
"). While working in
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
he also created one of his murals at the university of
Guerrero
Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...
.
Europe from the 1970s
Between the mid-1960s and early 1990s, he made numerous
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...
s and
lithographs
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
at the printing house "Il Torcoliere" and "The Felt" in Rome, and exhibited in several European cities. In the fire of the Palace Hotel in
Mondello
Mondello is a small borough of the city of Palermo in the autonomous region of Sicily in Southern Italy.
Its beach lies between two cliffs called Mount Gallo and Mount Pellegrino. The town was originally a small fishing village situated on marsh ...
in 1973 was destroyed his painting "Ratto di Santa Teresa – dialogo con
Bernini
Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, , ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 159828 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his ...
", on the same theme will remain only a folder of engravings with a preface by
Leonardo Sciascia
Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), '' Cadaveri Eccellen ...
. It introduces the manifesto "Art as action in the urban context" to
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, in occasion of its installation "Man-Christ" (polyhedral structure of 33 m of height). The installation of December 1974 will be dismantled after a few days by the municipal administration, because "representing a Christ not suitable for Christmas. This will provoke infinite polemics. They will sign the manifesto of Benedict many exponents of culture and art, including:
Bruno Zevi
Bruno Zevi (22 January 1918 – 9 January 2000) was an Italian architect, historian, professor, curator, author, and editor. Zevi was a vocal critic of "classicizing" modern architecture and postmodernism.
Early life
Zevi was born and died in ...
,
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music.
Biography
Early years
Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono beg ...
,
Enrico Crispolti
Enrico Crispolti (18 April 1933 – 8 December 2018) was an Italian art critic, curator and art historian. From 1984 to 2005, he was professor of history of contemporary art at the Università degli Studi di Siena, and director of the school of s ...
,
Leonardo Benevolo
Leonardo Benevolo (25 September 1923 – 5 January 2017) was an Italian architect, city planner and architecture historian. Born in Orta San Giulio, Italy, Benevolo studied architecture in Rome where he graduated in 1946. Later taught history of ...
and
Cesare Zavattini
Cesare Zavattini (20 September 1902 – 13 October 1989) was an Italian screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema.
Biography
Born in Luzzara near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, o ...
. He was invited, in 1977, to the X
Quadrennial of Rome – Foreign artists working in Italy, where he presented his "Trilogy": "Flood", "Procession" and "Greek Tragedy". In
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
the
Museum of Fine Arts of Fécamp set up a personal exhibition. In 1992 the
Norman Palace in Palermo hosts his first exhibition of sculpture: "The Metaphor of the Mountain".
He began in
Campobello di Licata
Campobello di Licata ( scn, Campubbeddu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about east of Agrigento.
Physical geography
Territory
Campobello d ...
the design, together with
Olga Macaluso, of the
Valley of the Painted Stones (110 polychrome boulders, in travertine of two meters by three, painted in several sides) on the
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...
by
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
. Invited to the exhibition "Raum!" at the Vienna Künstlerhaus, he exhibited in 1998 his installation "Via Scialoja 6 at the Künstlerhaus" and presented a performance inspired by
Goethe's Faust
''Faust'' is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as '' Faust, Part One'' and ''Faust, Part Two''. Nearly all of Part One and the majority of Part Two are written in rhymed verse. Although rarely s ...
. Since 1999 the National Park of the Cinque Terre has engaged the artist in the realization of the project "The artistic itineraries in the National Park of the Cinque Terre". Silvio Benedetto, in fact, created and realized large mural paintings in the five railway stations of the municipalities of the Park:
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore ( lij, Rimazzô, locally ) is a village and commune in the province of La Spezia, situated in a small valley in the Liguria region of Italy. It is the first of the Cinque Terre one meets when travelling north from La Spezia.
Th ...
,
Manarola
Manarola (''Manaea'' in the local dialect) is a small town, a frazione of the comune (municipality) of Riomaggiore, in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is the second-smallest of the famous Cinque Terre towns frequented by ...
,
Corniglia
Corniglia ( lij, Corniggia; locally ) is a ''frazione'' ("hamlet") within the comune of Vernazza in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northern Italy with a population of about 150 (in 2016). Unlike the other localities of the Cinque Terre, Corni ...
,
Vernazza
Vernazza ( lij, Vernassa, locally ; la, Vulnetia) is a town and located in the province of La Spezia, Liguria, northwestern Italy. It is one of the five towns that make up the Cinque Terre region. Vernazza is the fourth town heading north, has ...
and
Monterosso uniting them through a single thread, by style and theme, thus creating a tourist-cultural "path".
He also designs and realizes the decoration of Piazza Capellini in Manarola, with the collaboration of
Silvia Lotti in the realization of the terracotta tiles and the collaboration of his daughter Flavia Benedetto in the creation of the circular decoration in the center of the square. Inauguration, also in Manarola, of the monument to
Fabrizio De André
Fabrizio Cristiano De André (; 18 February 1940 – 11 January 1999) was an Italian singer-songwriter, the most prominent ''cantautore'' of his time. His 40-year career reflects his interests in concept albums, literature, poetry, political pro ...
. Along the entire wall (157 meters) of the pedestrian tunnel of
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore ( lij, Rimazzô, locally ) is a village and commune in the province of La Spezia, situated in a small valley in the Liguria region of Italy. It is the first of the Cinque Terre one meets when travelling north from La Spezia.
Th ...
(leading from the station to the center of the country) he creates "The Sequence of Memory": a multi-material mosaic with shaped tiles, glazed majolica, polished, and with the use of various materials such as stones, pebbles, marble (including red and green
Levanto), crystals, mirrors, shells, pottery, the mosaic depicts the coast of the
Cinque Terre
The Cinque Terre (; lij, Çinque Tære, meaning "Five Lands") is a coastal area within Liguria, in the northwest of Italy. It lies in the west of La Spezia Province, and comprises five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, ...
.
In 2000 he realizes at the
Arsenale Marittimo Militare of
La Spezia
La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy.
La Spezia is the second largest city ...
, the mural "Tradizione Tecnologia Arte" and several sculptures-assemblage as well as a performance within the Smart. In 2001 he starts "
L'Iliade in terra e fuoco", a ceramic mural of meters 7,30 for 3,10, composed by majolica of different shapes, with figurative subjects on the theme of the Iliad. Of the Iliad by Silvio Benedetto there is also a graphic work (realized in the same year).
[l'intera opera grafica è stata pubblicata nel 2006 da Kalòs come: “L'Iliade di Silvio Benedetto”]
References
Bibliography
* David A. Siqueiros, “Como se pinta un mural” – Città del Mexico – 1951
* Giorgio Di Genova, Calabria-Guccione-Quattrucci-Verrusio/ Maria Luisa Eustachio e Antonio Borrelli/ Gianfranco Ferroni/ Silvio Benedetto/ Carroll – Roma, Libreria terzo mondo – 1964
* Leonardo Benevolo, Mario De Micheli, Giorgio Di Genova, Emilio Garroni, “Silvio Benedetto” Ed. Il Tucano – 1966
* Emilio Garroni, “Silvio Benedetto o Il grado zero del realismo” – Galleria Due Mondi −1967
* Serie Arte Contemporanea – Ed. UNEDI – 1979
* “Roma contemporanea” – Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Roma – 1995
* “Gli Itinerari artistici” Ed. Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre – 2002
* Domenico Guzzi, "L'anello mancante"- Figurazione in Italia negli anni '60 e '70 – Collana "contributi alla storia dell'arte" – Laterza – 2003
* “L'Iliade di Silvio Benedetto” Ed. Kalòs – 2006
* ”Itinerari Artistici del Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre – Opere di Silvio Benedetto”, Confidenziale Gruppi 07 del Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre – 2007
Sister projects
*
Wikimedia Commons
/span> contiene immagini o altri file su Silvio Benedetto
/span>
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedetto , Silvio Benedicto
Living people
1938 births
21st-century Argentine people
20th-century Argentine people
21st-century Italian sculptors
20th-century Italian sculptors
Argentine sculptors
21st-century Italian painters
20th-century Italian painters
20th-century Argentine male artists
20th-century Italian male artists
21st-century Argentine male artists
21st-century Italian male artists
Argentine painters
Italian male painters