Sandro Chia - Guardian Angel

EXCELLENT WORK BY MASTER SANDRO CHIA IN MIXED TECHNIQUE (LITHOGRAPHY, SILKSCREEN PRINTING AND CARBORUNDUM) IN ONLY 50 COPIES

Sandro Chia , pseudonym of Alessandro Coticchia (Florence, 1946), is an artist, painter, and sculptor among the leading exponents of the Transavanguardia movement. He spent much of his time between Italy and the United States, where he first traveled in the 1980s. His works were initially more conceptual, later moving into a more figurative phase. Essentially, both phases share a common element: the dreamlike, surreal atmosphere that surrounds the protagonists. Over the years, the human figure has increasingly occupied a prominent place in Chia's canvases, assuming hieratic proportions. Although the characters depicted are humble, the artist presents them as if they were, in all respects, mythological heroes, further elevating the composition by often incorporating more or less obvious references to the great masterpieces of the past, reworking them and bringing them into a personal dimension.

The life of Sandro Chia

Sandro Chia (real name Alessandro Coticchia) was born in Florence on April 20, 1946, and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in the Tuscan capital. He traveled for a time in India, Turkey, and Europe, and upon returning to Italy in 1970, he settled in Rome and held his first solo exhibition in 1971 at the La salita gallery. A few years later, he joined the Transavanguardia collective and participated, along with the other artists of the group, in the “Aperto 80” section of the 1980 Venice Biennale , later holding a solo exhibition in New York. After about a decade in Rome, he decided to move to New York, where he remained for about twenty years, continuing to travel regularly between the United States and Italy. He returned to the Venice Biennale in 1984 and 1989, while continuing to exhibit his works in major Italian and international museums, such as the Castello di Rivoli, and then in New York, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim in 1983 and the Met - Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in 1984, respectively. The artist still lives between Miami, Rome, and Tuscany, more precisely at the Castello Romitorio in Montalcino. Since 1987, he has also been involved in the production of prestigious wines, including the famous Brunello di Montalcino. In 2003, the Italian State acquired three of his works, which became part of the permanent collection of the Italian Senate at Palazzo Madama, while in 2005, the Province of Rome purchased two monumental sculptures, which were placed in front of its headquarters in Rome. Auctions featuring his works are quite frequent and very successful; for example, in 2007 his work The Pharmacist's son (1981) was sold at Christie's in the United Kingdom for 300 thousand euros, setting a record.

The artist initially turned to conceptual art soon after moving to Rome. From the mid-1970s, Chia instead preferred to devote himself to figurative art, and joined the Transavanguardia group, becoming one of its best-known exponents. The movement was founded by the art critic Achille Bonito Oliva , and included Francesco Clemente, Mimmo Paladino , Nicola De Maria, and Enzo Cucchi. The Transavanguardia artists were distinguished by their use of very bright and impactful colors, applied to the canvas with bold, thick brushstrokes. Meanwhile, starting in 1982, Chia began to devote himself to sculpture in parallel with his painting. The concept that characterizes Chia's art is the belief that the lifeblood that nourishes art is intrinsic to itself . The artist believes it is necessary for artists to recognize what came before them and to regard the masters with respect, so as to then be able to reference them in their works. Indeed, Chia looks closely at the masterpieces of artists of the past, including Titian, Masaccio, Tintoretto, Lorenzo Lotto , and Michelangelo Buonarroti , but also at contemporary examples such as Giorgio de Chirico, Fernand Lèger, Paul Cézanne, Francis Picabia, and Marc Chagall , reworking their achievements and making them his own through numerous references and quotations that he incorporates into his works, often in an ironic and allusive manner. Chia's first works are, therefore, certainly figurative but very conceptual, including La mercante di scacchiere (1976), in which a female figure seen from behind moves between different checkered surfaces of different colours and sizes that fill the entire canvas, just as if one were in a dream dimension; or Ossa, cassa, fossa (1978) in which a man looks into a sort of abyss represented by a black parallelepiped carved into a red wall, in which the words that give the work its title can be read; finally, one of the works in which there are quotations derived from De Chirico's metaphysical works is remembered, namely Sul tetto, sulla strada (1979). As the years went by, human figures gradually took over much of the canvas . These figures, clearly delineated by black outlines and composed of imposing volumes, stand out against vibrant backgrounds that are both timeless and placeless, perpetuating the sensation of being faced with a visionary dream made up of seemingly irreconcilable contrasts. In particular, these works reveal explicit references to the contrasts between the ancient and the contemporary, between the Apollonian and the Dionysian, between passion and rationality. It is no coincidence that in both Chia's sculptures and paintings, the most frequently recurring character is the male, presented as a hero, symbolizing the artist himself in an attitude of rebellion and self-affirmation. In this way, the works become for the artist an adventurous challenge whose ultimate goal is to find his own freedom and be able to let go completely without limits. The heroic device, however, is constantly underplayed by Chia through the use of irony, as is evident for example in Unfinished Symphony (1980), in which a figure seen from behind, turned to look at the viewer, vents his creativity as if it were a bodily instinct to be unleashed. In this specific case, creativity is represented by a musical score, but in any case the artist implies that the work refers to creativity in general. Following this work is Figures with Flag and Flute (1983), which portrays two men sitting outdoors at night, one intent on playing a flute while the other holds a flag. It is a scene with humble tones, yet Chia instills in the protagonists an aura of great importance, as if they were heroes of a great historical poem. Also emblematic is Il pittore (1983) in which the figure that dominates the entire space of the canvas has the face of a statue, while the rest of the body is human and portrayed while holding in his hands a painting made simply of shapeless spots of colour. Sculpture, too, is perfectly integrated into Chia's artistic intent , as evidenced by Untitled from 1984. The human figure is always the protagonist and is depicted reprising, or rather mocking, the typical poses of ancient sculpture. The torso, in fact, follows an exaggerated, unnatural torsion, while the eyes appear at least twice as large as normal, continually blurring the line between imagination, dream, and reality. In Chia's prolific production of the 1990s and 2000s, there continue to be clear references to the past, particularly towards Braque and Picasso (it is no coincidence that the figures present in a series of Untitled works from 2006 seem to be taken directly from Les Demoiselles d'Avignon , as they feature female figures, presented individually, whose contorted positions recall those found in Picasso's famous work). References to Futurism also recur in this period, evident in the dynamic backgrounds composed of blocks of bright colours that are very reminiscent of the works ofUmberto Boccioni , Giacomo Balla andFortunato Depero , to the point of explicitly naming the movement in the title Fotografo futurista from 2003. In 1999, Chia also created portraits of Italian Pop Art artists, for an exhibition at the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome dedicated to the movement. His works from the 2000s continued the trend of presenting the hieratic and plastic figure across the board , with a variation in the color palette, which became less contrasting and more nuanced, playing on shades of green, blue, pink, and white. One example is Attesa (Attesa, 2013–14), in which a handsome young man is portrayed sitting on a rock, waiting for someone, and behind him stands a landscape of rounded and simplified, yet still plastic, volumes. The entire composition is based on various shades of blue, aquamarine, and gray, while the contours are clearly delineated by thick black lines.

Where to see Sandro Chia's works

Many of the artist's works are part of private collections, and many are still for sale in Italian galleries and auctioned today. However, several of the artist's works are held in important museums, both Italian and international. In northern Italy, Chia's works can be admired at the Castello di Rivoli, where the paintings Bruti Protagonisti della Fantasia Erotica di Una Ape (1979-80), Sinfonia Incompiuta (1980), Figures with Flag and Flute (1983), Uomo in Rosa (2001) and the sculpture Senza titolo (1984) are housed. Another significant group of works is owned by the Mazzoli Gallery in Modena, especially recently created paintings such as Discussion on Art and Painting (1998-2000), Melancholy of the Painter (1999-2000), Immortal Gino (2000), Portrait of Enzo (2001), Untitled 2 (2003), Untitled 1 (2003), Waiting (2013-14), Posing (2013-14). Also in Emilia Romagna, the Maramotti Collection in Reggio Emilia houses Dionisio's Kitchen (1980). In Rome, Chia's works are present in the Giorgio Franchetti collection, which includes Bridge of Frogs Without the Bridge (1979), The Lie (1979-80), and in the D'Ercole collection, where Excited Shepherd (1980) and Leave the Artist Alone (1985) are preserved. In Europe, Chia's works are present in several countries. In Switzerland, The Chessboard Merchant (1976) is in the Gunti Brands Collection, while in Berlin The Reckless Raft (1982) is in the Marx Collection, and Rabbit for Dinner (1982) is kept in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. In Great Britain, two works dated 1981 can be found: Courageous Boys at Work , in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, and Water Carrier London , in the Tate Gallery in London. Finally, The Idleness of Sisyphus (1981) can be admired in the MoMA - Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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