Artist

Claudio Malacarne was born in Mantua (North Italy) in 1956. Coming from a farmer’s family he was to grow up amongst a rather simple cultural background in the Mantuan countryside, which should fundamentally influence his later pictorial language. Later he moved to the city of Mantua, but kept a living relationship with his countryside as he used to spend the summer holidays at his grandparents' house. In fact the summer has always been his favorite season for its vivid colors and its strong contrasts of light. Despite having already painted obsessively as a 14 year old, it was only in his first semester at school that his tutors would notice his extraordinary ability to draw and to use colors well. Claudio was referred to a good School of Fine Arts, but as his parents had other plans for their son’s future they did not comply with his wishes. Although his parent’s decision caused a sense of frustration and deep conflict within the boy, this would neither affect Claudio’s devotion to art, nor would it change his decision/ Ueberzeugung that painting was all he was interested in. In fact, his artistic passion was already so forceful then, that he succeeded expressing this urge in his first oil paints. Furthermore, he studied and observed the paintings of the old masters, such as Gauguin, Van Gogh, the Fauves, Soroilla and Guttuso passinately, and thus developed a strong affection and preference for the style of Impressionists and Post-impressionists, whose forwardness and pithy brush-strokes felt as if they were to become his visual language too. He regularly visited studios of some Mantuan painters, amongst those Enrico Longflis, who would support Claudio’s longing to mature his pictorial investigation – today Claudio is considered to be one of the most prolific colorists of our time. During their engagement it became cleat that they shared the same attitude considering art and she thus got to positively push Claudio’s artistic destiny. They married when he 24, and got their baby girls, Nicola and Federica, soon after; his family was to become firm as a rock giving him the strength, support and courage to keep going since. His first exhibition, in 1985, was perceived positively by critics and the public. Thereafter followed one solo-exhibition after another, and his work was noticed by merchants of art, who would induce that Claudio’s work was included in a market circuit at a worldwide level soon after. His travels to places such as Garda Lake, the landscapes of the Southern Italy, or the Caribbean would enhance his research and knowledge about diverse subjects, atmospheres, colors and varying light settings. Presently Claudio Malacarne enjoys an outstanding reputation for chromatic imagination, his aesthetic sense, and his ongoing search for new colors, which are known for being impetuous and soft at the same time. Important collectors from all over the world, i.e. Europe, Japan or the U.S have been purchasing and collecting Claudio’s painting, showing Italian landscapes and marinas, gardens full of flowers, palm trees, and humans - his daughter Federica often appears as a model. Those are the features loved most by both, Italian and foreign collectors, amongst those the actor Denzel Washington who has added two of Malacarne’s paintings to his private collection. Claudio Malacarne currently lives and works in his atelier house immersed in the Mantuan countryside. BRIEF MAGAZINE/ BOOK/ AND NEWSPAPER CRITICS FRANCESCO GALLO 2003 It is the triumph of painting over nature and, at the same time, the triumph of painting over itself, by demonstrating that something new can still be said, after that a lot has already been said. This is the value of Malacarne: he does not introduce himself into the circle of repetition, of “déjà vu”, “taken for granted”, but he possesses the ability to surprise the eye by focusing details which tend to pass unnoticed to passers-by. These details spur the attention of the painter who reveals “the invisible”, showing a miracle of simplicity. ENRICO LONGFILS (LA GAZZETTA DI MANTOVA, 1993) To see a Claudio Malacarne's painting means to feel a great joy and a deep emotion. Joy for the wonderful note of color, and emotion because his art is the best symbolic post impressionism of our times ... a very refined taste searching for chances to create real painting. W. GORNI (LA GAZZETTA DI MANTOVA, 1986) A pictorial rhythm which obtains unexpected images. ... a refined painting, relaxing and full of poetry. R. PROTTI TOSI (LA CITTADELLA, 1988) Shadows don't exist for Malacarne, only the light. With its secrets that can be shattered in myriads of combinations ... Indeed, it doesn't happen often, that one leaves an exhibition with a heart filled by harmonies. A. MARAVELLI (LA GAZZETTA DI MANTOVA, 1989) Malacarne explores the whole luminousness of color, whilst implying a wise and experienced pertaining to pointillism technique. A. CAGIANO (IL RESTO DEL CARLINO, 1989) .... strong figurative painting, which shows an overwhelming yet sharp chromatism based on a powerful impressionistic technique. T. CORDANI (MONDO PADANO, 1992) And the white, with its bright light, illumines everything and, insinuating itself among the large stains of the brush, exalts the gesture of the action and the acquisition, by now reached, of the visible culture linked to Matisse, Festa, Schifano. W. GORNI (LA GAZZETTA DI MANTOVA, 1994) The palette is rich, without limits. The beginning portrait is fresh, original, but faithful to reality. A. INCISO (LA GAZZETTA DEL MEZZOGIORNO, 1999) When you look at this Mantuan artist's works you feel ravished, whether positively or negatively involved. You're dragged in a whirl of feelings and memories. I. DE MEO (LA NUOVA BASILICATA, 1999) His paintings ... are appreciated for their fast rhythm, the large and refined brush strokes, the touch of mastery by his use of the spatule, but, most important, for his vivid use of colors... The radiant tonality is protagonist of Malacarne's art. He is appreciated and in demand not only on national scale, but on the growing Japanese market too. EXHIBITIONS 2007 Galleria Lazzaro by Corsi Milano; galleria Zacchi Desenzano del Garda; Capri art gallery Positano; CM ARTESTUDIO Mantova; galleria IDEARTE Potenza; Arte Fiera Verona; Galleria Civica di Palazzo Todeschini Desenzano; 2006 CM ARTESTUDIO (aprile); Galleria Zacchi Desenzano del Garda (giugno) Miler Gallery Cincinnati USA (giugno) 2005 Miller Gallery (Cincinnati); Verdesi Art Group (Ascoli Piceno); Galleria Gagliardi (Ascoli Piceno); Galleria Magnolia (Sirmione) 2004 Libreria Mondadori Mantova Mostra personale a cura comune Acquaviva d/Fonti Ba Gall. Gagliardi S. Giminiano Gall. La Mimosa Asoli Piceno Capri Art gallery Positano Miller Gallery Cincinnati Gall. La Magnolia Sirmione pers. Gall. Idearte Potenza pers. Galleria Giotto Palermo 2003 Circolo culturale 'Il Castello' mostra a cura Comune di Cerlongo e Goito (Mantova); museo Diocesano (in permanenza); Museo Yang Revere (collettiva); 'Incontro d' estate' presentazione ultimi lavori nell'atelier; Studio4 Molfetta; Galleria Giotto Palermo; Galleria Li art Sciacca; Myller Gallery Orlando Florida (collettiva); galleria Magnolia Sirmione 2002 Gall. Roggia Grande (T.N.); Gall Allegretti Arte (M.N.); Centro Arte Pan (Terni); Pico Art Show Room (Torino); Pico Art Show Room (Bologna); Gall. Magnolia (Sirmione BS); Miller Gallery (Cincinnati U.S.A.) collettiva; Pico Art Show Room (Riccione) Cesena 2001 Galleria Miniaci (Anguilla - Caraibi); Artexpo (Bari); Galleria L'Immagine (Arezzo); Galleria Arteitalia (Pescara) 2000 Galleria Marano (Cosenza); Galleria Spazio Immagini (Foggia); EXPO (Bari); Fiera (Reggio Emilia); Europ' Art (Ginevra); Art Forum Museum (Montese - Mo); Galleria Magnolia (Sirmione); Galleria Nuovo Segno (Forlì); Personale ad Anguilla (Piccole Antille - Caraibi) 1999 Arte Fiera (Reggio Emilia); Galleria Idearte (Potenza); Galleria Petite Prince (Positano); Galleria Magnolia (Sirmione); Schaff Gallery (Cincinnati - USA); Arte Fiera (Montichiari); Galleria La Rocchetta (Pavia); Arte Fiera (Bari); Arte Fiera (Padova); Galleria del Cappello (Milano); Galleria La Rocchetta (Capo d'Orlando); Box Art (S. Bonifacio); Galleria Micati Arte (Giulianova); Arte Fiera (Forlì); Corarte Galleria d'Arte (Cisterna di Latina) 1998 Arte Fiera (Palermo); Arte Fiera (Bari); Arte Fiera (Padova); Arte Fiera (Vicenza); Galleria Niselli (Schio); Chiostro S. Francesco (Ravello); Galleria Arte Oggi (Campobasso); Orion Press Licensing (Tokio) 1997 Galleria La Saletta (Cremona); Telenorba (Bari); Retenove (Rovigo); Galleria Il Castello (Adria); Arte Fiera (Palermo); Arte Fiera (Pordenone); Arte Fiera (Padova); Arte Fiera (Ancona); MIART (Milano); Galleria Wogel (Heidelberg - Germany); Galleria Helga Wicher (Wuppertal - Germany); Galleria Executive (Bari); Galleria Stamperia dell'Arancio (Grottammare); Galleria La Mimosa (Ascoli Piceno) 1996 Mostra itinerante in varie città italiane; Galleria Barbone Arte (Bari) 1995 Arte Fiera (Bologna) 1994 Galleria Miniaci (Positano); Galleria Miniaci (Capri); Arte Fiera (Bari); Arte Fiera (Vicenza); Arte Fiera (Padova); Art Expo (New York); Art Show (Seoul); Galleria Arte Dimensione (Foggia); Galleria Perri Arte (Campobasso) 1993 Galleria Il Torrazzo (Cremona); Galleria Magnolia (Sirmione); Istituo Grafico Italiano (Milano); Galleria B e B (Mantova); Galleria B e B (Sirmione) 1992 Galleria Carpi Arte (Carpi); Galleria Il Torrazzo (Cremona); Galleria Magnolia (Sirmione); Premio Città di Monzambano; Casa Di Rigoletto (Mantova) 1991 Galleria Lo Scalone (Mantova); Galleria S. Giorgetto (Verona); Galleria Magnolia (Sirmione); Art Box, Carpi 1990 Sala 90, Palazzo Ducale (Mantova); Biblioteca Comunale (Pomponesco); Sala Mostre (Peschiera del Garda); Galleria La Torre (Mantova) 1989 Galleria La Torre (Mantova); Circolo Artistico Ferrarese (Ferrara); Palazzo Ducale (Mantova); Sala Mostre (Peschiera del Garda); Galleria La Firma (Riva del Garda) 1988 Sala Lombardo (Porto Mantovano); Palazzo Ducale (Mantova); Istituto Magistrale (Mantova); Sala Mostre (Peschiera del Garda) 1987 Palazzo Municipale (Goito) 1986 E.P.T. (Mantova); Torre Matildica (Goito)