Aurelio Amendola

Aurelio Amendola (Pistoia, Jan. 19, 1938), in the course of his exceptional career as an art photographer, Aurelio Amendola devoted himself intensely to contemporary themes, going so far as to collect a veritable Gallery of Portraits of the most famous masters of the 20th century, a sort of Gallery of Illustrious Men of the High Epoch, revisited with the banners of current events; De Chirico, Pomodoro, Schifano, Lichtenstein, Warhol, also frequenting Manzù, Fabbri, Ceroli, Vangi, Kounellis, Pistoletto, Parmiggiani, Paladino, Barni, Ruffi, Mainolfi. Valuable was the association with Marino Marini and Alberto Burri, unforgettable companions on the road and in life. In parallel, Amendola stands out for famous photographs on Italian Renaissance sculptures and the classical tradition, intimately understanding their volumetries, three-dimensionality, contrasts, and offering each time a point of view avowedly deviated from the documentary approach: inspired by a tactile, emotional, sensory vision.
Amendola has also ventured into the poetics of place: the Duomo of Milan, Matera, San Galgano, the Gori Collection sculpture park, Fattoria Celle di Santomato; the Vittoriale degli Italiani, Gardone Riviera; Burri’s Grande Cretto, Gibellina. His works are part of prestigious private and public collections, including Fondazione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia; GAM, Turin; Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, Milan; MAXXI, Rome; Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Alberto Burri, Città di Castello; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. He has also received countless awards: the Cino da Pistoia Prize (1997); Il Micco (2012); Academic Diploma Honoris Causa in Visual Arts and title of Academician of Italy (2014); starred in the docufilm Obiettivo sull’arte (2015, directed by Beatrice Corti); and the Una vita per l’arte (Gaeta, 2016) award. In 2009, together with other artists, he was received in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI in the Sistine Chapel.

National and international exhibitions include: Palazzo Reale, Milan (1995); Cappelle Medicee, Florence (2007); Michelangelo Scultore, Hermitage, St. Petersburg (2012); Alberto Burri, Sapone Gallery, Nice (2014); In Atelier. Fotografie  dal 1970-2014, curated by Vincenzo Trione, Museo Triennale, Milan (2014); Un’Antologia, curated by Paola Goretti and Marco Meneguzzo, Pistoia Musei, Pistoia Museums, (2021, touring; in 2022 at Castello Svevo, Bari); Lo sguardo di Aurelio Amendola fra naturalismo e astrazione, Museo Opera del Duomo, Florence (2022); Holden Luntz Gallery, Florida, Palm Beach (2023); Amendola. Burri, Vedova, Nitsch: Azioni e Gesti, Fondazione Palazzo Albizzini Collezione Burri, Città di Castello, (2023; touring).