Roberto Ciaccio

Roberto Ciaccio (Rome, 1951 – Milan, 2014) first became interested in artistic practice as early as 1968. After an experimental phase using different techniques and materials to create relief works on the dividing line between painting and sculpture, opting for two-tone palettes to explore the dialectical relationship between inside and out, in the 1980s he ventured into abstract painting in an intensely conceptual vein, seeking to arrive at the origin of the artwork; the essence beyond the image.
In 1981 he met the printer/publisher Giorgio Upiglio, heralding the start of a lengthy, productive partnership that led to the creation of significant works in Roberto Ciaccio’s ouevre, such as Annotazioni di luce in otto momenti per Holzwege di Martin Heidegger (1990-1993), Infinitononfinito and Leçons de Ténèbres/Le Son des Ténèbres. Revenants (2003-2006).
Light, time, traces and memories are the building blocks of his work. His interest in related disciplines, such as music and above all contemporary philosophy, proved a key influence, and led to him working closely with Jacques Derrida and Remo Bodei.
Key exhibitions include Roberto Ciaccio. Il dono dell’origine at MUSEC in Lugano (2022), Roberto Ciaccio. La voce dei metalli at Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci in Milan (2020), Roberto Ciaccio. Lucematrice in Genoa (2013), Roberto Ciaccio. Inter/Vallum at Palazzo Reale in Milan (2011), Le Son des Ténèbres. Risonanza / Revenance at Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica in Rome (2008) and Roberto Ciaccio. Revenants – Rispecchiamenti della matrice – Widerspiegelungen der Matrix at the Staatiliche Museen in Berlin (2006).