Moreno Bondi

A painter and sculptor, he teaches painting techniques at the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome. Between 1987 and 1999 he held the same position at the Academy of Carrara. Since 2005 he is also chair of the two-year postgraduate Master’s Degree programme in painting at the Rome Academy of Fine Arts.

La forma dell’acqua e della pietra The form of water and stone - 2005 oil on canvas and sculptures in white Carrara marble, black Belgian marble and white onyx, 145 x 160

Parole di pietra – Stone Words – oil on shaped canvas and white Carrara marble sculpture - 150x150x10

An expert and scholar of the oil painting techniques of the 16th and 17th centuries (Caravaggio in particular), he has worked in an advisory capacity for Dario Fo, with respect to theatre scenes and art exhibitions, and for the Correggio Foundation.
Since 1999 he has held numerous one-man exhibitions and participated in group shows in Italy and abroad, receiving widespread critical acclaim and awards.
Key highlights:
- 1999: Artefiera Bologna; Etruria Arte, Venturina-Piombino; Ken’s Art Gallery, Firenze; Fondazione Besso, Rome - by invitation (with “L’ultima Beatrice – The last Beatrice”, the only work by a contemporary artist;
- 2000: XXXIII Premio Vasto / Vasto Prize "Il paesaggio come metafora: dalla natura alla storia – Landscape as a Metaphor: from Nature to History"; San Buono, Chieti "La natura morta come lo specchio di Alice – Still life painting: like Alice’s Mirror"; Esplor@rte, Rome "Viaggio fra le identità e la sperimentazione – Journey through Identities and Experimentation";

- 2001: Palazzo Caselli, Carrara “Aforismi - Aphorisms”;
- 2002: Awarded the IX Premio Nazionale Culturale "Torre di Castruccio" / 9th “Torre di Castruccio” National Cultural Prize, by the Accademia della Torre for his artistic and research achievements; Academy of Egypt in Rome – Alexandrine Library, Alexandria of Egypt - Aknatou Gallery, Cairo: "Cleopatra fra storia e mito – Cleopatra: between History and Legend”; Iglesias "L’ombra scolpita – Sculpted Shadows"; - 2004: awarded the "XXV Premio San Valentino d’oro / Gold San Valentino Prize" for his artistic and research achievements; Fondazione Teatro Lirico, Cagliari "Accordi di luce – Light Accords"; Catharijne Convent Museum, Utrecht, the Netherlands and Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome: "Il Corpo Eterno. Artisti e studiosi affascinati dalle spoglie mortali – The Eternal Body. The fascination of Artists and Scholars with mortal remains"; Piombino, Municipal Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery: “Le stanze dell’eros – The Rooms of Eros”, Reggio Emila, Immagina-Arte in Fiera;
- 2005: “La caduta degli dei – The Fall of the Gods”(one-man exhibition) Ischia, Luchino Visconti’s Villa la Colombaia; November, Cervia, Magazzini del Sale, a one-man exhibition organised by Prof. Janus. His works can be found in public and private collections in Italy, the UK, France and Switzerland. Claudio Strinati, Soprintendente del Polo Museale Romano, says: “Moreno Bondi is a highly cultured and committed artist, as proven by the great accuracy of the titles of his works and the continuous flow of quotations from literature and philosophy that often accompany his exhibitions. His excellent technique, which is grounded on specific knowledge, first and foremost of 17th century art, his keen imagination, the great precision and likeliness of his brushstrokes, allow him to express a systematic mind capable of ordering his pictorial production according to unusual and interesting series and sequences”.

No. 105 October-November 2006

The measure between marble and canvas

In Moreno Bondi’s works painting and sculpture (divergent as mentality and manual skill) are permeated and harmonized one each other, surpassing the limit between “sizes which don’t admit an ordinary measure” and therefore they are apparently “inestimable”. (Rome - “Essere/Avere” Art Gallery - December 5, 2007 - January 15, 2008)