Nunzio's formative decade on display at the Shield Gallery in Verona

Galleria dello Scudo in Verona presents Nunzio Anni Ottanta, an exhibition on Nunzio (Nunzio Di Stefano; Cagnano Amiterno, 1954), one of the most influential Italian sculptors of his generation, exhibiting from December 14, 2024 to March 29, 2025 a selection of fifteen works from the 1980s belonging to the collection of gallery owner Fabio Sargentini. The exhibition is intended as a tribute to a period of great creativity, marked by the association between the then young and promising sculptor and Sargentini, who accompanied him with three solo shows in 1984, 1986 and 1988. First exhibition at Galleria Spatia in Bolzano in 1981 with text by Gabriella Drudi; then in Rome, the group show at Gian Tomaso Liverani ’s Galleria La Salita in 1982, then Fabio Sargentini’s solo show Undici sculture all’Attico in January 1984 presented by Giuliano Briganti.

With this exhibition, Sargentini reopened the exhibition space in Rome after it closed in 1978. L’Attico, a gallery that had entered in its own right into the history of the avant-garde for its initiatives related to the world of conceptual and performance art, once again became a point of reference for the most current trends, welcoming leading exponents of the latest generation of artists. The works document a creative phase of great ferment, appreciated both nationally, with exhibitions such as Ateliers in 1984, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, in the former Pastificio Cerere in Rome, and internationally with solo shows at Annina Nosei ’s in New York in 1985 and 1987 and the invitation in 1986 to the VI Sydney Biennial, which was followed by his presence in shows in Paris, Chicago, Berlin, São Paulo, Brazil, and Istanbul.

Also in 1986 he won the 2000 Award as best young artist at the XLII Venice Biennale in the section Aperto ’86, testifying to a path that confirms him among the most original personalities in the Italian art scene. For the occasion, Galleria dello Scudo is publishing a catalog in Italian and English with texts by Elena Abbiatici and Claudio Spadoni, and an interview with Fabio Sargentini. Photographs by Agostino Osio - Alto Piano document the works on display.

Galleria dello Scudo in Verona presents Nunzio Anni Ottanta, an exhibition of Nunzio (Nunzio Di Stefano; Cagnano Amiterno, 1954), one of the most influential Italian sculptors of his generation, exhibiting from December 14, 2024 to March 29, 2025 a selection of fifteen works from the 1980s from the collection of gallery owner Fabio Sargentini. The exhibition is intended as a tribute to a period of great creativity, marked by the association between the then young and promising sculptor and Sargentini, who accompanied him with three solo shows in 1984, 1986 and 1988. First exhibition at Galleria Spatia in Bolzano in 1981 with text by Gabriella Drudi; then in Rome, the group show at Gian Tomaso Liverani ’s Galleria La Salita in 1982, then Fabio Sargentini’s solo show Undici sculture all’Attico in January 1984 presented by Giuliano Briganti.

With this exhibition, Sargentini reopened the exhibition space in Rome after it closed in 1978. L’Attico, a gallery that had entered in its own right into the history of the avant-garde for its initiatives related to the world of conceptual and performance art, once again became a point of reference for the most current trends, welcoming leading exponents of the latest generation of artists. The works document a creative phase of great ferment, appreciated both nationally, with exhibitions such as Ateliers in 1984, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, in the former Pastificio Cerere in Rome, and internationally with solo shows at Annina Nosei ’s in New York in 1985 and 1987 and the invitation in 1986 to the VI Sydney Biennial, which was followed by his presence in shows in Paris, Chicago, Berlin, São Paulo, Brazil, and Istanbul.

Also in 1986 he won the 2000 Award as best young artist at the XLII Venice Biennale in the section Aperto ’86, testifying to a path that confirms him among the most original personalities in the Italian art scene. For the occasion, Galleria dello Scudo is publishing a catalog in Italian and English with texts by Elena Abbiatici and Claudio Spadoni, and an interview with Fabio Sargentini. Photographs by Agostino Osio - Alto Piano document the works on display.

Notes on the artist

Nunzio Di Stefano was born in 1954 in Cagnano Amiterno, in the province of L’Aquila. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, graduating in Toti Scialoja’s course. Since 1973 his studio has been at the former Pastificio Cerere in Rome’s San Lorenzo district. After his first exhibition in 1981 at Galleria Spatia in Bolzano, important are the three solo shows at Fabio Sargentini’s Attico, in 1984 (presented by Giuliano Briganti), 1986 and 1988 (also presented by Briganti). Of 1985 is his first exhibition in New York at Annina Nosei’s, which opens the doors of international collecting for him. Of the following year is his debut at the XLII Venice Biennale, in the section Aperto ’86 where he won the 2000 Award as best young artist. After the 1987 solo show at the Galleria Civica in Modena, there are numerous exhibitions abroad as well, some in important public venues, including: L’Italie aujourd’hui, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Nice (1985); VI Biennale of Sydney (1986); Prospekt ’89, Frankfurter Kunstverein and Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (1989); Roma interna, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (1991). 1994 saw his first solo exhibition in Japan, at Kodama Gallery, Osaka, followed by participation in the Fujisankei Biennial in 1995, where his sculpture Shadows, placed in the spaces of the Hakone Open-Air Museum, won the Prize for Excellence. The exhibition at Villa delle Rose in Bologna traces the work of the past decade. In 1995, Nunzio is invited to the Venice Biennale with a solo room; he is awarded an Honorable Mention. Meanwhile, he begins his collaboration with Galerie Alice Pauli in Lausanne, where he held three solo shows, in 1997, 2001 and 2010. In Italy his exhibitions are at Galleria Fumagalli in Bergamo in 2000 and at Giorgio Persano’s in Turin since 2004. Of 2005 is the important anthological exhibition at MACRO in Rome, curated by Danilo Eccher. In the winter of 2005-2006 he held his first solo show at the Galleria dello Scudo in Verona, curated by Lea Vergine, where he presented a series of installations in combusted wood that created new and alienating spaces; an interview by Hans Ulrich Obrist was published in the catalog. Various exhibition dates followed, including: in 2006 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, curated by Bruno Corà; in 2012 at Museum Biedermann in Donaueschingen. In 2017 he is invited in the exhibition Italia al Forte di Belvedere and Palazzo Marino Marini in Florence. Nunzio meets/meets Perugino at the National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia, in winter 2022-2023, offers an unprecedented confrontation with the Italian Renaissance master.

Notes on the artist

Nunzio Di Stefano was born in 1954 in Cagnano Amiterno, in the province of L’Aquila. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, graduating in Toti Scialoja’s course. Since 1973 his studio has been at the former Pastificio Cerere in Rome’s San Lorenzo district. After his first exhibition in 1981 at Galleria Spatia in Bolzano, important are the three solo shows at Fabio Sargentini’s Attico, in 1984 (presented by Giuliano Briganti), 1986 and 1988 (also presented by Briganti). Of 1985 is his first exhibition in New York at Annina Nosei’s, which opens the doors of international collecting for him. Of the following year is his debut at the XLII Venice Biennale, in the section Aperto ’86 where he won the 2000 Award as best young artist. After the 1987 solo show at the Galleria Civica in Modena, there are numerous exhibitions abroad as well, some in important public venues, including: L’Italie aujourd’hui, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Nice (1985); VI Biennale of Sydney (1986); Prospekt ’89, Frankfurter Kunstverein and Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (1989); Roma interna, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (1991). 1994 saw his first solo exhibition in Japan, at Kodama Gallery, Osaka, followed by participation in the Fujisankei Biennial in 1995, where his sculpture Shadows, placed in the spaces of the Hakone Open-Air Museum, won the Prize for Excellence. The exhibition at Villa delle Rose in Bologna traces the work of the past decade. In 1995, Nunzio is invited to the Venice Biennale with a solo room; he is awarded an Honorable Mention. Meanwhile, he begins his collaboration with Galerie Alice Pauli in Lausanne, where he held three solo shows, in 1997, 2001 and 2010. In Italy his exhibitions are at Galleria Fumagalli in Bergamo in 2000 and at Giorgio Persano’s in Turin since 2004. Of 2005 is the important anthological exhibition at MACRO in Rome, curated by Danilo Eccher. In the winter of 2005-2006 he held his first solo show at the Galleria dello Scudo in Verona, curated by Lea Vergine, where he presented a series of installations in combusted wood that created new and alienating spaces; an interview by Hans Ulrich Obrist was published in the catalog. Various exhibition dates followed, including: in 2006 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, curated by Bruno Corà; in 2012 at Museum Biedermann in Donaueschingen. In 2017 he is invited in the exhibition Italia al Forte di Belvedere and Palazzo Marino Marini in Florence. Nunzio meets/meets Perugino at the National Gallery of Umbria, Perugia, in winter 2022-2023, offers an unprecedented confrontation with the Italian Renaissance master.

Nunzio's formative decade on display at the Shield Gallery in Verona

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