Sandro Chia

Sandro Chia (Apr 20, 1946) is an Italian painter and sculptor. A native of Florence, he was a key member of the Italian Transavanguardia movement, along with fellow countrymen Francesco Clemente, Mimmo Paladino, Nicola De Maria, and Enzo Cucchi. The movement was at its peak during the 1980s and was part of a wider movement of Neo-Expressionist painters around the world.

Sandro Chia was born in Florence in 1946. He has studied at the Istituto d’Arte and then at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence where he graduated in 1969. After graduation, he has travelled extensively in India, Turkey and throughout Europe before settling in Rome in 1970.

During the 1970’s he began to exhibit in Rome and Europe, gradually moving away from conceptual works towards a more figurative style of painting. Between September 1980 and August 1981 he received a scholarship from the city of Monchengladbach in Germany where he moved to work for a year. The following year he moved to New York City, where he will remain for over two decades, with frequent trips back to Montalcino, near Siena in Italy.

He has been part of the Italian “Transavanguardia” movement, exhibiting in many of the most important museums and galleries of the world. He has exhibited at the Biennale of Paris and San Paolo and three times at the Venice Biennale. His work has been part of internationally acclaimed museum group shows. Amongst his most important personal shows are exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam (1983), the Metropolitan Museum of New York (1984), the National Galerie of Berlin (1984, 1992), the Museum of Modern Art of Paris (1984); the Museums of Dusseldorf (1984), Antwerp (1989), Mexico City (1989); Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence (1991); the Museums of Karlsruhe (1992), Palm Springs (1993), Villa Medici in Rome (1995); Palazzo Reale in Milan (1997), the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida (1997), the Galleria Civica of Siena (1997), the Galleria Civica in Trento (2000), the Museo d’Arte of Ravenna (2000); Palazzo Pitti and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Florence (2002); and most recently the Duomo of St. Agostino in Pietrasanta (2005) and Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna of Rome (GNAM) (2010).

In 2011 a retrospective was held at Foro Boario, Galleria Civica in Modena and at the MIC (Museo della Ceramica di Faenza).
In 2012 a retrospective of 'Transavanguardia' was held at 'Palazzo Reale' in Milan and his solo exhibition at Galleria Biasutti in Turin.
In between 2012 and 2015 solo shows of his paintings, drawings and sculptures have been held at Villa Manin in Padova, Steven Harvey Fine Arts in NYC, Hillsboro Fine Art Dublin, Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul and DeLand Museum in Florida.

In 2003, the Italian State acquired three important works of his for the permanent collection of the Italian Senate at Palazzo Madama, and in 2005 two monumental sculptures were acquired by the Province of Rome and placed in front of its headquarters in Via IV Novembre, Rome.
In 2014 the city of of Livorno ha commissioned him a monumental bronze sculpture to be placed at the newly restored square where the 'Centro di Ricerca Sant'Anna' has its headquarters.

Today he lives between Miami, Rome and his Castello Romitorio wine-making estate in Montalcino, where he also follows the production of prestigious wines, amongst which the world-famous Brunello wine that won several world famous awards in 2010 and 2015 as 'best red wine in the world' (Wine Challenge London 2010 and 2015) .

Exhibitions
2016

"I think I therefore paint", Jerome Zodo Art Gallery, London, UK

"Sandro Chia", Klaus Steinmetz Contemporary Art, San José, Costa Rica

"Il Viandante" CIAC Centro Italiano Arte Contemporanea, a cura di Italo Tomassoni, Foligno, Italy

2015

"Grafiche", a cura di Enzo di Martino, Villa Manini, Padova, Italy

"Sandro Chia", Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul, Korea

"Paintings and Drawings", DeLand Museum, Florida, USA

"Guerrieri", a cura di Daria Jorioz e Enzo di Martino, Centro San Benin, Aosta, Italy



2014

"Works on paper", Steven Harvey Art Projects, New York, USA
"New Paintings", Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, Ireland

2013

"Storie trascese di teatro latente", Galleria Comunale di arte contemporanea, Arezzo, Italy

2012

"Enigma", Galleria Giampiero Biasutti, Torino, Italy
"Andare Oltre", Galleria d'arte maggiore, Bologna, Italy
"Sandro Chia", Art & Co Gallery, Milano, Italy

2011

"Sandro Chia", Foro Boario, Galleria Civica di Modena, Italy
"Ceramica vs Disegno: 1:0", Museo della ceramica di Faenza, Italy

2010

"Della Pittura, popolare e nobilissima Arte", GNAM, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy

"Sandro Chia", curated by Maurizio Vanni, Triennale Bovisa, Milan, Italy
"Joy and Sorrow of a Young Painter, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"Joy and Sorrow of a Young Painter, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Berlin, Germany

2009

"I Guerrieri", Scuola dei Mercanti, Campo Madonna dell' Orto, Venice, Italy
"Campestre Romantico", Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Tokyo, Japan
"Della Pittura, Popolare e Nobilissima Arte, curated by Achille Bonito Oliva, Galleria Nazionale Arte Moderna (GNAM) Rome, Italy
"Pittura e Poesia", Sandro Chia e Susan Stewart, Il Frantoio, Capalbio, Italy
"The Magic of the Press - Opere Grafiche', Echo Italia Montreal 2009, curated by Camera di Commercio Italia, Montreal, Canada
2008

"Talking Paintings", Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Holland
"Saints and Sinners", Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, USA
2007

"Gods and Heroes", Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida,USA

2006

“Cent’anni di solitudine – Illustrato da Sandro Chia”, Telecom Progetto Italia, Milan, Italy
"Sandro Chia", Klaus Steinmetz Contemporary Art, San José, Costa Rica
Gary Nader Fine Art, Miami, USA
"Il Marmo e la celluloide", La Versiliana, Forte dei Marmi, Italy

2005
"D'oro e d'argento", Pietrasanta, Italy
Galleria Astuni, Pietrasanta, Italy
Contini Art Gallery, Venice, Italy

2004
“Sandro Chia”, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
“Pompa Magna”, Centro Cultural Ourense, Ourense, Spain
“Litania a Colori”, Tuscan Sun Festival, Chiesa di S. Agostino, Cortona, Italy
“Sandro Chia”, Villa Bohm, Neustadt am der Weinstrasse, Germany
”Viandante Naufrago”, Galleria Boxart, Verona, Italy
“Sandro e/o Sandro”, Galleria Tega, Milan, Italy

2003
“Divano a Mare”, Spazio Bisazza, Milan, Italy
“Sandro Chia”, Galleria Tega, Milan, Italy
“Affido al disegno...”, Temple University, Rome, Italy

2002
“Miti e Leggende”, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence, Italy
“Sandro Chia”, Galerie Vidal Saint Phalle, Pari, France

2001

"Sandro Chia", Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, France
Magazzini D’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy

2000
Galleria Civica D'Arte Contemporanea, Trento, Italy
Museo di Ravenna, Italy
Velge e Noirhomme, Brussels, Belgium

1999

Tony Shafrazzi Gallery, New York, USA
Magazzino D'Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy

1998

Pepperdine University, Weismann Foundation, Malibu, California, USA
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Lutz Gallery, Germany

1997
"Sandro Chia: opere scelte 1975-1996", Magazzini del Sale Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy
Galeria Civica, Siena , Italy
Palazzo Sforzesco, Milan, Italy
M.O.M.A., Boca Raton, Florida, USA
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Germany
Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"Sandro Chia", Arengario di Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy

1996
"Sandro Chia: New Paintings", Sidney, Australia
Janis Gallery, New York, USA
"Sandro Chia: Recent work", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France

1995
"Elektra", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Germany
"Sandro Chia", Academie de France, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy

1994
"Sandro Chia: Small Bronze Sculptures", Grand Salon, New York, USA
"Sandro Chia: Neo Paintings", 65 Thompson Street, New York, USA
"Sandro Chia", Waddington Galleries, London, UK

1993
"Sandro Chia", Espace des Arts, Chalon sur Saône, France
Desert Museum of Art, Palm Springs, USA
Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Larry Gagosian/Leo Castelli, New York, USA

1992
Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany
"Retrospective", Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
"Works on Paper", Galerie Hilger, Vienna, Austria

1991
"Dipinti, Disegni, sculture", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Germany
"Sandro Chia. Dipinti e titoli recenti", Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy
"Works on Paper", Kunstverein Sundern, Sundern

1990
Sabine Wachters Deurle Fine Arts, Deurle
Yoshimitsu Hijikata Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
Fondazione Mudima, Milan, Italy
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France

1989
"Novanta spine al vento", Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, Austria
ICC, Antwerp
Museo della Biennale, Venice, Italy
Museum Schloss Rheda, Wiedenbrück
Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico
Museum of Moterrey, Moterrey, Mexico
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Germany
ACeT Corporation, Tokyo, Japan
Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
Yoshimitsu Hijikata Gallery, Nagoya, Japan

1988
"Sandro Chia Oeuvres recents", Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
"Sandro Chia", former church of San Nicolò, XXI Festival dei Due Mondi, Spoleto, Italy
Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA

1987
"Five Poems for Five Works on Paper and One Sculpture", Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Mario Diacono, Boston, USA
Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, Italy
Fischer Fine Art, London, UK

1986
Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany

1985
Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich, Switzerland
Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Germany

1984
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany
"Sandro Chia Peintures 1976-1983", Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt
The Mezzanine Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Kunstverein für Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Schellmann und Klüser, Munich, Germany
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Sima, Venice, Italy
Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg, Germany
James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
"Venator Intrepidus", Galleria Mazzoli, Modena, Italy

1983-84
"Sandro Chia Bilder, 1973-1983", Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany

1983
"Sandro Chia", Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland
Mario Diacono, Rome, Italy
"Sandro Chia. Disegni, acquarelli, pastelli, tempere", Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy
Leo Castelli, New York, USA
Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
Natalie Seroussi, Paris, France
Gallery Five, Stockholm, Sweden
Galerie Silvia Menzel, Berlin, Germany
"Sandro Chia, Mönchengladbach Journal", Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach

1982
The James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Sperone Westwater, New York, USA

1981
"Sandro Chia", Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich, Switerland
Anthony d'Offay, London, UK

1980
"Sandro Chia", Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
Art e Project, Amsterdam, Holland
Paul Maenz, Cologne, Germany

1979
Mario Diacono, Bologna, Italy
Paul Maenz, Cologne, Germany
"Adulti non lasciatevi orinare in faccia dai più piccoli", Framart Studio, Naples, Italy
Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, Italy

1978
"Intorno a sé", Galleria Giuliana De Crescenzo, Rome, Italy
"Per organi", Paul Maenz, Cologne, Germany
Galleria dell'Oca, Rome, Italy
Studio Antonio Tucci Russo, Turin, Italy

1977
Galleria Fiorino, Genoa, Italy
Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, Italy
"Pupa. Preliminari per una mostra a Roma", Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy

1976
"Sandro Chia", Studio Antonio Tucci Russo, Turin, Italy
"Due monelli guardano nell'imo un limone", Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy
"Ometto quando ti sentirai a tuo agio visto che sei a casa tua", Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy

1975
"Graziosa Girevole", Galleria Lucrezia Domizio, Pescara, Italy

1974
"L'opera descrivibile", Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy

1973
"Autoritratto(with Notargiacomo)", Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy

1972
"Copia", Galleria La Salita, Rom, Italy

1971
"L'ombra e il suo doppio", Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy
https://hisour.com/artist/sandro-chia/