Natale Addamiano Biography

In 1968, Addamiano moved to Milan to enroll in the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera where he graduated in painting in 1972. In 1971, he held his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Solferino (Milan) where he exhibited thirty paintings from the series Diari Notturni ("Nocturnal Diaries"). This exhibition was documented in a catalogue by Giorgio Seveso. In 1972, Addamiano exhibited at the Galleria A-Dieci (Padua) and, in 1973, a solo exhibition with his large paintings was installed at the Galleria La Bussola (Bari). In 1974, Addamiano exhibited at the Galleria Il Modulo (Francavilla a Mare). That same year, Pietro Marino invited him to XXV Premio Michetti and the collective exhibition Immaginazione e Realtà, at the Pinacoteca Provinciale, in Bari. From 1976 to 2007, Addamiano was a professor of Painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, and in those years he launched a collaboration with the printing house La Spirale (Milan), realizing a series of lithographs, engravings and etchings. From 1977 onward, Addamiano has unceasingly devoted himself to the study of en plein air. This dedication to natural light has strengthened and reinvigorated Addamiano's painting, giving it an expressive power and the vibrant touch of a new and living Mediterranean light. In 1978, a solo Addamiano exhibition was hosted at the Galleria Cocorocchia spaces (Milan), and a catalogue with text by Roberto Sanesi was published for the occasion. Afterword, Sanesi invited Addamiano to the exhibition Astrazione del Paesaggio in the spacious rooms of the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino. In 1983, Addamiano exhibited a nucleus of engravings at Palazzo Sormani in Milan. During that occasion, Addamiano met the gallerist Kayoko Shimada. From that moment onward, Kayoko has become Addamiano's point of reference in Japan; this has led to solo exhibitions in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Niigata. In the 1990s, Addamiano participated in numerous exhibitions and awards, including the VI Triennale dell'Incisione at Milan's Palazzo della Permanente (1991) and the XXXII Biennale di Milano (1994). This period saw the organization of important solo and collective exhibitions, including the 1993 exhibition at the Villa Cattaneo in San Quirino, with an accompanying catalogue curated by Angelo Bertani, and a 1994 exhibition curated by Daniela Palazzoli at the Galleria D'arte Moderna di Gallarate dedicated to the Masters of Brera. In 2001, several of Addamiano's works were exhibited in the halls of the Museo Fondazione Pino Pascali, in Polignano a Mare, in occasion of the exhibition Il segno grafico. In the successive years, other anthological exhibitions were installed at Krakow's Italian Cultural Institute, with a catalogue containing text by Flaminio Gualdoni (2004), and at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Paestum, accompanied by a publication with text by Luca Beatrice (2005), where Addamiano's entire creative process is documented. In 2008, the town Molfetta dedicated a solo exhibition to Addamiano at the Torrione Passari, with works from the series La Gravina (works based on a town in Addamiano's native Puglia region), realized between 1978 and 2005. These works were documented in the edited catalogue with text by Piero Boccuzzi. Also in 2008, an ample exhibition dedicated to the theme Notturno Italiano ("Italian Night") was installed at the Casa del Pane's spaces, Milan, and documented by a catalogue with text by Giorgio Seveso. In 2009, at the Accademia di Brera, Claudio Cerritelli curated an exhibition that was centered on Addamiano's works on paper realized between 1970 and 2008. In 2010, the artist introduced a new cycle of paintings, the Cieli Stellati ("Starry Skies"), at his Cieli e Gravine exhibition at Milan's Dep Art Gallery. Flaminio Gualdoni wrote the critical text for the exhibition and afterword Dep Art Gallery exclusively presented this new series at fairs in Amsterdam, Verona, Bologna and New York. The year 2016 included the solo exhibitions Notti Stellate, curated by Leonardo Conti at the Galleria PoliArt, and Caratteri Celesti curated by Gianluca Ranzi at the Palazzo della Permanente. That same year saw the presentation of the full-bodied monographic volume dedicated to Cieli Stellati, curated by Flaminio Gualdoni, realized by the Dep Art Gallery, which, at its location, brought to life a General Archive of the artist's works. In 2018, Addamiano is the protagonist of the exhibition entitled Addamiano. Una pittura che racconta la luce in the Gallerie del Chiostro del Bramante. This is the artist's first solo Roman exhibition, curated by Matteo Galbiati and accompanied by an updated monograph edited by Skira.