Fabrizio Corneli

Born in Florence (1958), lives and works in Florence.

Fabrizio Corneli, an artist renowned for his mastery of light and shadow, was born in Florence, Italy, where he developed an early fascination with the interplay between light and form. A graduate of fine arts, Corneli’s expressive language is deeply rooted in the transformative power of light, artificial aswell as sunlight, employing it as both medium and subject in his artistic practice. Corneli’s work explores the dynamic relationship between light, shadow, and space, using surprising effects of refraction, decomposition, and anamorphosis to immerse viewers in purely perceptual experiences. His intricate geometries and structures create shadow-based sculptures and installations that blur the boundaries between science, mathematics, and art. These works, inspired by classical statuary or elements of nature, emerge as unpredictable revelations, encouraging viewers to interact with their shifting forms through movement and perspective.

From intimate pieces to monumental public works, Corneli’s installations lean on light to create the image, crafting spaces where perception and the ephemeral nature of light continuously reshape the artwork. With exhibitions across Europe and beyond, Corneli’s innovative approach has positioned him as a leading figure in contemporary art. His practice serves as a poetic meditation on dualities -light and shadow-, permanence and impermanence, structure and fluidity Corneli’s creations are more than art objects; they are invitations to experience the poetic interplay of permanence and impermanence, as well as the unexpected beauty hidden within the dialogue of light and shadow, revealing the profound beauty within these contrasts.

EXHIBITIONS & PERMANANT INSTALLATIONS

1979

  • “The alternatives of the new“ Palazzo delle Esposizioni,

  • Rome, Museo Progressivo, Livorno, Pavilion of Contemporary Art, Ferrara.

  • “The shadow“, Casa del Mantegna, Mantua.

1980

  • Personal exhibition at the Primo Piano Gallery, Rome. Personal exhibition, ZONA, Florence.

1981

  • “Lines of artistic research in Italy 1960/1980“, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome.

1982

  • Personal exhibition at Schema Gallery, Florence. Personal exhibition Stevens Gallery, Padua.

1984

  • “Three-dimensional“, Municipal Gallery of Contemporary Art, Termoli.

  • “Quadrivio“, Hall of Arms of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

1985

  • Personal exhibition Vivita Gallery, Florence.

1986

  • Personal exhibition Salone Villa Romana, Florence.

  • “XI Quadrennial“, EUR Congress Palace, Rome. “Artoday“, Maryland Institute, Baltimore, (USA).

  • “Young Italian art“, PAC, Milan.

1987

  • Personal exhibition Vivita II Gallery, Florence.

1988

  • Solo exhibition Bahnwärterhaus, Villa Merkel, Esslingen am Neckar, (Germany).

  • “Dionysian geometries”, Rotonda della Besana, Milan.

  • “11 artists at Villa Domenica“, Villa Domenica, Lancenigo, Treviso.

  • “2+2+2“, Carrefour des Regions d’Europe, Rennes, (France).

  • “Large extrusion” permanent installation, Fattoria di Celle, Santomato (PT).

  • “Acquisitions 1988“, Gallery of Modern Art, Bologna.

  • “Villa Romana Florenz“, Villa Merkel, Esslingen am Neckar, (Germany).

1990

  • Personal exhibition Jade Gallery, Colmar (France).

1991

  • Personal exhibition Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna. “Controcanto“, Barnabó Art Studio, Venice.

1992

  • Personal exhibition CC Gallery, Graz (Austria). “Cadencias-Figures of Italian art from the 1990s” , Sofìa Imber Contemporary Art Museum, Caracas (Venezuela).

1994

  • Personal exhibition Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna.

1995

  • “Behold the world“, Prisons of the Holy Office, Spoleto. “The stone and the iron“, Ozieri.

1996

  • XII Quadrennial – Last generations“ Termini Station, Ala Mazzoniana, Rome.

  • Personal exhibition, Palazzo Visconti, Milan.

  • Personal exhibition “Domestic Cosmos“, Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim, Neuenhaus (Germany).

1997

  • Italian art-anomalous materials“, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Bologna.

  • “5 Ans d’Acquisition“, Fonds Regional d’art contemporain d’Alsace, Selestat (France).

  • “Augenblick“, solar installation, Parkplatz Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Köln (Germany).

  • “Oscar“, Galleria La Nuova Pesa, Rome.

  • “Meridiana”, permanent solar installation Gori Collection – Fattoria di Celle, Santomato, Pistoia.

1998

  • Targetti-Art Light Collection, Crypt of S. Croce, Florence, Mudima Foundation, Milan.

  • “New Contaminations”, Church of S. Francesco, Udine.

  • “Zefir or the corner of the eye” solo exhibition at Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna.

  • “Assoli”, Villa Bottini, Lucca.

1999

  • “Arcadia in Celle – Gori Collection”, Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura / Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo (Japan).

  • “Projects”, personal exhibition, ISU Bocconi, Bocconi University, Milan.

  • “Sélest’art“, Biennale d’Art contemporain, permanent installation at Choeur de l’Église Sainte-Foy, Selestat (France). Personal exhibition Gallery Camera obscura, S.Casciano dei Bagni (SI).

2000

  • “Light“ personal exhibition, Gallery Hotel Art, Florence.

  • “Twinlights” installation at the Circus Maximus, Rome

  • Personal exhibition ex-convent S.Maria, Gonzaga (MN).

  • Solo exhibition, Mssohkan Gallery, Kobe (Japan).

  • “From Futurism to laser. The Italian adventure of matter”, Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona (Spain).

  • Permanent installation “SAinT“, Church of S. Andrea in Tontoli, Prato.

2001

  • “Dreamers across Japan“ solo exhibition,n CAI Gallery, Sapporo (Japan).

  • “The adventure of matter from Futurism to lasers”, Kunstforum Grundkreditbank, Berlin (Germany).

  • Personal exhibition “Glows in Kobe”, headquarters of the Shushinkan and creation of the permanent external luminous installation “Shadow project in Kobe”, (Japan).

  • Personal exhibition “I see and I don’t see”, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo (Japan).

2002

  • Personal exhibition “Instable Compound” Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna.

  • “Continuity”, Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art, Prato. Personal exhibition Studio Trisorio Gallery, Naples.

  • “Sounds and visions” external installation at the Roman theatre of Cassino, (FR).

  • “Jaume Plensa – Fabrizio Corneli” external installation at Villa Vogel, Florence.

  • “Magic Lantern” installation, Elec 2002, Parc d’Exposition, Paris (France).

2003

  • Personal exhibition Artiscope Gallery, Brussels (Belgium).

  • “History and nature. Collecciòn Gori“, IVAM, Center Julio Gonzàles, Valencia (Spain) .

  • Personal exhibition at “already VIA NUOVA for Contemporary Art”, Florence.

  • “Conjugations 4”, Church of San Paolo, Modena.

  • Ambient light installation inside the Roman Cisterns, Todi (PG).

  • “EST!EST!!EST!!!”, personal exhibition Yokohama Portside Gallery, Yokohama (Japan).

2004

  • “Regards”, Artiscope Gallery, Brussels (Belgium). Personal exhibition Studio Trisorio Gallery Rome, Rome.

  • 2005

  • “Expo” of Aichi, Italian pavilion, Nagoya (Japan).

  • Personal exhibition Limonaia di Ponente, Villa Medicea La Màgia, Quarrata (PT).

  • Personal exhibition Studio Trisorio Gallery, Naples.

  • Permanent installation “Micat in summit” at the Villa Medicea La Màgia, Quarrata (PT).

2006

  • “Sweet dreams are made of this”, Patrizia Pepe headquarters, Prato.

  • “Light and shadow”, Galerie Von Bartha, Basel (Switzerland).

  • Permanent installation “Grande Volante“, Anderlecht, Brussels (Belgium).

  • “of shadow”, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena – MAN, Nuoro.

  • “Light on”, Galerie Artiscope, Brussels.

2007

  • “The enigmistics of vision”, solo exhibition, Galleria Studio G7, Bologna. Solo exhibition, Mssohkan Gallery, Kobe (Japan).

  • “The Shadow”, Compton Verney, Stratford upon Avon (England).

  • Permanent installation “Lûs“, Colonos cultural center, Villacaccia di Lestizza (UD).

  • Personal exhibition Von Bartha Gallery, S-chanf, Engadine Valley, (Switzerland).

  • Permanent solar installation “Duetto“, Sannomya Tower, Kobe (Japan).

2008

  • Permanent installation “Das Nochmal” at St.Angela, Bornheim Hersel, Bonn (Germany).

  • “Springs of White”, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi and Rabindranath Tagore Center, Calcutta (India).

  • “Italian Genius Now” various locations including the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo (Japan), Travencore House in New Delhi (India) and the MACRO in Rome.

2009

  • “Flower power”, Villa Giulia, Verbania.

  • “Springs of White”, Art and Cultural Center, Bangkok (India).

2010

  • “Springs of White”, Museum of Art Seoul National University, Seoul (South Korea).

  • Solo exhibition and external installation, Galerie an der Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (Germany).

  • “Italian sculpture of the 21st century”, Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation, Milan.

  • “Terna Award 03”, Temple of Hadrian, Rome.

2011

  • “5 × 25”, La Nuova Pesa Gallery, Rome.

  • Personal exhibition Ana Serratosa Gallery – Art, Valencia (Spain).

  • “Augenblick” solar installation, at the Targetti factory, organized by the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art, Prato.

  • Permanent installation at the Liceo Bafile, L’Aquila. “AMA” installation, at Piazza del Duomo, on the occasion of the RE-Place exhibition, L’Aquila.

2012

  • Personal exhibition “Piazza dei Miracoli”, C2 – Contemporanea 2, Florence.

  • Personal exhibition “JETZT Archäologische Schatten”, Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main (Germany).

  • “Arcadia in Celle: the Fondation Maeght presents the Gori Collection – L’art pour la nature, la nature pour l’art”, Saint-Paul-de-Vence (France).

  • Personal exhibition “Rayon d’Ombre”, Espace d’Art Contemporain André Malraux, Colmar (France).

2013

  • “Cadavre exquis, Suite Méditerranéenne“, Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence, (France).

  • Personal exhibition “Foreshadow”, Artiscope Galleries, Brussels (Belgium).

  • “White & White, in the dialogue between Korea and Italy”, Carlo Bilotti Museum, Arancera di Villa Borghese, Rome.

  • “La route bleue-Périples et beautés de la Méditerranée à la Chiene”, Villa Empain, Fondation Boghossian, Bruxelles (Belgium).

2014

  • “Between the infinite and the sneeze”, personal exhibition, Annamarra Contemporanea Gallery, Rome.

  • “Mehr Licht” installation at Palazzo Bevilacqua Ariosti, Bologna.

  • Permanent installation “Great Dreamer”, Piazza S.Maria al Castello, Prato.

  • “Skin of light”, installation on the occasion of the inauguration of the Museum of Palazzo Pretorio, Prato.

2015

  • Permanent public installation “1 x l’altro”, L’Aquila.

  • “Casting light”, solo exhibition at the Sharjah Art Museum, on the occasion of the 18th Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah, (United Arab Emirates).

2016

  • Personal exhibition “Speed of light”, Ana Serratosa Gallery – Art, Valencia (Spain).

  • Personal exhibition “Luce fra luci, from the City Museum”, City Museum, Rimini.

  • Personal exhibition, Torre degli Zuccaro and Torre di Sant’Alò, on the occasion of Mantua Italian Capital of Culture 2016, Mantua.

  • “Flechas de sombra”, personal exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute, Madrid (Spain).

  • “The Light in Between”, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, Taipei (Taiwan).

2017

  • “From the cave to the moon - Journey inside the Centro Pecci collection”, Centro Pecci, Prato.

  • “My way”, MAMbo, Bologna.

  • “Al -Tiba9 – 5th edition”, Pompeu Fabra, Campus de la Ciutadella, Barcelona (Spain).

  • Personal exhibition “Attention! Rapidly moving sculpture”, Galleria Studio G7, Bologna.

  • Personal exhibition “Monads and Menads”, Spazioborgogno, Milan.

2018

  • “Black mirror”, Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Salzburg (Austria).

  • “Breathing at the Royal Palace of Caserta”, installation at the monumental staircase of the Royal Palace of Caserta, Caserta.

  • “The luminous substance of the intangible”, Aria Art Gallery, Istanbul (Turkey).

2019

  • Personal exhibition, Studio Trisorio Gallery, Naples.

  • Personal exhibition, ME Vannucci Gallery, Pistoia. “Ephemera – Εφήμερα”, White space black box, Neuchatel (Switzerland).

2020

  • Permanent installation “Just now Forever” on the occasion of the “Beyond the Shadows” exhibition in the park oof the Chimei Museum, Tainan (Taiwan).

  • Permanent installation “Light on stone”, Shrine of the martyrs of the Carnaio massacre, San Piero a Bagno (FC).

2021

  • Permanent installation “Grande Hermes”, at the new Petrone Group headquarters, Naples.

  • Permanent public installation “Flowers of Qatar” at the Katara Cultural Village, Doha (Qatar).

2022

  • “Animals at court. Lives never seen in the Royal Gardens”, Galleria Sabauda, Turin.

  • Permanent installation “SOL”, Soliera, Modena.

  • “Personal landscapes”, ME Vannucci Gallery, Pistoia.

  • “Fiat Lux”, Palazzo Fava, Bologna.

  • Personal exhibition “It was a dark and bright night” in the streets of the historic center of Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna, Rimini. Winner of the competition for the redevelopment of the contemporary “Fiumara d’Arte”, University of Messina.

2023

  • “10th Anniversary Show”, Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Gallery, Barcelona (Spain).

  • “Industrial Art Exhibition”, Dhahran Expo, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.