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.

PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS

2024

  • Festina Lente, Carving Art Museum, HuiAn, China.

  • Sognatrice, Librino, Catania, Italy.

2022

  • SOL, Soliera, Modena, Italy.

2021

  • Grande Hermes, Petrone Group headquarters, Naples, Italy.

  • Flowers of Qatar, Katara Cultural Village, Doha, Qatar.

2020

  • Just now Forever, “Beyond the Shadows” exhibition, Chimei Museum, Tainan, Taiwan.

  • Light on Stone, Shrine of the martyrs of the Carnaio massacre, San Piero a Bagno, Italy.

2019

  • Studio Trisorio, Naples, Italy.

2015

  • 1 x l’altro, L’Aquila, Italy.

2014

  • Great Dreamer, Piazza S.Maria al Castello, Prato, Italy.

2011

  • Liceo Bafile, L’Aquila, Italy.

  • AMA, Piazza del Duomo, L’Aquila, Italy.

2008

  • Das Nochmal, St.Angela, Bornheim Hersel, Bonn, Germany.

2007

  • Lûs, Colonos Cultural Centre, Villacaccia di Lestizza, Udine, Italy.

  • Duetto, Solar installation, Sannomya Tower, Kobe, Japan.

2006

  • Grande Volante, Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium.

2004

  • Micat in Summit, Villa Medicea La Màgia, Quarrata, Italy.

2000

  • SAinT, Church of Saint Andrea in Tontoli, Prato, Italy.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025

  • Through the Void, Al-Tiba9 Gallery, Barcelona, Spain.

2022

  • It was a dark and bright night, Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna, Rimini, Italy.

2019

  • Studio Trisorio Gallery, Naples, Italy.

  • ME Vannucci Gallery, Pistoia, Italy.

2017

  • Attention! Rapidly moving sculpture, Galleria Studio G7, Bologna, Italy.

  • Monads and Menads, Spazioborgogno, Milan, Italy.

2016

  • Speed of light, Ana Serratosa Gallery – Art, Valencia, Spain.

  • Luce fra luci, from the City Museum, City Museum, Rimini, Italy.

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

  • Flechas de sombra, Italian Cultural Institute, Madrid, Spain.

2015

  • Casting light, Sharjah Art Museum, on the occasion of the 18th Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

2014

  • Between the Infinite and the Sneeze, Annamarra Contemporanea Gallery, Rome, Italy.

2013

  • Foreshadow, Artiscope Galleries, Brussels, Belgium.

2012

  • Piazza dei Miracoli, C2 – Contemporanea 2, Florence, Italy.

  • JETZT Archäologische Schatten, Archäologisches Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

  • Rayon d’Ombre, EACAM (The André Malraux Contemporary Art Space), Colmar, France.

2011

  • Ana Serratosa Gallery – Art, Valencia, Spain.

2010

  • Galerie an der Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany.

2007

  • The Enigmistics of Vision, Galleria Studio G7, Bologna, Italy.

  • Mssohkan Gallery, Kobe, Japan.

  • Von Bartha Gallery, S-chanf, Engadine Valley, Switzerland.

2005

  • Limonaia di Ponente, Villa Medicea La Màgia, Quarrata, Pistoa, Italy.

  • Studio Trisorio Gallery, Naples, Italy.

2004

  • Studio Trisorio Gallery Rome, Rome, Italy.

2003

  • Artiscope Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.

  • Already VIA NUOVA for Contemporary Art, Florence, Italy.

  • EST!EST!!EST!!!, Yokohama Portside Gallery, Yokohama, Japan.

2002

  • Instable Compound, Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna, Italy.

  • Studio Trisorio Gallery, Naples, Italy.

2001

  • Dreamers across Japan, CAI Gallery, Sapporo, Japan.

  • Glows in Kobe, Headquarters of the Shushinkan, creation of the permanent external luminous installation “Shadow project in Kobe”, Japan.

  • I see and I Don’t See, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo Japan.

2000

  • Light, Gallery Hotel Art, Florence, Italy.

  • Ex-convent San Maria, Gonzaga, Italy.

  • Mssohkan Gallery, Kobe, Japan.

1999

  • Projects, ISU Bocconi, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy.

  • Gallery Camera Obscura, San Casciano dei Bagni, Italy.

1998

  • Zefir or the Corner of the Eye, Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna, Italy.

1996

  • Palazzo Visconti, Milan, Italy.

  • Domestic Cosmos, Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim, Neuenhaus, Germany.

1994

  • Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna.

1992

  • CC Gallery, Graz, Austria.

1991

  • Studio G7 Gallery, Bologna.

1990

  • Jade Gallery, Colmar, France.

1988

  • Bahnwärterhaus, Villa Merkel, Esslingen am Neckar, Germany.

1987

  • Vivita II Gallery, Florence, Italy.

1986

  • Salone Villa Romana, Florence, Italy.

1985

  • Vivita Gallery, Florence, Italy.

1982

  • Schema Gallery, Florence, Italy.

  • Stevens Gallery, Padua, Italy.

1980

  • Primo Piano Gallery, Rome, Italy.

  • ZONA, Florence, Italy.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023

  • 10th Anniversary Show, Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Gallery, Barcelona, Spain.

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

2022

  • Animals at Court. Lives never seen in the Royal Gardens, Sabauda Gallery, Turin, Italy.

  • Personal Landscapes, ME Vannucci Gallery, Pistoia, Italy.

  • Fiat Lux, Palazzo Fava, Bologna, Italy.

2019

  • Ephemera – Εφήμερα, White space black box, Neuchatel, Switzerland.

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, Italy.

  • The Luminous Substance of the Intangible, Aria Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey.

2017

  • From the Cave to the Moon - Journey inside the Centro Pecci Collection, Centro Pecci, Prato, Italy.

  • My Way, MAMbo (Museum of Modern Art of Bologna), Bologna, Italy.

  • Al -Tiba9 – 5th Edition, Pompeu Fabra, Campus de la Ciutadella, Barcelona, Spain.

2016

  • The Light in Between, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute, Taipei, Taiwan.

2014

  • Mehr Licht, Palazzo Bevilacqua Ariosti, Bologna, Italy

  • Skin of Light, installation on the occasion of the inauguration of the Museum of Palazzo Pretorio, Prato, Italy.

2013

  • Cadavre Exquis, Suite Méditerranéenne, Granet Museum, Aix-en-Provence, France.

  • White & White, in the Dialogue Between Korea and Italy, Carlo Bilotti Museum, Arancera di Villa Borghese, Rome, Italy.

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

2012

  • Arcadia in Celle: Fondation Maeght presents the Gori Collection – L’art pour la Nature, la Nature pour L’art, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France.

2011

  • 5 × 25, La Nuova Pesa Gallery, Rome, Italy.

  • Augenblick, solar installation, Targetti Factory, organized by the Luigi Pecci Center for Contemporary Art, Prato, Italy.

2010

  • Springs of White, Museum of Art Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.

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

  • Terna Award 03, Temple of Hadrian, Rome, Italy.

2009

  • Flower Power, Villa Giulia, Verbania, Italy.

  • Springs of White, Art and Cultural Center, Bangkok, India.

2008

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

  • Italian Genius Now:

    • Italian Cultural Institute, Tokyo, Japan.

    • Travencore House, New Delhi, India.

    • MACRO (Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome), Rome, Italy.

2007

  • The Shadow, Compton Verney, Stratford upon Avon, England.

2006

  • Sweet Dreams are Made of This, Patrizia Pepe headquarters, Prato, Italy.

  • Light and Shadow, Galerie Von Bartha, Basel, Switzerland.

  • Of Shadow, Palazzo delle Papesse, Siena, Italy.

  • Of Shadow, MAN Museum - Art Museum of the Province of Nuoro, Nuoro, Italy.

  • Light On, Galerie Artiscope, Brussels, Belgium.

2005

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

2004

  • Regards, Artiscope Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.

2003

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

  • Conjugations 4, Church of San Paolo, Modena, Italy.

  • Ambient light installation inside the Roman Cisterns, Todi, Perugia, Italy.

2002

  • Continuity, Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art, Prato, Italy.

  • Sounds and Visions, Roman theatre of Cassino, Frosinone, Italy.

  • Jaume Plensa – Fabrizio Corneli, Villa Vogel, Florence, Italy.

  • Magic Lantern installation, Elec 2002, Parc d’Exposition, Paris, France.

2001

  • The Adventure of Matter from Futurism to Lasers, Kunstforum Grundkreditbank, Berlin, Germany.

2000

  • Twinlights, installation at the Circus Maximus, Rome, Italy.

  • From Futurism to Laser. The Italian Adventure of Matter, Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, Spain.

1999

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

  • Sélest’art, Biennale d’Art contemporain, permanent installation at Choeur de l’Église Sainte-Foy, Selestat, France.

1998

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

  • New Contaminations, Church of Saint Francesco, Udine, Italy.

  • Assoli, Villa Bottini, Lucca, Italy.

1997

  • Italian Art - Anomalous Materials, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Bologna.

  • 5 Ans d’Acquisition, Fonds Regional d’Art Aontemporain d’Alsace, Selestat France.

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

  • Oscar, La Nuova Pesa Gallery, Rome, Italy.

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

1996

  • XII Quadrennial – Last Generations, Termini Station, Ala Mazzoniana, Rome, Italy.

1995

  • Behold the World, Prisons of the Holy Office, Spoleto, Perugia, Italy.

  • The Stone and the Iron, Ozieri, Sardinia, Italy.

1992

  • Cadencias-Figures of Italian Art from the 1990s, Sofìa Imber Contemporary Art Museum, Caracas, Venezuela.

1991

  • Controcanto, Barnabó Art Studio, Venice.

1988

  • Dionysian Geometries, Rotonda della Besana, Milan, Italy.

  • 11 Artists at Villa Domenica, Villa Domenica, Lancenigo, Treviso, Italy.

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

  • Large Extrusion, permanent installation, Fattoria di Celle, Santomato, Pistoia, Italy.

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

  • Villa Romana Florenz, Villa Merkel, Esslingen am Neckar, Germany.

1986

  • XI Quadrennial, EUR Congress Palace, Rome, Italy.

  • Artoday, Maryland Institute, Baltimore, USA.

  • Young Italian Art, PAC, Milan, Italy.

1984

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

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

1981

  • Lines of Artistic Research in Italy 1960/1980, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy.

1979

  • The alternatives of the new:

    • Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy.

    • Museo Progressivo, Livorno, Italy.

    • Pavilion of Contemporary Art, Ferrara, Italy.

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

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