By Simone Bandini
Andrea Roggi was born on July 2nd 1962 in Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany. In his teenage years the artist began to cultivate some of his many interests, including painting and poetry, until he gradually focused on sculpture. He attended for a short period of time the studio of Enzo Scatragli — a fellow artist and himself a native son of Castiglion Fiorentino — to expand his knowledge of sculptural techniques. The event that marked a true artistic turning point in his life came when he visited Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, where he was literally spellbound by the strong plastic effect of The Trinity, a fresco by Renaissance painter and countryman Masaccio.
In 1991 he set up the art workshop La Scultura di Andrea Roggi, where he has been crafting his sculptures from start to finish and, with the help of his assistants, he manages to create large-sized yet finely detailed pieces. Bronze is the material he chose, which he puts through the lost-wax casting process to finally transform the clay models into masterpieces.
In 2017, fascinated by the imposing quarries that surround the town of Pietrasanta, the artist began to dedicate himself to the creation of artworks in marble.
Since 2020 Roggi creates sculptures in stainless steel as well.
In the late 90s he became the initiator of the Art for Young movement, aimed at awakening an appreciation of art and all art forms in young people. The movement has culminated with the inauguration of the Parco della Creatività, its crowning achievement. Since 2000, Roggi has been pursuing a fruitful collaboration with the University of Georgia, based in Cortona, and with the University of Texas, based in Castiglion Fiorentino, where he holds workshops and courses on sculptural techniques. In the early 2000s, he became fascinated with one of the most prominent intellectual figures in Tuscany, Pier Francesco Greci, especially with his theories about the art of Piero della Francesca.
Roggi has produced a number of public artworks located in Italy — mostly in Tuscany and Umbria — and abroad. His works are featured in many art collections around the world and he has participated in various national and international exhibitions held at major venues such as the Olympia Grand Hall in London, the Ahoy in Rotterdam, the Grand Palais in Paris, the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Fukuoka Oishi Gallery and Fukuoka City Museum in Japan and the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Center in Shanghai.
In 2018 the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Association held a Gala in Monte Carlo – to mark its 50th anniversary – during which Mr. Roggi’s artworks were awarded to Prince Albert II of Monaco, to Alessandro Benetton and to Harry Benson; a sculpture by Roggi was also donated to the charity auction conducted by Christie’s.
On the occasion of the 78th Venice Biennale International Film Festival, the world premiere of the movie American Night, by Alessio Della Valle, was held at the Campari Boat-in Cinema – an exclusive event organised at the Venice Arsenal – on the 9th of September 2021. The sculpture Le nostre Radici per un nuovo Futuro created by Maestro Roggi appears in one of the main scenes of the movie and was also presented during the event, as a part of the art exhibition set up at the Arsenal.
In September 2021 the bronze work Albero della Pace was installed in front of the Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence, next to the Uffizi Galleries, in memory of the victims of the massacre that took place there in 1993 and it was inaugurated in the presence of the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, and of the institutional representatives of the city.
In 2023 Roggi created unique and exclusively designed works of art such as awards for the 2023 UEFA FootbALL prize-giving ceremony; one of his creations was also awarded to Italian physicist and inventor Federico Faggin.
Finally, we remember the flourishing collaboration between the Castiglionese artist and the internationally renowned jewelry designer Martin Katz – in the admirable aesthetic and eschatological synthesis of the sculpture “Energy of Life”. The work was recently exhibited in Florence, at the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio and will continue its journey in Venice, from December 21 to January 6, at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in an exhibition curated by Rina dal Canton-
In the latest years, particularly noteworthy are the exhibitions:
- The Circle of Life, 1st of May – 30th of September 2018, widespread solo exhibition in Tuscany, Umbria and Basilicata (Forte dei Marmi, Pietrasanta, Castelfalfi, Casole d’Elsa, Cortona, Assisi, Spello and Matera).
- Terra Mater | Earth and Heaven, 20th of May – 30th of September 2019, anthological solo exhibit in Lucca and Pietrasanta (Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, Real Collegio, Le Mura, Baluardo di San Frediano in Lucca and Piazzetta del Teatro in Pietrasanta).
- Resurrectio | Tributo ai monti pisani, 12th April – 8th November 2019, solo exhibit Pisa (Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and MACC | Meeting Art Craft Center).
- Terra Mater | Earth and Heaven, 1st of June – 31st of August 2020, anthological solo exhibit in Forte dei Marmi (Piazza Dante, Via Carducci, Via Mazzini and Via IV Novembre).
- Terra Mater | Earth and Heaven, 18th of December 2020 – 21st of September 2021, anthological solo exhibit in Siena (Belvedere, Piazza San Domenico, Vicolo Campaccio, Via Pianigiani, Piazza Tolomei, Logge della Mercanzia, Piazza del Campo, Piazza Duomo and Magazzini del Sale).
- Terra Mater | Earth and Heaven, 23rd of September – 21st of November 2021, anthological solo exhibit in Cortona (Piazza della Repubblica, Piazza del Duomo, Giardini pubblici Parterre).
- Terra Mater | Earth and Heaven, 28th of January – 22nd of August 2022, anthological solo exhibit in Vicenza (Piazza dei Signori, Basilica Palladiana, Loggia del Capitaniato, Piazza delle Erbe, Piazzale Alcide De Gasperi e Piazza San Lorenzo).
- Terra Mater | Earth and Heaven, 15th of May – 27th of November 2022, anthological solo exhibit in Venice (Ravagnan Gallery in Dorsoduro and Piazza San Marco, Sina Centurion Palace, Teatro Stabile del Veneto “Carlo Goldoni”, Tenuta di Venissa in Mazzorbo).
- Mirabilia Naturae | Oltre il buio, 18th of June 2022 – 18th of March 2023, collective exhibit in Stra, province of Venice, together with Achille Costi and Toni Benetton (Villa Pisani and Villa Loredan).
- Terra Mater | Earth and Heaven, 21st of September 2022 – 15th of April 2023, anthological solo exhibit in Matera (Sassi di Matera, Chiesa del Purgatorio).
- Res Sacrae | Human and Divine, 8th of December 2022 – 11th of April 2023, solo exhibit in Viareggio (Lungomare di Viareggio, Molo della Madonnina).
- Terra | La nascita dell’opera di Andrea Roggi, 18th of January – 21st of April 2023, solo exhibit in Florence, held at Accademia dei Georgofili.
- Genesys | Il Seme della Rinascita, 9th of May – 12th of June 2023, solo exhibit in Venice, held at Campo San Vio, Ca’ di Dio, Arsenale.
- Hyle | Le Radici del Futuro, 14th of June 2022 – 30th of April 2023, solo exhibit in Asolo.
Info: Strada Provinciale 25 n. 236 A, Manciano, Castiglion Fiorentino (Ar) / Mobile: +39 333 6461405 / Tel.: +39 0575 653401 / E-mail: lasculturadiandrearoggi@gmail.com / Web: www.andrearoggi.it