Dante Bighi Biography
Dante Bighi was born in Copparo in 1926. He studied at the Liceo Artistico of Bologna and the ISA, Adolfo Venturi State Art Institute of Modena. Subsequently, he enrolled in the Faculty of Architecture in Venice, but did not graduate. In 1955, he moved to Varese to work as an advertising graphic designer for the SIC Mazzucchelli Celluloid group, a plastics manufacturing company. In 1958, his first works appeared in two periodicals specialized in the advertising sector, and in the same year he won the gold medal at the National Advertising Award. In 1960 he moved to Milan where he founded his "graphic and technical consultancy studio" and actively participated in Milanese culture, obtaining excellent results in the "Milan school". In the early Sixties he attended the Galleria Apollinare, collaborating with the director Guido Le Noci and meeting Pierre Restany. In 1964 he created his first editorial project, "Tripraxis", followed by a series of one-of-a-kind "artistic publications": photographic books, characterized by unusual formats and enclosed in multi-material covers called "object-books". Bighi created these books after having made numerous trips around the world to discover the cultures and spiritualities of distant peoples, often in the company of his friend Pierre Restany. In 1974, the two planned a trip to the southern hemisphere in the company of 20 European and American artists with the aim of producing a 'Travel Diary' made up of works of art created during the journeys or during stops at various stages. In 1989, Bighi donated his private collection of contemporary works of art to the Municipality of Copparo, and in 1994 he also donated his Villa in Copparo, with everything it contains, from furniture to works, from the library to accessories. His only request was that the Villa be used as a place for cultural and intellectual growth. Dante Bighi died on May 18, 1994.
