Nino Caruso Biography
Nino Caruso was born in Tripoli in 1928 and was an Italian ceramist, sculptor and designer. He spent his childhood in Tripoli and continued his school education first in Ferrara and then in Sicily, in Comiso, where he was reunited with his mother. At sixteen he interrupted his studies for economic reasons and entered the world of work, first at a local oil mill and then as a mechanical turner in an automobile factory in Tripoli, where he returned in 1947.
Here he actively participated in the fight for Libyan independence, but its political implications caused his expulsion and return to Italy. In 1951 he arrived in Rome, where he was introduced by Salvatore Meli to his ceramic workshop in Villa Massimo. In 1955 he opened a small studio in Rome in which to create and sell his works.
His exhibition career began with numerous participations in the main contemporary ceramic exhibitions such as the Faenza National Ceramics Competition and the Gubbio Ceramic Art Biennale, where in 1960 he obtained an important second prize ex aequo. In the first part of the 1960s, the artist began to be interested in other materials such as wood and especially metal.
In the second half of the 1960s, the artist decided to study the expressive possibilities deriving from the iteration of certain shapes obtained from small series production, creating modular elements to be used as components for partition walls, wall coverings or decorative accessories. furniture. In 1970 he began teaching ceramic design at the Art Institute of Rome and began holding seminars and workshops all over the world, spreading his experiments and acquiring specific knowledge thanks to contact with other cultures related to ceramics.
At the end of the 1990s, the artist abandoned the casting technique and began modeling clay again, giving life to unusual shapes with new chromatic tones and suggestive nuances obtained thanks to the control of the cooking fire. Caruso is the author of seminars and workshops in universities in the United States, Europe and Japan and his works can be found in museums, public and private collections throughout the world. His sculptures also characterize the street furniture of numerous cities, such as Torgiano, where a museum dedicated to him was inaugurated and there are several permanent open air works.
