Alf Gaudenzi Biography
Alfredo Gaudenzi was born in Genoa in 1908, in 1926 he began to dedicate himself to painting, then exhibiting at the Genoese Promotrice of the same year and making his debut as a journalist on the humorous weekly "Pasquino". After moving to Turin he came into contact with the Turin Futurist Group; in 1927 in Turin he exhibited at the first art exhibition and at the Poetry Exhibition at the Novatore; in Milan he participates in Thirty-four futurist painters at the Pesaro Gallery; Furthermore, the meeting with Marinetti, who christened him "Alf", dates back to this era. In 1928 Gaudenzi collaborated in setting up the stands of various fairs and participated in the creation of the Futurist Pavilion at the Turin International Exhibition and the XVI Venice Biennale.
In 1929, having moved to Rome, he collaborated with some magazines with writings and illustrations; he comes into contact with Bontempelli and Gallian and Ghelardini directs the weekly "2000" and the theater of the same name. The first contacts with Tullio d'Albisola and the beginning of the collaboration with the Mazzotti factory also date back to the same year. From that moment on, Alf dedicated himself almost exclusively to ceramics. In 1930, in Genoa he created the Sintesi Group; in 1931 he organized the group's first exhibition and the aeropittura exhibition in Genoa, exhibiting his own works; as a set designer, he collaborates with the Teatro di Fantasia in Turin; he presents futurist paintings at the II Sindacale Genova and at the Pesaro Gallery in Milan, ceramics at the Futurist exhibition in Chiavare and in Florence. In 1933 he was at the futurist exhibitions in Florence, Mantua, Milan, Livorno; holds a column on architecture and futurism on “Riviere d'Arte Mondanità Turismo”. In 1934 he had a solo show in Sanremo with Gambetti; in Genoa he took part in the 1st Mural Plastic Exhibition, where he was awarded a silver medal and in the Futurist Sacred Art Exhibition. In 1935 he appeared among the collaborators of Tullio d'Albisola at the Galerie Bernheim Jeune in Paris.
His artistic activity, which thinned out in the second half of the 1930s and during the war years, resumed later, in parallel with his journalistic and exhibition activity. In the Sixties, with his wife Piera, he created the Il Vicolo Art Gallery. Having fallen ill, he did not exhibit for a long time until 1975, the year in which he held a solo exhibition of his terracottas, collages and cardboard figures in his own gallery.
Alf Gaudenzi died in Genoa in 1980.
