Elvio Mainardi Biography
Elvio Mainardi was born in 1934 in Adria (RO). He lives and works in Bormio (SO). The underlying theme of Mainardi's pictorial research is light, understood as energy, as a propulsive force that moves, modifies and gives rise to unexpected shapes and superpositions, giving rise to a harmonious dynamism of shapes and colours. At a very young age, he exhibited his first works in his hometown, actively participating in the Adriese Artistic Club, of which he was a founding member. He completed his artistic studies first in Venice and then in Bologna, where he lived for more than twenty years. In 1973 he moved to Bormio, in the upper Valtellina, where silence and uncontaminated nature allowed him to rediscover his deepest intimacy of thought. Between 1970 and 1980 he participated in numerous national and international competitions and exhibited in the major Italian cities. In 1985 he created three posters for the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in Bormio which still today remain a symbol of the return of figuration in sports posters. Numerous works were subsequently commissioned from him by the world of sport. Since 1986 he began to exhibit regularly in the United States, first in Chicago, then in California, in Carmel, San Diego, Los Angeles, La Jolla and more recently in Palm Desert. Of particular note is the anthological exhibition at the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles in 1996 and the exhibition held in 2008 in his hometown, at the Franceschetti Foundation.
