Pippo Spinoccia Biography
The painter-engraver, Pippo Spinoccia, a long-time artist, "among the most committed in the Italian cultural panorama", was born in Syracuse on 7 January 1928, but for almost 40 years he has lived and worked in Milan and spent summer period on the Ligurian Riviera. After undertaking classical studies, he interrupted them to dedicate himself to the study of music and the piano; later, a student of Ferri and Monica, a friend of A.Romano and V.Lucca, he attended the School of Art of Syracuse ('45 -'49), the Liceo Artistico of Palermo ('49-'51), where he enrolled in the AA.BB. ('51-'55), obtaining the diploma, student of Gino Morici and then becoming his assistant. He completed his artistic training in Syracuse, Palermo, Rome, Salzburg, Munich, where he stayed for long periods. From '56 to '65 he was a set designer at the Piccoli Teatri Stabili in Palermo, Catania 9 Bolzano; in the Palermo years, together with B.Caruso, A.Pecoraino, G.Baragli, he participated in the cultural and artistic debate of the city. From '61-'62, having attended the lithography course directed by Soucek (Austria), he dedicated himself to graphic art. From '56 to '64 he was a decoration assistant at the AA.BB. of Palermo; then he taught drawing at the Scuola Superiore degli Artifici in Brera-Milan. Friend of Sciascia and Bufalino, rebours painter, he is known for the minimalist impulse of his works which seek the roots of form and images; first solo exhibition at the "La Fontanina" gallery (Sr,'55,'63), the most recent at the Satura gallery (Genoa,'01).
