Tommaso Cascella (Rome, 1951) is an Italian painter, sculptor, and art publisher, from a family that has played an important role in visual culture for generations. The son of sculptor Pietro Cascella and painter Annamaria Cesarini Sforza, he has developed a personal language in which painting, sculpture, material, and mark are in constant dialogue. His compositions are characterized by intense colors, symbols, and structures reminiscent of imaginary alphabets. Alongside paintings, he creates bronze sculptures, ceramics, graphic works, and artist's books. His relationship with poetry and publishing is a fundamental element of his practice, as demonstrated by the founding of the magazine Cervo Volante and his collaborations with leading contemporary poets.
The Cascella family tradition
Tommaso Cascella was born in Rome in 1951.
He is the son of sculptor Pietro Cascella and painter Annamaria Cesarini Sforza.
He belongs to a family with an established tradition in painting, sculpture, ceramics, and graphic arts.
His family environment fosters an early familiarity with artistic materials and tools.
His training develops through direct experience and engagement with different forms of expression.
Studies and early experiences
After secondary school, Cascella attends the Faculty of Architecture for several years.
At the same time, he takes an interest in painting, sculpture, and art publishing.
His interest in architecture contributes to the construction of his compositions.
The forms are organized into complex structures in which surface and volume remain in a continuous relationship.
Art publishing
Before establishing himself through solo exhibitions, Cascella develops an intense career in art publishing.
He founded a printing press and a publishing house, collaborating with artists and poets.
The book is seen as a space where words and images can interact.
Printmaking is not merely a means of reproducing artworks.
It becomes a medium for visual experimentation.
The Cervo Volante magazine
In 1981, Cascella founded Cervo Volante, a magazine dedicated to art and poetry.
The first issues are entrusted to Adriano Spatola.
Edoardo Sanguineti and Achille Bonito Oliva later join the editorial team.
Published until 1984, the magazine provides a forum for dialogue between different forms of expression.
The project reflects Cascella's interest in the relationship between visual arts and literature.
The first solo exhibition
In 1985, Cascella holds his first solo exhibition at the Galleria Luigi De Ambrogi in Milan.
The exhibition marks the beginning of an intense public career.
During the same period, he exhibits works in other Italian galleries, developing collaborations with poets and writers.
His research is distinguished by the freedom of the mark and the use of symbols.
Painting and structure
Cascella's painting shows particular attention to the structural dimension.
The compositions are often built through intense areas of color.
Marks and forms overlap.
The surface can appear organized like an imaginary architecture.
Color serves more than a decorative function.
It helps define the rhythm and tension of the composition.
The symbolic alphabet
One of the most recognizable aspects of his work is the presence of marks and symbols.
The forms may resemble letters from an unknown alphabet.
These elements do not necessarily correspond to precise linguistic meanings.
They help build a personal visual universe.
Painting becomes a space in which mark, material, and color suggest relationships and narratives.
The relationship with poetry
Poetry occupies a fundamental place in Cascella's research.
Many titles of the works derive from literary texts.
His relationship with contemporary authors helps shape a language in which the image does not merely illustrate the word.
Painting and poetry are considered forms of expression capable of engaging in dialogue without losing their autonomy.
Bronze sculpture
Alongside painting, Cascella develops a significant body of work in bronze sculpture.
The three-dimensional forms retain clear links to the marks found in the paintings.
The surfaces can be traversed by symbolic elements.
Sculpture makes it possible to transform structures born in the pictorial imagination into volume.
The relationship between the two disciplines is one of the fundamental aspects of his career.
Ceramics
Cascella also creates numerous ceramics.
The material makes it possible to unite color, volume, and surface.
The family tradition of applied arts thus finds a new interpretation.
The ceramic works retain the symbolic and chromatic character of his work.
Bomarzo and the studio
In 1987, Cascella restored a historic building in Bomarzo, in the Viterbo area, and turned it into a studio.
The place becomes an important center of his activity.
Here, the artist develops paintings and sculptures, maintaining ties with Italian and international galleries and institutions.
Graphic works and artist's books
His work includes prints, original prints, and artist's books.
His publishing experience allows Cascella to explore the possibilities of printing processes in greater depth.
The graphic mark retains strong autonomy.
The relationship between image and word remains central.
Artist's books represent a meeting point between visual research and literary passion.
Exhibitions and Awards
In 1991, Cascella presents a sculpture exhibition at the Mara Coccia Gallery in Rome.
He takes part in the Gubbio Sculpture Biennial in 1992 and the Rome Quadriennale in 1996.
In 1995, he becomes a member of the National Academy of San Luca.
In 2011, he takes part in the Venice Biennale with the sculpture Upside-down Sky.
His work is presented in numerous exhibitions in Italy and abroad.
Artistic Identity
Tommaso Cascella developed a practice in which painting and sculpture influence one another.
The mark becomes a form of visual writing.
Material contributes to the construction of symbolic compositions.
His interest in poetry and artists’ books broadens the meaning of his work.
His career represents an original continuation of the family’s artistic tradition.
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