Antonio Biancalani

Antonio Biancalani was born in Montelupo Fiorentino (Fi) in 1948. He felt a strong inclination towards painting from a very young age. The practice of painting and participation in national awards and exhibitions soon made it clear to him the need to deepen his experiences and technical and visual knowledge of the figurative arts. He dedicated himself with increasing dedication to the study of the human figure, which remains one of his favorite themes to this day. From '75 onwards, for several years, he attended the Nude School at the Academy of Florence.

Subsequently, he focused on engraving, a technique he cultivated consistently over the years, parallel to painting. In Biancalani's painting, drawing takes center stage because within its folds, stories unfold, like in the coils of rolled mattresses and abandoned sheets on the bed, often portrayed by the artist. The human figure is central, isolated, or hinted at. Figures that become existential semblances in a tormented pictorial space, like forms imprinted on old photographic plates, now on the verge of disappearing, or fleshly presences concluded and solitary in their physicality.

His first solo exhibition at the Il Toro gallery in Empoli (Fi) was in 1973. Shortly thereafter, the terms of his figurative language were defined in the direction of critical and existential realism. His participation in exhibitions increased, coinciding with the full resumption of work in the late 1980s, after a period of study and reflection on language that led to a new figurative vision. This vision was based on the poetic reinterpretation of everyday reality, especially through emblematic objects of peasant culture. He received numerous accolades and recognitions, with exhibitions throughout Italy and abroad (France, the Caribbean, the United States, Germany, Ireland, Belgium).

His work has been discussed by, among others, Dino Carlesi, Marco Cola, Enio Concarotti, Enrico Crispolti, Enzo Fabiani, Giovanni Faccenda, Mauro Falzoni, Guerrino Giorgetti, Linda Giusti, Valerio Grimaldi, Paolo Levi, Giovanni Lombardi, Nicola Micieli, Domenico Montalto, Elvio Natali, Nicola Nuti, Dino Pasquali, Alessandra Scappini. Biancalani lives and works in Lamporecchio (Pt).