Dionisio Cimarelli


Dionisio Cimarelli is an Italian sculptor known for contemporary figurative sculptures in Chinese porcelain and a sculpture of Matteo Ricci. He currently teaches at The Art Students League of New York, as Adjuct Sculpture Faculty at Fashion Institute of Technology and as Adjunct Sculpture Faculty at New York Academy of Art in New York City.

Early life

Dionisio Cimarelli was born in Jesi, Italy. At the age of 7, his family moved to , Italy. In 1975, he was awarded first prize for a painting entered in Premio Natale, an art contest for primary school students.

Education

In 1983, Cimarelli earned a diploma in sculpture at Liceo artistico in Ancona, Italy.
In 1989, he graduated in sculpture from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Italy. To collect information for his thesis, in 1986 Dionisio traveled to China on the Trans-Siberian Railway to China. The trip was made possible by a letter of invitation from the sculptor, then president of the Art Academy. His travel history and his pictures while traveling were published on July 1988 on the Italian magazine “Tuttoturismo” in Milan.
In 1994, Cimarelli was awarded a diploma in sculpture at Scola prufesciunela per la artejanat artistich in Sëlva di Val Gardena, Italy. In 1995, he enrolled at the University of Paris in Paris, France. In 1997, he studied with sculptor Mikhail Anikushin at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1998, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, Czech Republic.

Work

Abstract
Cimarelli's began his career creating abstract anthropomorphic shapes inspired by surrealism. From 1983-1990, he produced works in terracotta, wood, bronze, and marble. Invited by Claudio Abbado, Cimarelli's first abstract sculpture exhibition was organized by at the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin, Germany in 1999.
Realism
Inspired by his conservation experience at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, Cimarelli moved to figurative sculpture in 1991. Studying techniques from sculptors such as Donatello, Michelangelo, Jacopo della Quercia, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, he produced sculpture in wood, bronze, stone, and marble. In 2001, he created a marble sculpture of St. John the Baptist that was first exhibited in Oslo, Norway.
Figurative Chinese Series
From 2007-2008, Cimarelli create a series of contemporary figurative sculpture in porcelain with colorful, jewel-like surface finishing in Jingdezhen in the Jiangxi province of China.

Restoration

Cimarelli has participated in several large sculptural and architectural restoration projects. From 1990-1991, he worked on the renovation of the Court Napoleon at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The courtyard surrounds the Louvre Pyramid designed by I.M. Pei. In 1995, he worked on the Christiansborg Palace Chapel in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1998, he worked the Strasbourg Cathedral in Strasbourg, France and the Porte d'Aix in Marseille, France. In 2002, he restored the Institution of Civil Engineers headquarters in London, England. The following year, he worked on the restoration of the Stockholm Palace and House of Nobility in Stockholm, Sweden.

Zhongkai Sheshan Villas

From 2007-2010, Cimarelli served as Art Supervisor for the Zhongkai Sheshan Villas in Shanghai, China. Designed by ten architectural firms from United States, the project consisted of 81 contemporary luxury villas. Four of the villas were designed by Mack Scogin of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam, architect and adjunct Professor of Architecture at Harvard University. Built with stone, marble, wood, and metal, Cimarelli oversaw the quality of materials and construction for the project .

Matteo Ricci sculpture https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UgfvPBKtY&list=PL41cpyl0a4nkCeaWWh0tLEkNE2Na6Fs9E [Living in China, Italian artist tells his journey] New China TV (Beijing) August 4, 2017

The Matteo Ricci sculpture was made in China, for the ITALY Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010, on the 400th anniversary of his death. At the end of the show, it was also displayed for about two years at the Italian Embassy in Beijing. The sculpture is now property of the Government of the Marche Region and it stands today at Palazzo Ciccolini University of Macerata, while the plaster model is permanently placed at the main entrance of the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai, China. In 2013 Finishing Performance of the original model in plaster of Matteo Ricci sculpture at the Italian Centre, former Italy Pavilion of Shanghai World EXPO 2010, Shanghai

Teaching and lectures

Cimarelli has been a visiting scholar at Wimbledon College of Art in London, England, and King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
He has lectured internationally at universities including: Sir J.J. School of Art at University of Mumbai, India; Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Philippines; China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China; China Central Academy of Fine Arts and in Beijing, China; and Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto, Canada.
Cimarelli has also been a guest speaker at University Club of New York for the Annual Savoy History Lecture , Montclair University USA, The Art Students League of New York, the Italian Cultural Institute in San Francisco, California , the Diocesan Museum in Jesi and the Beijing International Sculpture Forum organized by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China and China Sculpture Magazine in Beijing, at Mingyuan Art Centre and at Shanghai Library in Shanghai. In 2019 has been invited to tell his extraordinary life and artistic path at the Theatre Carlo Goldoni of Poggio San Marcello and at the Academy of Fine Arts of Macerata, Italy and at Columbia University in New York City.

Awards and Honors