Elio Cassarà was born in Mazara del Vallo in 1974. The artist’s painting tends to abstract art, attributable to the intense effects of lights and the expressiveness of color in his narration of landscapes. In his paintings we can see the evolutionary nature of painting, based on the careful observation of the environment which dissolves into a fantastic vision, full of suggestions and imaginative power. After training with some local artists, in 1997 Cassarà lived in Venice where he studied the masters of the twentieth century in greater depth and in particular his attention was captured by Giorgio Morandi’s still-life.
These were the years in which he devoted himself intensely to the study of painting; he was strongly influenced by the German romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, the symbolism of Marx Klinger and Arnold Böcklin and the ideas of the radical Pre-Raphaelites. In 2001 he moved to Berlin where he lived for many years and hosted several personal exhibitions. The period spent in Germany and his admiration for Gerhard Richter influenced Cassarà’s work which became more abstract and expressive and it was at this stage that the landscape became the main subject of the artist’s work. In his paintings, he depicts vitality and relationship with nature using vibrant colors that energizes the entire surface of the canvas.
On his return to Venice in 2014, Cassarà completed his series of paintings inspired by his long stay in Germany, which were exhibited the following years. By the end of 2020, he moved to Moscow where he currently lives and works.
In 2007, he had a one-man show at Narodni Muzej Zajecar (Serbia) curated by Bora Dimitrjevic and Nina Pogarcic.
Starting from 2016, MUSEUM – Osservatorio dell’arte in Sicily, under the founding director Ezio Pagano, acquired three artworks by Elio Cassara’ for its permanent collection.
In the same year, the catalogue “Trasparenze” was published in the series “I Quaderni dell’Arte” by Edizioni Ezio Pagano.
Biography of Cassarà is included in prestigious international cultural institutions including the Library of the Venice Biennale and the Library of the Pushkin Russian State Museum.
Among many others who wrote about Cassarà are Ezio Pagano, Tommaso Evagelista, Ilona Lebedeva, Francesco Gallo Mazzeo, Nina Pogarcic, Victor Arellano Rey, Gaetano Salerno.
His work is included in public and private collections in Italy and abroad.
Solo Exhibitons
2022 – A.S. Pushkin Public Library, Moscow, Russia
2021 – Novgorod Center of Contemporary Art, Russia
2018 – San Gregorio Art Gallery, Venice, Italy
2017 – Wunderkammer7, Venice, Italy
2015 – Galerie Hugo Cassel, Berlin, Germany
2014 – Palazzo Ca`Zanardi, Venice, Italy
2013 – Galerie Sievi, Berlin, Germany
2010 – Galerie Sievi, Berlin, Germany
2009 – Alexander Alvarez Contemporary Art, Alessandria, Italy
2007 – Narodni Muzej, Zajecar, Serbia
2006 – Art Klub Canaletto, Belgrad, Serbia
1999 – Galleria V&V Projects, Vicenza, Italy
1999 – Scoletta dei Calegheri, Venice, Italy
1995 – Galleria Spazio Arte, Gavi – Italia
1993 – Chiesa della SS. Annunziata, Alessandria – Italia
Group Exhibitions
2019 – “Seen anything interesting?”, Bugno Art Gallery, Venice, Italy
2018 – Bugno Art Gallery, Venice, Italy
2018 – VIII Rassegna d’Arte Contemporanea, Casa dei Carraresi, Treviso, Italy
2016 – Galerie Hugo Cassel, Berlin, Germany
2010 – I Concorso di Pittura Hotel Casanova, Duchcov, Czech Republic
2009 – IX Concorso La Fenice et Des Artistes, Trieste, Italy
ELIO CASSARÀ 