Born in Pietrasanta in 1934, he lived his first artistic experiences in his father's workshop, where for generations the family was involved in marble sculpture. He attended the Accademia di Brera in Milan, where he was a pupil of Marino Marini from 1956 to 1959. After a Parisian experience and a stay in Amsterdam, where he studies and works, he returns to Milan and here begins his formal research on the archetype of "Colonna", which culminates with the work "Eos" (1969). In 1963 he exhibited his "columns" (in plaster), together with a group of 7 bronzes of the series "Dimensions", in the exhibition at the Galleria minima in Milan.
Starting from the early seventies, it begins instead to devote itself to the ovoid form. The "suspensions" are born: a series of sculptures made of boxes, in plexiglass with metal or wood structure, which contain the two elements. From 1976 the search for the author is directed towards a new iconic sign: the spiral. In its earliest compositions the egg is still present, while the spiral is divided into segments, until it develops in height generating the series of sculptures entitled "City", all in marble.
Throughout his life he has always kept his relationship with Versilia alive. There are also numerous local exhibitions: to remember in particular the staff at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art of Forte dei Marmi (1984) and the Cultural centre "Luigi Russo" (1994).
In his last great work entitled "Esonartece III" (1993-1994) he finds the sum of all his artistic research: here there are in fact the column, the egg and the movement of the spiral.
From the end of 1999 he lives and works between Holland and Italy, in Colletondo where, after his death in 2005, the family planted an oak tree in his memory.
Every sculpture is for me a mysterious symbol of life, a sign and a representation of human existence on our planet.
Iginio Balderi
