Biography
I was born in Ceglie Messapica, Puglia, in 1956. In 1959, I moved with my family to Florence, where I completed my education and where I still live. As a child, the nun who looked after me at the boarding school in Settignano introduced me to clay and paints. Sister Cesarina was in charge of reproducing terracotta Madonnas and nativity scene figurines, using old plaster casts. She then painted them to sell to my classmates’ relatives during the holidays. Often during recess, my classmates would pose for me, and I would give them their portraits. I even won a painting prize given to me by Mayor La Pira: a bag of chocolate coins.
I attended middle school in a Renaissance villa called Rusciano. My literature teacher was a student of Roberto Longhi, who introduced me to the pleasures of poetry and art history. I remember my first visit to the Uffizi as a tremendous gift. I continued my studies haphazardly, between science and art high schools, with painting teachers such as Gianni Cacciarini, and then constantly switching between attendance at the Accademia di Belle Arti, the Facoltà di Architettura, and theatre acting schools.
At the same time, I frequented the artisan workshops of skilled furniture craftsmen and woodworkers, starting with my own family’s workshop and that of the master woodcarver and gilder Gino Doni (who recreated the choir stalls of Montecassino during its postwar reconstruction); and that of the painter Mario Poggiali, a post-Macchiaiolo artist of the Livorno school, where I learned the techniques of faux marble and Baroque decorations on various surfaces.
With the sculptor Piero Colacicchi, I learned bronze casting by frequenting the artistic foundries of Pietrasanta, and with the painter Silvio Loffredo, I learned the use of color and drawing freely without rigidity.
In 1978, in love with theater, I began making puppets with my partner Andrea Filippi, which we exhibited at Palazzo Strozzi. I was invited to a puppet theater exhibition with other puppeteers, performing short shows. During those years, I met writer and gallery owner Piero Santi, a member of the Giubbe Rosse group (Gadda, Montale, Luzi, etc.), who organized several exhibitions for me at the Galleria l’Indiano and other venues in the city.
With a group of young artists from Florence and beyond, I participated in numerous group exhibitions throughout Tuscany, from Pienza to Pistoia to Lunigiana. To make a living, I created many trompe l’oeil decorations in private homes, shops, and nightclubs, as well as themed installations and furniture designs of my own. I also worked as an assistant set designer for small and large-scale theatrical and film productions, continuing to exhibit my work in art exhibitions around Italy. The Comune of Pelago commissioned a public fountain which I designed in marble and bronze: “I compagni di viaggio” (traveling partners).
In the early 2000s, I won a competition at the University of Florence. After a probationary period at the Rector’s Office, I was introduced to the then-President, Professor Giovanni Pratesi, who immediately recruited me at the Museum of Natural History. I’m still here, setting up the display rooms at the Museum of Anthropology, drawing, painting, and inventing solutions for displaying the permanent and temporary collections.
– Cataldo Valente, 2022