Biography

Nerone Ceccarelli (1937-1996)

Italian sculptor, founder of the “Gruppo NP2”.

Nerone Ceccarelli (born Giovanni Ceccarelli in 1937) was an Italian artist and sculptor, who constantly sought to integrate different creative media such as architecture, painting, sculpture and design. His work is characterized by an abstract geometric vocabulary.

With his friend Giancarlo Patuzzi, he founded the NP2 group (initials of Nerone and Patuzzi) in Turin in 1962. This group involved other artists (Piercarlo Ceccarelli, Nerone’s brother, Jolanda Novi, Luigi Marchisotti, Dedalo Montali, Lucia Petrocchi, Virgilio Petrocchi, Raoul Portal, Piercarlo Iorio, Evian Medici, Luciano Patetta, Nicoletta Medici, Carlo Mollino and Angelo Cortesi) with the aim of freeing art from the constraints of museums and galleries and making it accessible to the majority of the public.

Their innovative approach resulted in the use of various materials such as aluminum, copper, wood, concrete and marble for monumental sculptures, panels and furniture. From the outset, they have exhibited their work abroad, in the USA and Canada. Giangarlo Patuzzi left the group in 1974. In 1972, Nerone and Patuzzi designed and executed a large-scale mural of etched and patinated metal panels, installed in the “Emiciclo” of the European Parliament in Luxembourg, one of the largest works of etched metal in the world. Nerone engraved the metal panels, which he then assembled directly on the wall and treated with acids to enhance light contrasts.

To find out more, read this Wikipedia link. (IT)