BENEDETTO Michele
(1941 Campomaggiore, Potenza – 2011 Pietrasanta, Lucca)
From 1957 to 1974, Michele Benedetto trained as a sculptor in Milan, where he met Giò Pomodoro, becoming his collaborator and assistant throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He held his first solo exhibition in 1979 at the “Il Mercante” Gallery in Milan, followed by numerous shows both in Italy and abroad.
He first arrived in Versilia in 1963 to work on several pieces at Henraux S.p.A., later collaborating with Studio Sem, Scultori Associati, Studio Stagi and Malbacco, the Mariani Foundry in Pietrasanta, and the Corsanini Workshop in Carrara. In 1974, he settled permanently in Pietrasanta. From 1976 onwards, he took part in many exhibitions across the Apuan-Versilian area, especially in Pietrasanta, where he donated two marble works: Figura in riflessione (1995) and Il viandante (2008). In 2000, he presented a solo exhibition at the “L. Russo” Cultural Center in Pietrasanta.
On the occasion of his solo show in Montichiari, held from March 24 to April 20, 1993, a catalog curated by Giorgio Segato was published, analyzing Benedetto’s work from a theoretical and conceptual perspective: Michele Benedetto: Sculpture as an articulation of matter and light (Segato 1993 | Ed. Arte Struktura).
Benedetto primarily worked in marble. His forms appear abstract, with a dynamic interplay between rigid and sinuous surfaces, and a sensitive exploration of volume, light, and space. His structures are often vertical, marked by sharp cuts and hollows that create striking plays of light and shadow.
