Alessandro Montalbano

Italian painter an sculptor – Lives in South Burgundy, France

Alessandro Montalbano was born in Catania, Sicily, in 1962. He studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Florence where he received a solid education in painting and sculpture. He arrived in Paris at the end of the eightie’s and then started his real experience of sculptor after re-examining the materials and techniques used in the Beaux-Arts such as clay, plaster and marble. At this time, his perspectives became ever more complex : assemblages of plaster, metal and wood. In 1994, one of his assemblages was awarded the Princess Grace Foundation’s Prize in Monaco, where he took part at the invitation of César who appreciated his work. His meeting with César was decisive for Montalbano who was attracted by the work of bronze and especially the technique of soldered bronze. The same year he started his collaboration with the prestigious Susse foundry who had awarded one of his piece in 1991 and placed it alongside pieces by Giacometti, Richier, Zadkine… His first sculpture made of soldered bronze was a monumental one Et le septième jour…, which will be acquired one year later, in 1995, by the Principality of Monaco, placing it in the open air museum with other pieces by Arman, Calder, César…

For over 20 years, Montalbano has exhibited his work all around Europe and the United States in internationals fairs and exhibitions such as Arco in Madrid, Art Frankfurt, Art Brussels, Art Paris, Linéart Gent… During the summer 2002, he is chosen to represent Italy with a monumental sculpture Le Voyageur des Sens, on the occasion of a european exhibition “Europa in beeld” in The Hague, Holland, with Manolo Valdes, Barry Flanagan, Maillol, Penck… In september 2003, the Espace Carpeaux in Courbevoie has organized the exhibition “Alessandro Montalbano 1983 – 2003 : 20 years of creation”. He has taken part in the 3rd International Sculpture Festival of Monte-Carlo during summer 2004 with the monumental Maternité, among Arp, Gargallo, Haring, Lipchitz, de Saint-Phalle… In 2010, the Hospice Saint-Charles (Rosny-sur-Seine, Yvelines) welcomes the exhibition «Le sujet s’envole, le rythme reste». From april to august 2015, the Hôtel Dieu/Musée Greuze in Tournus (Burgundy), presents “De Genèse à Naissance” where Montalbano’s contemporary work stage by the curator Mylène Grand, have a dialogue with the beauty and history of the place.