A musician as well as a visual artist, from his debut in the early ‘60s Guarneri focused on a radically visual investigation built around the idea that mark, color and light constitute the intrinsic essence of a painting.
Closely aligned to the Pittura Analitica movement which emerged in Italy in the 1970s in which the artists strived to redefine the modern era of painting and reclaim this form as a contemporary voice. As most significant and influential artistic movements of the Italian Post-War period, this collective of artists is linked to other European movements such as the Supports/Surfaces group in France and the radical painting in Germany, as well as to the American Minimalists.
Riccardo Guarneri (b.1933) was born in Florence where he now lives and works.
His works have been shown worldwide and acquired by several international collections such as The Guggenheim Museum, The Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, The Israel Museum, Ottawa National Gallery, Stedelijk Museum and the Museo del Novecento in Milan. The artist was invited to contribute to the 57th Biennale Internazionale d’Arte di Venezia "Viva arte Viva", curated by Christine Macel. Riccardo Guarneri’s works have also been shown in the solo exhibition "Pittura Pittura" at the Museo Novecento in Florence. A selection of his works from the 57th Venice Biennale was shown in the exhibition “Variazioni del sentire” at Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano. Guarneri's works were included in “Mostra Antologica” in Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Guarneri has also presented his works at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna in Rome alongside Rodolfo Arico and Giuseppe Uncini. Guarneri participated in a group exhibition at the Quadriennale in Rome with Alighiero Boetti, Enrico Castellani, Domenico Gnoli, Jannis Kounellis, Piero Manzoni and several other major artists. The artist’s first retrospective show took place at Westfalischer Kunstverein in Munster. Guarenri has participated in numerous art fairs. He was invited to the 33rd Venice Biennale where his works were presented in dialogue with Agostino Bonalumi and Paolo Scheggi. They were also featured in “Weiss auf Weiss” curated by Udo Kultermann at Kunsthalle Bern. He has taught painting in Carrara, Bari, Florence and the Venice Academy of Art.