Fabrizio Corneli is an Italian sculptor, painter and watercolorist born in Florence on March 21, 1958, known for work built around shadow and projected light. He graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence in 1980 after earlier studying at the Florence conservatory with plans to become a musician. His first exhibition came in 1979, in the group show “Le alternative del nuovo” at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, where he showed pieces built on shadow and light. Since then he has produced permanent installations across cities from Cologne to Doha and Tainan, and his pieces have entered public collections including the Civiche Raccolte d’Arte of Milan.
Key facts
- Born: 1958
- Birthplace: Florence
- Country: Italy
- Occupation: sculptor; painter; watercolorist
Formation and early exhibitions
Corneli completed scientific high school studies in Siena in 1976 before attending the Florence conservatory, where he trained toward a career in music. He later changed direction and enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, graduating in 1980. His public debut followed in 1979 at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, in the group show “Le alternative del nuovo,” where he exhibited works centered on shadow and light, the themes that would define his later career.
In 1986 he was invited to the Maryland Institute in Baltimore, USA, for a workshop and lectures with students, marking an early international engagement. That same year, the Civiche Raccolte d’Arte of Milan acquired one of his works. In 1987 he created the sculpture “Grande estruso” for the park of the Gori collection at Villa Celle in Pistoia.
Career abroad and major installations
At FIAC Paris in 1990, Galerie Jade dedicated a solo stand to Corneli, and the Fond Régional d’Art Contemporain d’Alsace in Sélestat acquired one of his works. In 1993 he relocated to Cologne, Germany, where he worked for five years. There he created his first large-scale solar installation, “Augenblick,” installed at the parking lot of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper building, and held his first anthological exhibition at the Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim in Neuenhaus.
In April 2000 he created the environmental light installation “Twinlights” in the archaeological area of the Circus Maximus in Rome. He has collaborated with the Studio Trisorio gallery in Naples since 2002. In 2014 he produced the permanent installation “Grande Sognatrice” in Piazza Santa Maria al Castello in Prato, together with “Pelle di luce,” made for the opening of the Museo di Palazzo Pretorio.
Over the course of his career Corneli has created permanent installations in Cologne, Pistoia, Sélestat, Bonn, Brussels, Prato, Kobe, Munich, L’Aquila, Tainan, Doha, Catania, Traunstein and Karlfeld. He designed the solar sculpture “SOL” for the new fountain in Piazza Fratelli Sassi in Soliera, made of stainless steel and gilded brass.
Exhibition venues and critical reception
His work has been shown at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, the Galeries Artiscope in Brussels, the Museo Carlo Bilotti in Rome, the Archäologisches Museum in Frankfurt, the Fondation Maeght, the Museo Pecci in Prato, and MACRO in Rome. From March 19 to April 20, 2026, he held the solo exhibition “La misura della luce” at Studio Trisorio in Naples.
Critic Silvia Evangelisti has written that in his work the shadow identifies the image, turning memory into physical presence. The Frascione gallery has described his approach as inverting the presumed reliability of eyewitness testimony through minimal structures capable of generating plays of shadow and light.
Did you know
- Though known internationally as “the artist of light,” Corneli originally trained as a musician at the Florence conservatory before switching to the Accademia di Belle Arti. (solieracastelloarte.it)
- His signature work “Custode della luce” (Guardian of the light), made between 2004 and 2011, uses copper, an anamorphic cut and a tea light to cast its shadow image. (altiba9.gallery)
- His kinetic sculpture “Respiro” (Breath), created in 2014, uses warm and cold white LED strips with an electric motor to generate movement that shapes light and shadow. (altiba9.gallery)
- His “SOL” sculpture in Soliera is designed to remain legible by day through engraved lettering, and continues projecting a fixed shadow at night using public street lighting. (solieracastelloarte.it)
- Some of his small sculptures, including “Custode della luce,” are carved from tea light holders rather than conventional marble or bronze. (altiba9.gallery)
- His 2000 installation “Twinlights” was staged in the ancient Roman archaeological site of the Circus Maximus. (aadfi.it)
Data sources
Data updated: 2026-11-12