Riccardo Licata (Turin 20/12/1929 - Venice 19/02/2014). His family moved first to Paris and then to Rome where he lived from 1935 to 1945. In 1946 he moved with his mother in Venice. In 1947 he enrolled at the Art School. He studied the culture of the Bauhaus and he started to study the mosaic. He met artists as Santomaso, Vedova, Viani, Turcato, Birolli. In 1949 he founded with other young people a group of abstract trend. In 1950 he enrolled at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice and he began exposing works. He joined with a great mosaic the Venice Biennale of 1952 and the following year he was at the Milan Triennale.
He met Gino Severini and the following year Licata in Paris met him as assistant professor of mosaic. So he Started to live in Paris attending various artists and maintaining his studio in Venice. Licata become a teacher at the Mosaic Academy of Fine Arts in Paris and since 1970 he teaches etching in Venice. In 1963 he won the prize Michetti. He participates in the Venice Biennale in 1964, 1970 and 1972, the Quadrennial in Rome and at Biennale of Paris, St. Paul and Alexandria.
During this period, he develops and defines what would later become his artistic language, a kind of alphabet consists of symbols and graphics features, which characterize much of its production, particularly in oils on canvas in mixed media, serigraphs and limited edition. These same traits that Licata defines imaginary letters, a "graphic and pictorial writing" that takes its inspiration from the musical language is used by the artist to compose works that would make him famous.
His mosaics are installed in large public spaces of Italian cities and France such as Genoa (Palazzo of Public Works), Bourgoin Jailleu, Sault les Rethel, Lille (University), Perpignan, Monza (Italy off street), Reggio Emilia (Chamber of Labour, etc.). It has also dealt with stage sets (Euripides' Medea in 1978 in Treviso, Teatro Comunale) and ballet (Ichspaltung Giuseppe Marotta in 1980 in Venice, Teatro Goldoni). His works are in Museums of Modern Art in Venice, Milan, Mulhouse, Alessandria, Rome, Turin, Warsaw, Sao Paulo, Vienna, New York, Stockholm, Florence, Stuttgart, etc. The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice in 2007 set up the exhibition "Richard Licata. Travel diaries", where watercolors and drawings of the master were exhibited.
At the National Museum of Palazzo Venezia - Sala Regia and the Hall of Battles - in Rome in 2009, was held on 'important festival, "Richard Licata and seasons Spatialism in Venice”.
In 2009 during the celebrations for the eightieth birthday of Riccardo Licata, it were held the following exhibitions: at the upper loggia of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, the exhibition "Riccardo Licata. Mosaici e Vetri", at the Church of St. Marta in Venice, with some paintings, the exhibition "Porto d'Arti", collateral event of 53. Venice Art Biennale curated by Prof. Luciano Caramel and finally in Turin at the Palace della Promotrice, the exhibition "Riccardo Licata e gli amici di Venezia e Parigi".
On 2013, Riccardo Licata is the painter of the drape of the Palio of Feltre and for the occasion the exhibition ""Riccardo Licata. Un viaggio fra pittura e arti applicate" at the Museum Gallery of Modern Art "Carlo Rizzarda" to 29 September.
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