Moroder Paul de Doss
Paul Moroder Doss
Master Sculptor, lives and works in Ortisei (St. Ulrich) – South Tyrol. He began carving at the age of 15 in the workshop of his father, Enrico Moroder Doss, who was himself an academic sculptor. At the same time, he attended the Art School in Ortisei. After completing his training in Val Gardena (Gröden), he spent two years studying in the United States of America.
He has participated in various collective and solo exhibitions in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the USA.
Prestigious Awards & Major Works
Among his most prestigious honors are the Medal of the President of the Italian Republic and the Medal of Pope John Paul II. Recently, he won first prize in the competition for the liturgical design of the sanctuary (chancel) of the Cuneo Cathedral.
Some of his most significant works include:
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The Christ figure for the Sanctuary of Divino Amore in Rome.
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The Archangel Michael for the Sacra di San Michele abbey near Turin.
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The sanctuary design in the Basilica of the Council (Santa Maria Maggiore) in Trento.
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The Stations of the Cross in the Trento Cathedral.
In the Province of Bolzano, his sanctuary designs and artistic works can be found in the Dominican Church in Bolzano, the parish church in Laghetti (Laag), the cemetery church in Laghetti, the cemetery chapel in Riscone (Reischach), the Pietralba (Weissenstein) pilgrimage site, and the UPAD University in Bolzano. He has created numerous liturgical sanctuary designs for cathedrals, abbeys, parish churches, and chapels. Several of his works are held in private collections.
Themes and Materials
However, secular themes also feature prominently in his artistic repertoire. His most frequently used materials include wood, bronze, stone, and glass. Recently, he has also been increasingly focusing on painting.
Kunstwerke:
De Tommasi Giuseppe
De Tommasi Giuseppe
Origins and Early Artistic Talent Giuseppe De Tommasi was born in Lecce on October 10, 1952. Raised in an artistic household—his father, Giovanni, was a painter—De Tommasi’s talent emerged at an early age. By the time he was 16, he had already won his first award for painting, competing under the pseudonym “Valentin.”
The Renaissance of Papier-Mâché (Cartapesta) In the 1970s, De Tommasi recognized the vast expressive potential of Lecce’s traditional papier-mâché and became a leading figure in its modern revival. His innovation lay in preserving ancient techniques while radically modernizing the subject matter. Moving beyond strictly religious themes, he began to depict the folklore, traditions, and daily life of the Salento region.
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He founded a dedicated school that has trained many of the contemporary papier-mâché artists active today.
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His work has been exhibited internationally, including in New York, Washington, and Frankfurt. Furthermore, he has served as a guest lecturer at prestigious institutions such as Farmingdale State College in New York.
Significant Works and Commissions Among his most notable achievements are:
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The creation of a large-scale Nativity scene for Rome’s Piazza di Spagna.
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A monumental Nativity commissioned for the Patriarch of Moscow, which is permanently housed in the city’s Cathedral.
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Since the 1990s, he has expanded his artistic range to include experimentation with ceramics and stone.
The Greek Period and the Return to Lecce In 1990, he opened a gallery in Parga, Greece. His deep connection to the country led him to relocate there permanently in 2005. During this time, he collaborated with entrepreneur Efthymios Pappas, establishing a successful career as an Art Interior Designer.
In 2015, he returned to Italy and resettled in Lecce. He currently lives and works in a seaside “oasis,” a setting he describes as magical and which serves as the primary inspiration for his contemporary artistic production.
Kunstwerke:
Botta Felice Antonio
Botta Felice Antonio
Felice Botta (1931–2021)
The Essence of Form and the Soul of Salvage
Felice Antonio Botta was one of the most sensitive interpreters of design and Arte Povera in Italy. Born in Florence in 1931, in the historic Oltrarno district, he absorbed the artisanal wisdom of his city from a young age, training at the Istituto d’Arte under the guidance of the great woodcut master Pietro Parigi.
His artistic journey, spanning over sixty years, was a constant search for the essential—a philosophy of “taking away” to reveal the hidden beauty within forgotten things.
The Philosophy of Interno 9
In 1975, he founded his historic workshop, Interno 9, in Antella (Bagno a Ripoli). Here, Botta gave life to a vast production ranging from graphic arts and sculpture to poetic stationery and toy design. His mastery earned international acclaim:
- Design: Selected for the Compasso d’Oro in 1970 and a participant in the 14th Milan Triennale.
- Education: An 11-time winner of the prestigious European Spielgut award, granted to objects capable of stimulating children’s intelligence and imagination.
- Exhibitions: His works have been showcased in galleries worldwide, with milestone exhibitions in Tokyo (1985), Naples (1988), and New York (1992).
The “Legni” (Woods): Sculptures of Memory
Felice Botta’s work with wood represents the perfect synthesis of ethics and aesthetics. He did not seek noble materials; he preferred reclaimed wood: old construction beams, planks from packing crates, driftwood smoothed by the sea, or carpentry scraps.
- Respect for the Material: Botta’s intervention was minimal. A crack, a wormhole, or a knotty grain became the eye of a whale, the beak of a bird, or the profile of a Pinocchio.
- Sustainability and Poetry: A pioneer of creative recycling, he demonstrated that “waste” possesses a higher dignity when viewed through the eyes of imagination. His sculptures do not hide the material’s past; they celebrate it, making every piece unique and unrepeatable.
An Artistic Legacy
Beyond his famous wooden sculptures, Botta is remembered for his “Artist’s Stamps”, his works in recycled paper, and his notebooks, which are today cult objects for collectors and lovers of minimalist design. His passing in 2021 left a void in the Tuscan art scene, but his message remains more relevant than ever: true wealth does not lie in possession, but in the capacity to marvel at simplicity.
“In my hands, wood does not die; it only changes form to continue telling its story.”
Petrik Gudrun
Gudrun Petrik
Gudrun Petrik
The artist Gudrun Petrik creates her essential watercolors and mixed-media works on paper and canvas.
Her artworks invite the viewer to “look inward” and “let go” of all their everyday worries and thoughts, thus inviting us on a journey into the unconscious.
The explosive energy is interwoven with a delicacy, without contradicting it.
In every drop of paint, we encounter the blossoming of a bud, which then usually disappears when viewed as a whole …
Kunstwerke:
Ceccaroni Cristian
Cristian Ceccaroni
Born in Rimini in 1969, the artist trained at the renowned Scuola del Libro and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Urbino, specialising in printmaking.
Since he began exhibiting in 1986, he has been represented at major international events, including the 54th Venice Biennale, the Third Beijing Biennale and Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
He now lives and works in the Republic of San Marino, where he runs his own studio for painting and intaglio printing.
FIOCCO Michele
FIOCCO Michele
Michele Fiocco paints objects that are always present in our surroundings. His motifs are mainly horses, which enable the viewer to rediscover the ordinary through the artist’s eyes. The horses or horse forms can sometimes be true, sometimes fiction, metaphor and become reality or vice versa.
The artist wants you to go on a journey with him in order to discover something special in everyday life. He invites the viewer to keep looking for new elements in his pictures that grow with him because the human soul is always in evolution.
Artworks:
Branca Mario
Mario Branca
Mario Branca was born in Milan in 1977. He completed his studies in sculpture at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in 2001. He lives and works between Piacenza and Milan. He has always been passionate about metalworking techniques and creates his works by forging them directly. His production includes more than 10 monumental sculptures for public spaces and medium and small-format works, in which the lightness of the lines and the colours of the work are the real protagonists.
His research is rooted in the world of childhood, which he reads and interprets through the eyes of writers such as Hemingway, Jules Verne, Eliot, Lewis Carrol and other literary protagonists.
Numerous awards and mentions, including the Zurich club top 30 competition, special mention for sculpture at the last edition of the Wannabee Prize in 2011, and the commission for the monumental sculpture for the façade of the theatre in Pinzolo Madonna di Campiglio (Tn). Multi-year commission for 35 works for Zurich Assicurazioni Milan.
Division.Won the tender in 2018 for the construction of a facility for the cross-country skiing stadium in Tesero (Tn).
Numerous reviews have been written about his work, notably by Luisa Somaini, Maria Livia Brunelli, Emanuele Beluffi, Chiara Canali, Vladek Cwalinski, and Alessandra Redaelli.
Kunstwerke:
Oberbacher Simon
Oberbacher Simon – Woodturner
Kunstwerke:
Kostner Josef
Kostner Josef
Josef Kostner (1933–2017)
Born in Ortisei, Josef Kostner was one of the most charismatic and unconventional figures of contemporary Ladin culture. A versatile artist, he worked as a sculptor, draftsman, poet, and researcher, distinguished by his radical and uncompromising approach.
The Artistic Revolution Trained in the art schools of Val Gardena, Kostner soon rebelled against the local tradition of woodcarving, which he considered too closely tied to the commercial market and sacred craftsmanship. In the 1950s, he was among the founders of the Ruscel group, aiming to modernize Alpine artistic language. His artistic maturity was marked by the use of concrete, a material he used to create gaunt, tormented human figures that expressed the anxiety, pain, and dignity of modern existence.
Bond with Land and Language Kostner was not only a visual innovator but also a pillar of Ladin literature. His poems are celebrated for their bluntness and their ability to denounce the greed of the modern world that threatened the roots of his community. In parallel, he carried out monumental work in recovering toponymy: through interviews with shepherds and farmers, he saved the historical place names of Val Gardena from oblivion, publishing maps that are today considered fundamental documents.
Legacy A teacher for twenty years at the art schools of Selva and Ortisei, he influenced generations of artists. His life was a constant exercise in cultural resistance: he defended nature and the Ladin language against the aggressive transformations of tourism, becoming a symbol of art as a primary civil and moral commitment.
Profaizer Paolo
Profaizer Paolo
Paolo Profaizer was born in Bolzano in 1961. He spent long periods of his childhood in close contact with nature.
Raised in a traditional family, he had to fight for his independence and search for identity during his teenage years. It was during this period that the foundations were laid for his interest in psychology and ethics, which would become central themes in his work alongside environmental and social issues.
He graduated from the D.A.M.S. in Bologna, in the Visual Arts department.
His works are held in private and public collections, including those of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and the Casa di Dante Foundation in Abruzzo.
In 2022, he created Zero-risk.EXE, a permanent installation at the Office of Geology and Materials Testing of the Province of Bolzano.
Since 2019, alongside his artistic practice, he has been running workshops related to his research at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, the Bolzano Museum of Natural Sciences, the San Procolo Museum in Naturno and other public and private institutions.