Sommavilla Sergio
Sergio Sommavilla is an independent artist and sculptor born in 1951 in Brixen (South Tyrol, Italy), where he still lives and works, keeping his personal studio and depot in the historic “Zagler Schmiede” (the old Zagler smithy).
His artistic journey began in Urtijëi (Val Gardena), where he attended the local Art School under the guidance of Luis Piazza, embracing the philosophy of sculpting as a calm, meditative process. In 1968, he moved to Venice to study sculpture at the Magistero d’Arte. Living in Venice during the vibrant and turbulent late 1960s allowed him to immerse himself in modern sculpture; he drew great inspiration from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (discovering original works by Brancusi and Marini), the Venice Biennale, and the Academy of Fine Arts, where figures like Alberto Viani and Emilio Vedova taught. Alongside his artistic career, from 1971 to 2011, Sommavilla worked as an art educator in middle schools across South Tyrol (Toblach, Neustift, Brixen, and Klausen).
He held his first exhibition in 1983. Since then, his sculptures have been widely exhibited both locally and internationally. Highlights of his exhibition history include the “Core” exhibition at the Chateau de Bourscheid in Luxembourg, “Arche im Raum” at the Minoritenkirche in Regensburg, an exhibition at the City Gallery of Brixen, and the organization of the “See-Art” open-air exhibition at Lake Varna.
Sommavilla’s style is defined by an instinctive, profound dialogue with his materials. Over more than three decades, he has experimented with an extraordinarily diverse range of mediums: engobed terracotta, cast bronze, wood, and a vast selection of stones. His works feature hard basalt, granite, Chinese sandstone, Alabaster, Carrara marble, rare Belgian marble (sourced from the remnants of a Late Gothic altar), and Bellerophon Ulrici, a demanding local stone from his homeland. His creative process transitions from initial sketches in Moleskine notebooks to heavy studio work with grinders and chisels, allowing the final shape to emerge by listening to what the natural raw material reveals to him.
