Sandro Chia

Sandro Chia is an Italian artist best known for his neo-expressionist paintings and sculptures. His figurative works are distinguished by dynamic compositions and a bold, expressive use of line and colour.

Chia graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 1969. Following extensive travels through Europe, Turkey, and India, he settled in Rome in 1970 and began exhibiting his work the following year. Around the beginning of the 1980s, together with Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco De Maria, and Mimmo Paladino, he became one of the leading figures of the Italian neo-expressionist movement known as Transavanguardia, a term coined by the Italian critic Achille Bonito Oliva.

Chia later moved to New York, where he lived for more than two decades and taught at the School of Visual Arts. His work has been exhibited internationally at major museums and institutions, including Tate Modern in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museo Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City, and the Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

In 1980, Chia participated in both documenta 7 in Kassel and the Venice Biennale, further establishing his position within the international contemporary art scene.