Piero Cavellini, the friend of art who walked with Sirmione

With sadness and gratitude, we remember Piero Cavellini, a central figure in Brescia’s contemporary art scene, who recently passed away.
Born in 1946, he was a gallery owner, publisher, curator, writer, and teacher, dedicating his life to experimentation and the dissemination of an artistic consciousness capable of engaging with the world. His vision of art, understood as a vital expression of culture and a means of awakening consciences, has influenced entire generations and left a profound legacy.

The connection with Sirmione and public art

The Municipality of Sirmione has had the fortune and pleasure of collaborating several times with Piero Cavellini on the public art exhibition Pietra & CO – Public Art in Sirmione. This exhibition, which continues today, has found Cavellini as one of its key inspirations.
A conscious heir to the innovative spirit of his father Guglielmo Achille Cavellini, Piero advanced a concept of art as a public gesture, capable of existing outside of conventional spaces, immersed in the landscape, in everyday life, and in the community.

In the memory of Piero Cavellini, two key notes resonate:

• True art is courage—the courage to propose new languages, openings, risks, and deviations.
• Art is community—a dialogue with the city, with the viewer, with the place.

Thank you, Piero, for opening frontiers and for believing in Sirmione as a place to experiment, engage in dialogue, and create meaning.

In the gallery: Piero Cavellini in Sirmione on the occasion of the “Towards the Centenary of GAC” happening, September 2013