Otello Scatolini

Born in Rome on 21 March 1964, Otello Scatolini began to serve as a young workshop boy in the studio of his father, Livio, a sculptor, at a very early age. In his father’s workshop, he first learned the basics of sculptural technique and then started to work as a sculptor assistant for the scenographies that his father created for some of the most important theatre directors throughout Italy.

After graduating at the 2nd Artistic High School in Rome, Otello enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts of the Italian Capital, where he graduated in sculpture in 1984 after attending the courses of Emilio Greco and Venanzo Crocetti. During his studies he never stopped working in his father’s workshop and in the workshops of other sculptors, refining the technique he learned in the Academy. After graduating, he continued his activity, alternating the artisan work with the artistic research; this has led him, over the years, to a research on materials based on the contamination between innovation and tradition.

Over the years, he has maintained personal and professional relationships with artists Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Mario Schifano. His works have been exhibited in numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Italy and around the world. On the occasion of the Jubilee of 2000 he created, commissioned by the Vatican, “L’Urna di San Paolo” (The Urn of Saint Paul), a bronze fusion for the closing of the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, in Rome.

Since 2008 Otello Scatolini has been chairman of Rome’s Università dei Marmorari, an organisation he joined at the age of twenty following in his father’s footsteps. As chairman, Otello Scatolini aims to continue the traditions of the past, the craft and manual skill so as not to lose the practical and precious knowledge of the artisan workshops.

On his website, www.otelloscatolini.com, it is possible to admire a selection of his works.