Alik Cavaliere

Alik Cavaliere (1926–1998) was an Italian sculptor. He spent his life researching the meaning of life, freedom, nature, and history. An atheist and libertarian, he didn't believe in any preconceived, final structure of society, the environment, or the universe. Nor did he follow any art movements of his time, although he knew all of them and was temporarily influenced by some. He made his own way, narrating his perceptions with witty irony, through sculptures made up of a wide range of materials, disposed in a chaotic labyrinth which visitors are forced to traverse without being able to find a definitive point of view.

Biography

Alik Cavaliere was born on 5 August 1926 in Rome, to Alberto Cavaliere, a southern Italian poet and politician, and Fanny Kaufman, a Russian Hebrew sculptor who escaped from the revolution.

After spending part of his childhood between Rome and Paris, he settled in Milan in 1938. In 1942, after high school, he enrolled in Brera Academy, where he was a pupil of Francesco Messina. There he met Giacomo Manzù, Achille Funi, Dario Fo, Bobo Piccoli, and Marino Marini, of whom he first became assistant and eventually succeeded as chair of Sculpture.

His first exhibit was in 1945, at a young artists show. His first personal exhibition was in 1951, at Galleria Colonna of Milan. He exhibited twice at Venice Biennale, in 1964 and 1972, both times in a personal room. He undertook teaching duty in Brera for over 30 years, eventually becoming director. A noteworthy retrospective of his works was held at the Royal Palace of Milan in 1992, named I luoghi circostanti (Surroundings).

From 27 June to 9 September 2018, Palazzo Reale hosted another Alik Cavaliere exhibition. Entitled the green universe, the anthology focused on the theme of nature, reconstructing the artist's journey through rendering aspects of luxuriance and suffering by representing plants.

He was buried at Cimitero Monumentale di Milano and his name is mentioned in the Famedio (hall of fame).