Elio Ciol

About artist

Elio Ciol was born in 1929 in Casarsa della Delizia (Pordenone - Italy) where he still lives and works today. He started working as a young man in his father's photographic workshop, where he acquired extensive technical experience and developed his own way of interpreting landscapes and works of art. Between 1955 and 1965 he was a member of the Udine film club. During this period he made several short-form documentaries, which won prizes at competitions in Montecatini and Salerno. From 1955 to 1960 he was a member of the "La Gondola" photography club in Venice. In 1962 he took part as a set photographer in the film Gli Ultimi by Vito Pandolfi and Father David Maria Turoldo. In 1963, in Milan, he collaborated with Luigi Crocenzi to set up the "Fondazione Arnaldo e Fernando Altimani per lo studio e la sperimentazione sul linguaggio per immagini". In the same year he exhibited at the Ambrosianeum in Milan the photos from one of his reports on the activities of Gioventù Studentesca in the Milanese lowlands. From the 1950s onwards he developed a personal language in the field of landscape photography, which has been constantly evolving until recent times and has led to the production of a long series of photographic books and exhibition catalogues. During the same period, the professional activity of his studio was mainly dedicated to the production of documentation campaigns of works of art in Italy and Europe, which led Elio Ciol to collaborate on an impressive number of publications in the field of art history.

To date, Elio Ciol has exhibited his photographs in over 170 solo and 129 group exhibitions. His images have illustrated 225 books.

His most significant exhibitions include the one-man show in 1999, promoted by the Civic Museums and the Municipality of Udine in the church of San Francesco, and the one promoted by the Municipality of Padua in 2002 in the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà. In 2000, at the same time, he exhibited "Immagini d'Italia" in New York and "L'incanto della visione" in Paris. In 2004, the Province of Pordenone and the Municipality of Casarsa della Delizia promoted an exhibition of his most recent works composed of diptychs and triptychs: 'Il fascino del vero'. In 2007 he was invited to an anthological exhibition at the 'Meeting for Friendship among Peoples' in Rimini. In 2009, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, the Province of Pordenone, the Municipality of Pordenone and the Municipality of Casarsa, on the occasion of his 80 years and 60 years of professional activity, promoted three exhibitions: at Villa Manin di Passariano "Elio Ciol. Gli anni del Neorealismo" at Villa Manin in Passariano, "La luce incisa" at the Pier Paolo Pasolini Study Centre in Casarsa and "Il volto e la parola" in the church of San Francesco in Pordenone. In the same year a personal retrospective of his entire oeuvre was hosted by the Centro Candiani in Mestre: "Terre di poesia". In 2011 his exhibition "Assisi: la densità del silenzio" was opened in Moscow, at the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, by the Italian Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi on the occasion of the Italy-Russia year. The exhibition then went on tour and was shown at RosPhoto in St Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Salekhard. It then travelled to Tokyo and Assisi. Subsequently she was requested in Arezzo for the event Arezzo&Fotografia 2011 Also in 2011 she was invited to exhibit her photos at the 54th Venice Biennale, Italian Pavilion, in Trieste. From 1 December 2011 to 22 January 2012 his anthological exhibition was shown at the Classic Gallery in Moscow. In February 2012 he was invited to take part in the major exhibition "Il fuoco della natura" (The fire of nature) in the Salone degli Incanti in Trieste with two 5-metre-long blow-ups: "Concrete abstractions" and in April 2012 in the collective exhibition Glocal3 at the Centro Culturale Candiani in Mestre. Again in 2012 the Italian Cultural Institute in Moscow promoted, together with the Foundation of the Moscow Art Biennale, a tour of the exhibition "The Face and the Word" in the cities of Irkustk, Novosibirsk and Moscow. In December 2012 Cinema Zero, for the 50th anniversary of the film "The Last", curated the exhibition: "Turoldo and the Last" 50 years after its first release in the photos of Elio and Stefano Ciol, in Trieste in the Palace of the Regional Council, in Pordenone in the headquarters of Cinema Zero and in Casarsa della Delizia in the Pasolini Theatre. In March 2013 he exhibited in the Esedra di Levante of Villa Manin di Passariano (UD) the exhibition Conoscersi per Riconoscersi promoted by the 5 Rotary clubs of the Province of Pordenone; in July he was invited to exhibit in Ptui (Slovenia), on the occasion of the 11th Festival of Art Stays, a selection of photos of "The years of Neorealism and The engraved light". Again in 2013 he exhibited in Arles the exhibition 'La luce incisa' in the Archbishop's Palace. From 6 December 2013 to 12 January 2014 he was invited to exhibit at the Galleria La Loggia in Koper an exhibition entitled 'Anima Mundi'. From 18 October to 30 November he participated with his exhibition "Gli anni del Neorealismo" exhibited in Legnano/Milan -Palazzo Leone da Perego- at the Europhotofestival organised by the Archivio Fotografico Italiano. In 2015, from 6 February to 12 April, the Salizada Gallery in Venice exhibited at the Tre Oci, and in its own Gallery, a series of his landscape photos; while in Lugano, at the Museo delle Culture, on 3 March the exhibition "Gli Adoratori della Croce. Armenia 2005"; from 20 March to 23 May, a selection of images from "Gli anni del Neorealismo" and "La luce incisa" was presented in the Pavelhaus Laafeld - Bad Radkesburg Austria. From 28 October to 14 November, for the 40th anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini's death, his photos were exhibited at the Galleria Giovanni Bonelli, Milan - in the exhibition "Pasolini, il poeta che sfidò il nulla"- curated by the Centro Culturale di Milano. From 7 November 2015 to 28 February 2016 at the Sagittaria Gallery of the Centro Iniziative Culturali in Pordenone the exhibition "Assisi. La densità del silenzio" and then, as part of the XXV International Festival of Sacred Music -from 1 October to 13 November- at the Abbey of Santa Maria in Sylvis in Sesto al Reghena "Il canto della pietra, Armenia 2005". On 28 December in Casarsa during the City Council meeting, in the Council Chamber of the municipal residence of Palazzo Burovich de Zmajevich, his donation of over 739 framed photographic works was made public, which will be the start of a photographic collection in the city. In 2017 in Aquileia the exhibition "Glances at Palmyra" was shown and in Casarsa, from May to October, "Elio Ciol in International Museums and Photographic Collections". On that occasion, RAI 3 dedicated a 22-minute film to him. In 2018 -from 20 April to 17 June- he was invited to exhibit in Reggio Emilia as part of "fotografia Europea 2018", in the Bishop's Palace and the Baptistery, an exhibition of his work entitled "Nel soffio della storia" (In the Breath of History) which had an exceptional participation of visitors (15000), and a catalogue of all the photos exhibited was published. In 2019, the MAMM (Multimedia Art Museum ) in Moscow directed by Olga Sviblova is dedicating a sumptuous retrospective to him: 161 works taken between 1950 and 1990. In Grosseto -19 October 24 November- during the "Beauty Week", he took part in the exhibition "Orizzonti di luce"-catalogue "Elio Ciol" curated by Giovanni Gazzaneo and in Rome at the Ara Pacis Museum in the exhibition "Aquileia 2200 Porta di Roma verso i Balcani e l'Oriente" with 43 photographs. On 3 March 2021, to celebrate his 92nd birthday, the town of Casarsa della Delizia promoted the exhibition "Respiri di viaggio" (Breaths of travel) March-August.

Recent awards include 1991, Citizen of the Year at Casarsa della Delizia. 1992, Kraszna-Krausz Prize (London) for the Assisi photobook, tied with books by Sebastião Salgado, Paul Strand and Irving Penn. 1993, San Marco Prize in Pordenone. 1995, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Fotografia Special Prize in Spilimbergo 1996, Kraszna-Krausz Prize (London) for the Venice photo book, tied with Robert Doisneau, Erich Hartmann and Naomi Rosenblum. 1997, World Press Photo in Amsterdam, third prize in the category "Nature and Environment". 1999, Nadal Furlan Buia Prize. 2001, "Behind the lens: a life", Foto Padova 2001. 2003, Award Foto Padova 2003 for the best photo book for the volume "Ascoltare la luce". 2014 Rotary Prize "Amicizia e Servizio", San Vito al Tagliamento.

His photographs are in these museums
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;
International Museum of Photography, Rochester, New York;
Center for Creative Photography Tucson, Arizona;
Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin;
The Art Museum, Princeton University, New Jersey;
Centre Canadien d'Architecture, Montréal, Canada;
The Art Institute of Chicago;
Victoria & Albert Museum, London;
The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth;
RosPhoto, St Petersburg;
Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi;
Civici Musei e Gallerie di Storia e Arte, Udine;
Fondazione Concordia Sette - Pordenone
Pro Civitate Christiana Gallery of Contemporary Art, Assisi.
A.S. Pushkin Museum - Moscow
Museum of Cultures, Lugano
AMM - Moscow
Vatican Museums
His best-known photo books are
Assisi Ed. Messaggero - Padua 1969
Elio Ciol. Italia black and white Ed. Jaca Book - Milan 1984
Friuli VeneziaGiulia A small universe Ed. Magnus - Udine 1984
Assisi Ed. Federico Motta - Milan 1991 (in 4 languages - Kraszna Krausz prize.
Venezia Ed. Federico Motta - Milan 1995 (in 3 languages - Krazna Krausz Prize)
Where infinity is present Ed. Roberto Vattori 1996
Elio Ciol fifty years of photography Ed. Fedrico Motta -Milan 1999
Elio Ciol. L'eschantement de la vision Ed. Campanotto - Udine 2000
Turoldo and "The Last". Elio Ciol photographer of the scene Ed. Federico Motta 2002
Elio Ciol. Ascoltare la luce Ed. Il Leggio Sottomarina di Chioggia 2003
Il fascino del vero Ed. Antiga - Cornuda 2004
Back to Venice Ed. Punto Marte 2008
La luce incisa Ed. Punto Marte 2008
Elio Ciol. Gli anni del neorealismo Ed. Allemandi - Turin 2009
The face and the word Ed. Allemandi - Turin 2009
Assisi. La densità del silenzio Ed. Punto Marte 2012
Elio Ciol in Museums and International Photographic Collections - Ed. Punto Marte 2017
Elio Ciol - In the breath of history - Ed. Tecnograf Reggio Emilia -2018