Biographical notes:

Vito Pancella was born in 1945 in Lanciano (Chieti, Italy), where he studied art. He later moved to Rome and took classes at the Academy, where he attended courses taught by the sculptor Pericle Fazzini and the engraver Lino Bianchi Barriviera. An instructor for 20 years, first at the Art school in Bari and then in Rome, Pancella had a studio in the Italian capital and actively participated in the city's cultural life for many years. For some time now he has lived in Abruzzo.

Pancella has exhibited his work for over 30 years, through both solo and joint shows in various cities both in Italy and abroad. His career boasts many prestigious exhibitions, among them: the Awards at Avezzano, Sulmona, Vasto, Salvi di Sassoferrato, Pontano di Napoli, the Roman Biennial Exhibition of Figurative Arts, the Pescara Biennial Exhibition of Sacred Art, Current Alternatives in L'Aquila, Exhibition Art in Bologna and Expo Art in Bari, Europ Art in Geneva, Herbst Messe in Frankfurt, Art Multiple in Dusseldorf, the University of Jerusalem, Art Miami in Florida.

He has also gained great recognition and won many awards. In 1968 he won a scholarship to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome; in 1975 he captured First Prize for sculpture at the First "A. Lucarelli" Liberation XXX International Art Exhibition in Bari; in 1976 he was awarded First Prize for sculpture at the Third Biennial Exhibit of Sacred Art in San Giovanni Rotondo; in 1977 he won Second Prize for sculpture in Salvi di Sassoferrato; and in 1986 he won First Prize at the "Press and Promotion" for Abruzzo for his success in the field of sculpture in Italy the year before. In 1996 he won Third Prize at the "Artistas del Mundo" Exhibition Hall, "Juan B. Castagnino" Museum of Rosario (Argentina); in 1999 he won First Prize at the "Ermanno Casoli" International Sculpture Show in Serra San Quirico (Ancona).

In 1992 he executed the Flaiano d'oro for the International Prize (by the same name) for Cinema in Pescara, in 1993 the Delfino d'oro for screenwriters in the same Adriatic city and in 2000 the Golden Wings Award for Alitalia North America.

An outstanding graphic artist, Pancella has illustrated books and magazines, as well as portfolios with his etchings.

The bibliography of his work is vast and numerous prestigious critics have written about him. In 1995 Ghelfi Publishers of Verona produced an exhaustive monograph on his art, with a critical introduction by Raffaele De Grada.

Updated: 23/09/2001