MIMMO LEGATO was born in Bova Marina (RC). He takes a diploma at Liceo Artistico “Mattia Preti” in
Reggio Calabria, and then he completes his studies at Academy of Fine Arts in Reggio Calabria with
Professor Giuseppe Marino. He is a teacher of Pictorial Disciplines, Artistic Anatomy and Visual
Communication at Liceo Artistico. He is the Art Director of “Art Study Space” and deals with editorship and artistic review in museums; he also selects talented young men on the scene of contemporary art.

He has been invited as art expert in several forums, symposiums, meetings, debates, periodicals, conferences. Legato' main concern is to explain the role of art in a changing society. Legato lives and works in Rende (CS), Italy. We want to focus themain phases of Mimmo Legato's artistic and
intellectual background developed during his school years, his teaching experiences and the concept of art he was daily facing. His first approach with this world began in the town of Mantua, where the “Lubiam Prize” was announced, a pictorial competition between Italian and European academies. Legato, still a student, receives his first appreciation from cultural and artistic celebrities. The first timid inititatives are going to besketched in this environment.

In the mid-70s he was appointed teacher at LiceoArtistico Statale in Cosenza. Legato was delighted with this news and he moves with enthusiasm to the Brutian town. Here he enjoys the modern lights of the town, the exciting city life, the progress of his professional life together with his young students. Between the '70s and the '80s, a strong cultural excitement was happening producing a very active progress in the social classes. Legato broadens his academic knowledge thanks to his visits in museums, galleries, libraries, art exhibitions (classic, modern, and conntemporary) always trying direct and enthusiastic working experiences to be a witness of his time. Therefore the artist deeepens his pictorial research of a whole artistic renewal identifying the right elements: brushwork, enlightening grazing, chromatic phrasing in order to confirm his “ownartistic language” in that period of time.

In the meantime the personal and collective exhibitions have multiplied, from Cosenza to Naples,
Florence, Rome and Turin, where Legato states his stylistic features as a result of his researches. A type of “challenge” between the avant-garde and contemporary world. An imaginative space between
vision and contemplation. We can say a shape dominated by a sort of chromatic magma that seems to
envelop everything like a dream breaking the plastic material. At the end of the '80s Legato meets Luigi
Pace, a teacher and journalist at “Unità”, a well-known critic of visual arts.

An important contact for the artist since Pace reveals in his elegant and refined style, a new dimension
of art, different perspectives and themes. The review written for Legato's exhibition at the “Didascalicon” Literary Circle in 1989 states: “…the personality of Mimmo Legato can be defined ougoing in the environment of the middle-class towm where he works. Nothing wrong because Legato is gripped by a dark and dramatic interior tension and by his love for the contemporary world. He does not want to give his art an authorship. He just wants to find images coming from his unconscious in searching for freedom.” In the extract, the journalist grasps the sensitivity, the aims and the search for escaping nomadism and freedom typical of Legato's soul. In fact, after some artistic events, the meeting on “Pittura murale” [Wall painting] in Diamante (1986), edited by Giorgio Seveso; the invitation of the writer and journalist Rosa Maria Ancona to illustrate one of her publications, (1987) “Buttitta, profilo di poeta elzeviro”, with articles by Melo Freni, Ettore Mo, Renato Guttuso, R. Minore, F. Lo Pipero, reviewed by “Il Giornale di Sicilia”, “L'Unità”, “L'ora di Palermo”, “Il Mattino”, “La Nazione”, and right then the exhibition at the Gallery “La Bilancia” (1988), in which he offers an artistic journey inspired by Freud, “L'oggettivazione del Vissuto” [The Objectification of Life] edited by the historian Luigi Verardi, an artistic exposition takes off in the art of Legato, a scene that slows down the meaning of representation till the distortion. A kind of passage from “the matter to the spirit”. This is the highest result, in my opinion, reached by Mimmo Legato, in this phase - the art critic Gianfranco Labrosciano states, in one of his essays - since the artist describes the hidden matter till the inconsistency of the pictorial scene”.

The following exhibition at “Palais Des'Art” in Sanremo (198), “L'astrattismo in
movimento” [Abstractionism in movement], points out both in the chromatic texture and in the imaginative content.  The '90s confirm Legato rising among the national artistic painters. His style steeped in colour-form-light-sound cancels the planning course to become a floating unique form building the basic frame of his work.

“Legato's language transfigures the real in symbolic emblems that witness, through his “bright”
palette, a full maturity of engagement and brilliance. (Pietro De Leo, historian). In the mean time Legato
moves to Cetraro's Istituto D'Arte (1990) as a Pictorial Disciplines teacher and then he goes back to the Liceosome years later. However, Legato is changing the direction of his work towards an independent
abstraction, reinforced by an extraordinary chromatic sensitivity, a language that opens into a new aesthetic dimension. The National artistic curtain rises over his action. The Chianciano gallery “Arte” (SI) organizes a series of exhibitions and Legato is invited together with the most relevant National and International artistic celebrities, such as Aligi Sassu, Emilio Greco, AlbertoSughi, Franco Azzinnari, Ugo Attardi, Mario Schifano,Holzknecht  Emmerich and many others. The display is called “Arte Figurativa         Contemporanea” [Contemporary Figurative Art]. In the same year Legato is invited to Florenceby the Director of “Palazzo degli Affari” to the event “Omaggio a Firenze” [Homage to Florence]. In the same time he participates to the prize “Arte Ambiente” [ArtEnvironment] at Arona (NO) edited by the art critic Donato Conenna.

In 1993 he paints the historic town of Castrovillari. The image is published in the supplement to the
Telecom Italia guide “Tutto città”. In 1994 he participates in a contemporary art exhibition invited by the gallery “La Telaccia” in Turin. But Calabria has always been in the heart of Mimmo Legato. So when
Legato is invited to exhibit Praia a Mare in the local museum, he accepts very enthusiastically. The same feelings are displayed in 1996 when an exhibition of the artist is organized in the apartments of state of Palazzo Medievale in Rende by the Assessorato alla Cultura. The exhibition is entitled “La realtà Revisionabile” [The Revised Reality], edited by the art critic Gianfranco Labrosciano.

In the years 1997/98, Legato goes back to Florence to partecipate in the XV Premio
Firenze. The display is located in Palazzo Vecchio and is sponsored by the Tuscany Region and the European Parliament. From now onwards Mimmo Legato's artistic activity is opened to many challenges and events that tell how the artist is a pioneer of contemporary art. Between 2000 and 2007 the artist is present at the 5th Biennale of Rome, located in the Bramante Hall, edited
by C.I.A.C.; the exhibition in S. Maria della Grazie Church in Rome; the exhibition at “Castello Murat”
sponsored by the Pizzo Calabro municipality. The exhibition at “Palazzo Corvaja” in Taormina; the 33th
Art and Poetry display at Chiostro S. Agostino in Bergamo sponsored by FARA; the contemporary art
exhibitions at “Athena” Gallery in Catania and “La Pergola” Gallery in Florence, edited by Pierfrancesco
Listri; his participation in “Premio Seetal”, Kunstforum International, Meeisterschwanden (CH)
seal the identity of the artist in the evolution of contemporary, national and international art.

A full appreciation of his work happens in June 2004 when Legato is contacted by two publishing houses, S.I.P.L.E.D.A. and EDITALIA, both belonging to Gruppo Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome [State Printing Office], determined to promote his work and image through their own advertising channels. Considering these striking results let us analyze the pictorial contents of the artist to establish the thrust that gives so much interest in the world of arts. The line is almost cancelled from space, an irradiation of light and a feeling of unrest envelop his works. The signs are very quick, the impasto melts, the touch becomes thin till its inaccessibility. The Avantgarde currents (Impressionism, Futurism, Surrealism) that Legato used to elaborate his patterns, have undergone a sort of purification, the plastic meaning magically dissolves. He is at last a “missionary” in the world of a new beauty, of a pictorial language easily recognizable. He can be defined as a faithful weaver ofhis time. Two meetings have had a great meaning for Mimmo Legato.

The first one with Luigi Tallarico, an historian and art critic who in 2001 won the special prize of the presidency of the Council of Ministers; President of Centro-Studi “Futurismo-oggi”, in 2002, on the occasion of the Internationl Prize of art, located in Pizzo Calabro (VV) together with Luigi Pace. The
distinguished Professor expresses his interest in the pictorial themes and content of the artist, and influentially he cares about his initiatives and writes essays in annotated catalogues and monographs. His exhibition located in the Swabian Castle in S. Severina (KR) has been edited by the municipality of S. Severina (2008) with the preface by Luigi Tallarico entitled “Lo spazio fluttuante” [The floating space]. The art critic Gianfranco Labrosciano is at the exhibition. He is the editor of the exhibition and he wrote “La realtà revisionata” [The Revised Reality]. From now owards the relationship with the distinguished critic and historian Tallarico deepens. In fact Tallarico attends in “Palazzo Valentini” Rome, together with the President of the Province of Rome Zingaretti, and Councillor Nicola Galloro, the exhibition “Universi senza confini” [Universes without frontiers], art a universal language, Italy twinned with Egypt edited by the Province. Legato meets, together with other artists, the eastern artistic culture by Adam Henein, Al Ashkar, Maarouf. In 2009 the artist is invited to 5th Biennale d'Arte“Magna Grecia” located in the well-known Byzantine collegiate Church of S. Adriano in S. Demetrio Corone (CS). The exhibition is edited by the art critic Boris Brollo. In 2010 the critic and president of Ferrara “Pro Art” Association Paolo Orsatti invites Legato to the exhibition entitled “Cromaticos” located in the Estensi Castle (FE). Orsatti writes an essay in the catalogue entitled“L'azione cromatica nell'Arte di Legato” [The chromatic action in the art of Legato]. The art critic describes the maker of these “actions” inside a new flowering of art. The mostly recurring titles are: the artist of the: “Shape light”, “Revised Reality”, “Abstraction without words” “Floating Space”,“Assonance and correspondence”, and at last, “Vertical harmony”. These are the most recurring phrases that characterize the work of this artist who is taking his place among those penetrating, educated and advanced painters. 2010 is the year of the prize “Eccellenze in Calabria”, founded by the Association for art and culture “CONVIVIO”. Legato receives testimonials when the book “Economia e turismo culturale nell'era della globalizzazione” [Economy and cultural tourism in the era of globalization] is presented by his author, Alessandro Guarascio, a well-known scholar who deals with Calabrian and Italian territory. From 2010 to 2013 Legato travels through his “possible worlds”. He exhibits in many galleries: “Le Muse” (CS) - his journey is entitled “Il colore come significante” [The colour as signifiant] with essays by Luigi Tallarico, the writer Gregorio Viglialoro, the writer, critic and
journalist Giulia Fresca; “La Spadarina” in Piacenza; at Villa Gualino, Torino, “Italia Arte”, in an exhibition edited by the art critic Folco. Legato participates in the exhibition of contemporary art Prize “Medusa Aurea”, sponsored by A.I.A.M. (Art Modern International Academy) where famous artists showed their works, such as Manzù, Trotti, Fazzini, Katz, Nan Yan and others. In 2012 Legato carries out an original itinerary entitled “Incontri con l'arte contemporanea” [Encounters with contemporary art] at the “Museo del Presente” in Rende, edited by the Rotary Club Rende. Many celebrities are present: the distinguished historian of art Luigi Tallarico, the manager of an art gallery Enzo Le Pera, the art critic Tonino Sicoli, the collector and writer Gregorio Viglialoro, the critic and journalist Giulia Fresca, the president of Rende Rotary Club Carlo Tansi. A monograph entitled “Metà e Fisicà” is displayed. The second meeting takes place at the “Museo Vegliaturo” in Acri (CS), edited by the Acri Rotary Club and the “Padula Foundation”

Events in the year 2013: the National Prize of art, Città di Novara, edited by Vincenzo Scardigno, and
“Percorsi d'arte in Calabria” [Routes of art in Calabria] at the “Museo del Presente”, from an idea by Enzo Le Pera, the founder of the gallery “Il Triangolo” (CS). The year 2014 is great and magnificent concerning his work now projected into higher levels of contemporary art. in fact the MIBACT, together with Historical, Artistic and Ethnoanthropological Heritage Office of Calabria, devotes a review at “Palazzo Arnone”, edited by the director of the National Gallery Rosanna Caputo whose foreword, written by Luigi Tallarico, is entitled “L'unità dei contrari” [The unity of contraries] thats remind Heraclitus' philosophy about the secret law of the world which stands in the relation ship between two contrary concepts. “…

We can confirm, in the historian's point of view, that Mimmo Legato's intuition was to emphasize how emotions are strictly related to the plastic and dynamic structure in a never ending search for beauty”.
 The importance of the event can be displayed by about 114 international networks,
from South America to all the Mediterranean countries dealt with the event. In the same year Mimmo Legato was awarded by the municipal Culture Commission of Cosenza the honour “Cosenza e i suoi talenti” [Cosenza and his talents] that displays a particular attention on those enlarged pictorial languages that characterize the artistic regional, National and International panorama. The year 2015 is full of International concern.

Legato is invited by the cultural association “Aura” of FVG; he displays together with many artists from
overseas countries joined in the exhibition of sacred art in Sesto al Reghena (PN) located in S.Maria Abbey; in S. Stefano di Camastra (ME) he is involved in the artistic event “Dall'amore del creare a un arte contemporaneamente contabilizzata”, [From the love o creating to an art simultaneously computed], at Palazzo Trabia, edited by the art critic Felicia Lo Cicero. In the mean time Legato's painting takes an International perspective in the world of visual arts. Scandinavia is the country which gives name t o the exhibition entitled “ScandinaviArt”. The monographic catalogue, '' Inside and outside the space '', published by Art Study Space Italia, Cultural Association, is presented in two programmatic artistic events: the first organized by the Marano Art Gallery – Cosenza – the second coordinated by the Museo del Presente in Rende. In both presentations, with relative pictorial itineraries, the author of the catalogue's introduction, Fernando Miglietta, art theorist and critic, analyses in detail the contents of Mimmo Legato's poetics with his personality of a contemporary artist. In the meantime, the artist continues his expositive program in Italian and European galleries and museums. In 2022, on the suggestion of the reference galleries, a new monograph is published:''Attraversando l'inconscio''. The volume narrates the authoritativeness of Mimmo Legato's work, contextualized by illustrious critics and theorists. Of great importance is the chromatic intrigue represented by the shadow figure and the scenic landscapes between spirituality and dream. As well as the unmistakable stylistic figure of the author. The text is presented by the Rotary Club Rende at the Sala degli Specchi of the Province of Cosenza, edited by Glislain Mayaud, Art Critic, Marta Petrusewicz, Historian, Teacher at UNICAL, Giulia Fresca, art critic and journalist. For the occasion, a pictorial path was set up that illustrates the work of Mimmo Legato.

In 2024, on the occasion of a cultural meeting with the Director of the National Library of Cosenza, Adele Bonofiglio, a thematic round table was organized regarding the visual arts in contemporary times. In this comparison, the catalogue, "Crossing the unconscious '' was the subject of debate. Glislain Mayaud, art theorist, Enzo Ferraro, literary critic and writer, Rita Fiordalisi art historian, Stefano Vecchione Historian and journalist discussed of the catalogue. The analyses carried out, indelibly fix the artistic identity of Mimmo Legato on the stages of modern and contemporary art, an artist far from the hermeticism of poets, but reflective on the power of images. Matter and volume of a visual discourse. It is, the esteemed speakers underline, a profound theater of ideas and debates between the artistic and editorial world. So much so that, remaining in the wake of diffusion, the publication of a new compendium is imminent and will be published during 2025. '' Profondità di superficie'' is the title. The catalogue think back to, once again, the inner depth of Mimmo Legato's thought in art, investigating the images that are based on words. Legato's artistic journey continues, passionate, releasing that transversal love for culture. Always withthat ambivalent pictorial touch.

On the other hand, the artist, a bit’ poet, a bit’ shaman, makes use of the close dependencies and complementarities existing between seeing and working. Dual gathering, enchanted, which brings out in his latest works, intimate and personal memories. The volume will be officially presented by the publishers at the De Cardona Congress Hall, located within the BCC Mediocrati Rende Banking Institute. Distinguished speakers from the world of culture and art will be present. The book will also be disseminated and communicated critically within schools, cultural associations, universities, and museums.

                                                                                                               Traduzione

                                                                                                               Francesco Naccarato / Antonella Zicarelli