PLEASE NOTE – EXHIBITION OPENING POSTPONED TO JUNE 19
ITALIAN HERITAGE MONTH
From Thought to Form
Silvio Mastrodascio
OPENING
Thursday, June 19 | 6:30PM
FREE EVENT | REGISTRATION REQUIRED
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE OPENING
EXHIBITION
June 20 to July 31, 2025
Monday to Friday
10AM to 4PM
FREE ADMISSION | OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI CULTURA
496 Huron St | Toronto ON
From Thought to Form offers a comprehensive retrospective of Silvio Mastrodascio’s body of work spanning the last four decades. Silvio Mastrodascio’s sculptural work, primarily in bronze, delves into the complexities of the female form, capturing moments of introspection. Mastrodascio’s figures—ballerinas, mothers, and young women—embody a delicate balance between strength and vulnerability, often portrayed in moments that suggest an unfolding narrative. His sculptures are noted for their technical precision and emotive resonance, reflecting a deep commitment to the figurative tradition while engaging with contemporary themes.
The renowned Italian art critic Maurizio Calvesi described Mastrodascio’s art with these words: “Mastrodascio explores in a singular way the representation of women and stages his own protean feminine universe: expressive portraits of women and young girls caught in moments of bewilderment or melancholy. Faces made natural by the softness with which the clay is shaped into terracotta, capable of conveying the tenderness of flesh, the sweetness, gentleness, or pride in their gaze, the ripples in their hair where light and shadow seek a distinctly pictorial effect.” And further: “With a technique that reveals a craft perfected over years of experience and labor, they come to us as living beings. Mastrodascio’s art works are the equivalent of a literary ‘verism’ work in that it depicts in a very realistic way the human figure transforming it in an artifact, treating bronze as if it were clay and transforming the metallic surface into a yielding substance, upon which light breaks and creates dynamic, vibrant effects.”
ABOUT SILVIO MASTRODASCIO
Silvio Mastrodascio was born in Cerqueto, in the province of Teramo. In 1964, he graduated from the High School of Teramo and moved to Rome, where he enrolled at the university and attended for two years.
In the 1970s, he relocated to Toronto, Canada, where his artistic interests first manifested in the field of painting before gradually shifting more fully toward the plastic arts. In 1978, under the patronage of the Italian Cultural Institute of Toronto, he exhibited his first paintings. That same year in Montreal, his works were presented at the Italian Pavilion of “Terre des Hommes.”
His inclination for sculpture became increasingly evident through practice and ongoing training, leading in 1994 to an honorary degree from the College of Fine Arts in Toronto.
In 1995, the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery in Toronto held a retrospective of his works from 1985 to 1995. At the same time, his sculptures were exhibited at the Gallery of Modern Art in Spoleto.
From this point forward, Mastrodascio began an intense period of exhibitions in prestigious public and private venues across North America and Europe. In 1997, his works were featured in a show at Brampton City Hall. In 1998, he exhibited in Winnipeg at the Bayatt Gallery and the Gaboto Center, as well as in Sassoferrato, at the 48th International Art Exhibition. That fall, he showed his work at the National Art Club in New York and the Robert Mede Gallery in Toronto.
In 2001, his works were exhibited at the Chapelle Historique du Bon-Pasteur Museum in Montreal. That same year, the Italian Cultural Institute of Toronto organized a major retrospective of his work.
In 2002, he created two large-scale works commissioned by the Bell Mobility Center in Toronto, which were installed at their headquarters. He also sculpted, in bronze, the lunette of the rear portal of the Cathedral of Teramo, completing the Annunciation originally created by master Venanzio Crocetti.
In 2003, he held an important solo exhibition in Milan at Spazio Guicciardini, and another at Villa Manin di Passariano in the province of Udine. Both exhibitions were widely covered by national and local press, as well as radio and television broadcasters. In the fall of that same year, to mark Italy’s six-month presidency of the European Union, he was invited by the Italian Cultural Institute in Munich to exhibit at the Künstlerhaus, and one of his sculptures was installed at the Italian Embassy in Berlin.
On commission from the Italian Trade Commission and Team Italia, he created the prestigious Italy–Canada Invest Award trophies for the years 2003, 2004, and 2005. On behalf of Alitalia Toronto, he also sculpted productivity awards for agents.
In 2004, he created a monumental bronze work for the city of Teramo, featuring twelve figures, placed in the city center. Two other works—a bronze fountain and a two-meter-tall sculpture dedicated to the memory of Padre d’Andrea—were commissioned by the Municipality of Montorio al Vomano in the province of Teramo.
In 2005, he exhibited in Grado, organized by the Cultural Center La Manna.
In 2006, he held a retrospective titled Esculturas in Mexico City at the Italian Cultural Institute, and also presented a solo show Mastrodascio: The Colors of Sculpture at the Crocetti Museum in Rome.
In 2008, he exhibited at the Columbus Centre Italian Heritage in Toronto.
In 2009, he participated in the Toronto Art Fair under the patronage of the Italian Cultural Institute.
In 2012, he exhibited once again at the Columbus Centre Italian Heritage in Toronto and at the Besharat Gallery Barbizon in France.
In 2013, his exhibitions included the Besharat Gallery in Fontainebleau (France), La Vetrina del Parco in Montorio al Vomano (Teramo), and the Peach Gallery in Toronto.
In 2014, he exhibited at the Italian Cultural Institute in Montreal, the Media Museum in Pescara, and during the Vasto Award event in Chieti.
In 2015, his works were shown at the Columbus Centre Italian Heritage in Toronto and the Archaeological Museum of Teramo.
In 2017, he exhibited again at the Columbus Centre Italian Heritage and at the Galleria Samonà in Padua.
His works are part of private collections in Canada, Mexico, the United States, South America, Japan, and Europe.
Silvio Mastrodascio lives and works in Canada, while returning to Italy periodically.