Sculptor Roberto Milan lives and works in his native city of Udine, Italy. As a child his passion for art was nurtured at the family-run wood sculpture workshop founded in 1928. Here he was held spellbound by the force and potential of the chisel and gouge. Being introduced to the medium of wood and the possibilities it offered for artistic expression at such a young age, was pivotal in his direction as an artist. For decades the family studio created prestigious wood works and Milan cites its continuing influence on his creativity.
Milan studied at the School of Arts in Udine and was influenced by talented mentors in many aspects of art. As a contemporary sculptor working in mixed-media with a focus on wood, he is dedicated to the study and research of antique wood-work techniques, pigments, the secrets of patination, gilding, and nourishing of the surface of wood. He has skillfully combined time-honored techniques with the modernity of his forms and contemporary concepts.
Abroad his works may be found in the air force base of Downsview (Canada), the church of Woodbridge (Canada), the church of Nia Nia (Congo), the Coral Princess, a cruise ship of the Grand Princess fleet, (U.S.A.), Trump Towers (FL, U.S.A.), Telecommunication Building (DC, U.S.A.). Milan has completed significant projects and design collaborations with the architects: Fitch (London), Bronson, Britto and Batista (U.S.A.), La Pietra (Milan) and Coretti, Galeotti, Miani, De Marco (Udine).
Robert Milan exposed the latest works during Sofa Chicago 2013, Miami International Art Fair 2011, Etra Fall Group Show 2010, Miami International Fair 2010, Art Basel Show 2009, Etra Summer Group Show May 2009 e Art Basel Show 2008. Roberto Milan has a close collaboration with Etra Fine Art Gallery, in the Wynwood District, Miami, FL and from 2011, his latest research on totem made of wood and Murano glass is displayed in Aspen, CO and Denver, CO, Vail, Co, at the Pismo Fine Art Gallery and Avran Art and Design Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA. New works and installations are developing in partnership with interior designers for private and public spaces. Milan’s works belong to many distinguished art collections across Europe, North and South America.
Among maestro Milan’s latest projects, noteworthy is his collaboration, as international testimonial, with the perfume house Acqua di Parma, a brand for which he exclusively sculpted a work for each fragrance in the “The Signature of the Sun”.
After the important official presentation in Milan in 2022 which attracted the major national and international media, the collaboration with the famous perfume house will extend throughout Asia to raise awareness of its unique and unrepeatable art.
In 2023 during the IV Edition of the Midolini Prize he received the honorable mention for his artistic career.
ROBERTO MILAN BLENDS ANCIENT TECHNIQUES WITH BRIGHT COLORS AND FERVID CREATIVITY
As a contemporary sculptor working in mixed-media with a focus on wood, he is dedicated to the study and research of antique wood-work techniques, pigments, the secrets of patination, gilding, and nourishing. He has skillfully combined time-honored techniques with the modernity of his forms and contemporary concepts.
His sculptures in the “Totem” series evoke ancestral energy – the potentiality of fire, the essence of cosmic energies; and for Milan the all important wood elements are a symbol of man and earth.Roberto Milan expresses these ideas in an abstract approach with a formal elegance and essential linearity in his tall and narrow, large-scale pieces. He combines the wood constructions with hand-blown glass from Murano and fusions of bronze or elements made of iron.
The expressive potential of wood distinguishes Roberto Milan’s artistic research while using the alchemic combination of bygone secrets of the Italian handicraft culture.