Taxi a New York

Claudio Cionini was born in Grosseto in 1978. He attended the Liceo Artistico in Grosseto and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, where he began his exhibition activity in 2000. The teachings of Prof. Daniele Govi and Prof. Adriano Bimbi were significant for his training. After his studies, his attention immediately turned to the industrial landscape, a reality that surrounds him in the town where he has always lived, Piombino.

He is attracted to the installations in steel mills: the strong chiaroscuro and smoky atmospheres surrounding blast furnaces and pipes. From 2001 to 2007, he executed many drawings, also from life, and slowly moved towards a predominantly monochrome painting style.

In 2007, he participated in the Michetti Prize with two paintings depicting the industrial port of Piombino. Later, in November of the same year, he exhibited these works at the collective exhibition 'Nuovi pittori della realtà' at the P.A.C. in Milan.

In the same year, he made his first studies of urban landscapes after visiting Paris. Fascinated by its huge boulevards and boundless views of the city, he realised the fundamental characteristic of his work: space, the depth of perspective, the vanishing point.

His first important solo exhibition was in 2008, entitled 'Places of Absence', at the Archaeological Museum in Fiesole.

In 2009, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, he took part in various celebrations in memory of the event. At the invitation of the Region of Tuscany and after several stays in Berlin, he realised a nucleus of works that would be part of the personal exhibition "L'ombra del Muro" held in the rooms of the Regional Council of Tuscany at Palazzo Panciatichi in Florence. His works have been also exhibited at the group exhibitions 'The Wall - Twenty years later almost like Dumas' at the Castello di Lari and 'The Walls after Berlin' at Spazio Tadini in Milan.

He continued, even afterwards, to portray the architecturally and culturally stimulating city of Berlin. Cionini's painting becomes more material, he inserts new tones and new frames. Thus, in 2010, his solo exhibition 'Scorci di verità' (Glimpses of Truth) at the Galleria d'Arte Contemporanea in Arezzo was born.

In 2011, at the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera, he exhibited a series of works dedicated to the Piombino steelworks, a theme dear to him that he has never abandoned over the years, together with a series of paintings depicting the world's great metropolises, especially American ones, from New York to Los Angeles, and others, from Melbourne to Tokyo. The painter is fascinated by the idea of bringing these large cities together almost as one boundless global metropolis. To realise his works, he uses images from the web and cinema: 'global' communication tools par excellence. The exhibition is entitled 'RUST! Factory-City-Memory'.

In 2013, he held an exhibition at the Angelica Gallery in Rome entitled 'ISTANTI - Under the Skin of Images', for which he produced some paintings dedicated to the Eternal City; one of these, portraying Piazza del Popolo, was donated to the Senate of the Italian Republic.

In 2014, he exhibited in Sicily in October, at the prestigious Lupo 'Art gallery in Palermo, with an important solo exhibition and in November at the Fornace Pasquinucci in Capraia Fiorentina. The solo exhibition was entitled 'Blues of the big city'. a deliberate homage to Cesare Pavese's collection of poems.

In the spring of 2015, he exhibited in Pietrasanta, in the rooms of Palazzo Panichi, "Oltre i deserti : le città visibili" is the title of his solo exhibition that recalls the work of Italo Calvino.

In the summer of 2015, he participated in the production of the book 'Cibo Arte Vino Mare' (Food Art Wine Sea) edited by Elena Barsacchi, with recipes by chef Luciano Zazzeri, portraits by Oliviero Toscani, including the ones of Cionini, and a text by Vittorio Sgarbi.

Cionini was selected for the 2017 Toscana Energia calendar.

In 2018 he participated in Paratissima Art Fair in Turin

In 2019 he exhibits at the Florence University of the Art: the exhibition is entitled 'Vision Beyond Form' and Galleria La Fonderia in Florence hosts a solo show of his work entitled 'The Cities of the World'.

In October 2021, a personal exhibition dedicated to the city of Palermo was held at the Lupo'art Gallery: the title is "Cara Palermo...". In the catalogue, there is an essay by Elena Capone.

In May 2022, he donated a painting of Palermo to the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, thus becoming part of the Quirinale's contemporary art collection.