Claudio Roncoli

Claudio Roncoli was born in 1971 in Buenos Aires, where his father owned a toy store. In 1983, when Claudio was 12, democracy returned to Argentina, sparking a rapid wave of social changes. Music flourished, national rock was revived, and the country was inundated with new magazines celebrating Western beauty and consumer culture. During this vibrant period, Roncoli developed a deep passion for music and became fascinated by the way advertising seduced society. Despite his passion for the new freedoms, Claudio chose to enter a monastery with the aim of becoming a priest. After two years in the monastery, the need for ultimate freedom became too strong, and Claudio left his priestly studies. During his time there, he fed his hunger for the outside world through drawing and painting, and once he left, he began studying Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires. During this period, Claudio worked as an art director at various advertising agencies. To further his passion for painting, he enrolled at the Prilidiano Pueyrredón National Fine Arts School, where he formed new friendships, sharing his love for music and painting and exploring many new styles of artistic expression. His first solo exhibition took place in 1997, and in the following years, exhibitions became central to his life. In 2005, Claudio Roncoli left his work as an art director entirely to dedicate himself exclusively to painting. He alternated exhibitions with travels to Peru, Mexico, and Europe. In Italy, Spain, and the Vatican, he encountered works by the great Renaissance masters, bringing him back in memory to his youth and time as an altar boy. From this point onward, Roncoli’s work underwent a clear transformation as he integrated rediscovered iconography with the rhetoric and advertising of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. In creating his artwork, Claudio employs mixed digital techniques and paint on canvas. His work reflects various aspects of his life: his Catholic faith, his childhood in his father’s toy store, and his passion for music and advertising. The resulting pieces are reminiscent of Pop Art, where the conceptual idea takes precedence. Here, selection is as important as creation. Claudio Roncoli’s distinctive style has taken him from exhibitions in Argentina to England, from Canada to Peru. His work is now shown in various museums and featured at major art fairs around the world.