Riccelli, Viviana

Born in Rome, Viviana Riccelli built a highly versatile, international practice rooted in rigorous academic training across Europe's historic art capitals, including Rome, Berlin, Venice, and Cairo. Her artistic foundation was permanently shaped by a long-term apprenticeship under Nicolas Carone, a foundational master of the American Abstract Expressionist movement and co-founder of the New York School. Under Carone’s close guidance, Riccelli absorbed the raw, gestural philosophy of the action painters. She further expanded her three-dimensional confidence through a second major apprenticeship with acclaimed American sculptor Beverly Pepper in Umbria, while simultaneously training under European masters Nino Cordio and Franco Piruca.

Riccelli’s life has been defined by a deep, nomadic engagement with global cultures. From 1978 to 2011, she traveled and lived extensively across Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Thailand. Navigating these remote regions alongside her husband, a German cultural anthropologist, she lived within indigenous communities and worked on critical humanitarian initiatives for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 2012, Riccelli relocated to the island of Siquijor in the Philippines. Immersed in the island's unique ecosystem and ancient healing traditions, she established a vibrant studio and active community-art program for local youth. She also teaches specialized painting and drawing workshops at the Verrocchio Art School and the Art Centre Umbria in Italy, remaining a vital cross-cultural bridge between European fine art traditions and Southeast Asian mysticism.
Exhibition & Project History
Selected Individual & Strategic Exhibitions
2023: States of Mind – MUGNA Gallery, Valencia, Negros Oriental, Philippines (A milestone solo exhibition analyzing human consciousness and the natural elements of Siquijor).

2016: Between the Sky and Earth in Siquijor – Galleria Duemila, Pasay City, Metro Manila (A major domestic showcase exploring abstract topographies and the fourth dimension).

Transnational Academic Tenures: Directed advanced multi-week studio seminars in fresco painting, life drawing, and automatic watercolor application at the Verrocchio Art School and Art Centre Umbria, Italy.

Selected Group Surveys & Global Residencies
2025: The Bukhad Curation – MUGNA Gallery, Negros Oriental (An interactive public exhibition tracking localized collages and cross-cultural paper manipulations).

1990s Transnational Circuit: Developed a long-running collaborative and conceptual dialogue alongside British artist Liz Hough, exhibiting landscape abstractions across Western Europe.

Global Vanguard Assemblies (1978–2011): Participated in various alternative group presentations, printmaking portfolios, and public mural interventions across Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Thailand.