Riccardo Monachesi is an Italian ceramic artist whose work explores the relationship between tradition, material, and contemporary expression. Through sculpture and site-specific works, he reinterprets the language of Italian handmade
ceramics within a contemporary artistic framework.
““I situate myself within Italian ceramics not by reproducing the past, but by using its techniques to speak a contemporary language.”
Born and based in Rome, Riccardo Monachesi has been working with clay as an artistic medium since 1977, following his formative experience in the studio of Nino Caruso. He graduated in Architecture in 1980, a discipline that continues to inform his approach to form, structure, and spatial composition.
Since the early 1980s, Monachesi has exhibited widely in galleries and institutions in Italy and internationally. A defining moment in his career came in 1994, when an exhibition at Studio Bocchi contributed to repositioning ceramics as a contemporary artistic medium. His work has since been presented in major exhibitions and institutions, including Terraemota at the Museo delle Mura in Rome (2014) and Elementa at the Certosa di Trisulti (2024).
In recent years, his practice has increasingly focused on site-specific interventions in outdoor, museum, and archaeological contexts. His sculptures establish a dialogue between material permanence and transformation, reflecting a deep engagement with space, history, and environment. His works are held in several museum collections.
Alongside his individual research, Monachesi has developed collaborative works with other artists since 2010, expanding his practice through shared processes and interdisciplinary exchange.
Through his work, Riccardo Monachesi redefines clay as a medium capable of articulating complex relationships between architecture, memory, and perception, situating his practice within the broader discourse of contemporary Italian ceramics.
