Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Villicana D’Annibale.
Hi Danielle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My husband Maurizio and I love working with artists. We began our adventure as art dealers in 2010, and since then, we have organized over 115 art exhibitions in Italy in the beautiful Tuscan town of Arezzo. We have also created over fifty artist monographs and many videos. The artists are plentiful and have been working with wonderful artists, both local and international, from figurative to abstract. We really enjoy working with the artists, art historians, art critics and concentrate on creating events that are interesting and uplifting for our audience of art lovers and collectors. From the very beginning, we attracted the attention of the local television, Teletruria, and have been very lucky to be regularly in their evening news programs. The media has been wonderful and regularly publish our exhibits in the newspapers as well as online. We are extremely appreciative for their support.
In 2014, we were invited to curate two exhibits at Arezzo Fiere e Congressi at the prestigious gold fairs OROAREZZO and GOLD/ITALY. This experience was a turning point for us, as these are the two biggest fairs in Arezzo. The following year in 2015, I was awarded a “Premio Toscana Cultura” by Florentine journalist Fabrizio Borghini for my excellence in the promotion of contemporary art. Naturally, from my point of view, this award was for both Maurizio and I as we work together 24/7 on the gallery. Since 2014 we have been appearing frequently on Fabrizio Borghini’s television program “Incontri con l”Arte” (Encounters with Art), which has been a terrific experience and great coverage for the artists and our gallery. You may find links to those programs on our Youtube page, which you can find a link to on our website.
In 2016 we decided to expand internationally and moved our headquarters to Pasadena, California. Los Angeles! “Casa dolce casa” (Home sweet home.). We began working with some prominent LA artists that year who frequent Italy, which influenced us to make that move and reach out for that growth. It has been an incredible experience thus far.
VILLICANA D’ANNIIBALE is an international contemporary art gallery and artist agency. Our gallery represents outstanding artists of international acclaim. Exhibitions range from figurative to abstract fine art and feature painting, sculpture, photography, installation and performance by emerging to established artists. Our artist agency specializes in promotion and services for artists. Currently, as of the last five years, we have been doing freelance work for artists in Los Angeles and in the US and have been organizing exhibitions in Tuscany. We represent several noted Los Angeles-based artists, including Christopher Slatoff, Susan Moss, Patricia Ferber as well as myself Danielle Villicana D’Annibale. Italian master artists include Silvestro Pistolesi, Rino Giannini, Giuseppe Ciccia, Carlo Fontana, Nino Barone, Chen Li, Daniele Alfani and Dario Polvani.
In 2016, besides launching the new gallery, we created a new project called “ARTwalk + gastronomic tour ITALY,” also a brand of Villicana D’Annibale, Inc., with the aim to create interest in art and local artists in the Tuscany/Arezzo area, and cultivate friendship between artists, art lovers and art collectors. Our mission is to provide the opportunity to artists to showcase works of contemporary art and enjoy a gourmet dinner tour at local restaurants and trattorias on Via Cavour in Arezzo. The event is televised on Toscana Tv on the “Incontri con l’Arte” (Encounters with Art) television show by journalist Fabrizio Borghini,
This year, we have expanded once again and opened a new space at Via Cavour 113, not far from our space Via Cavour 85. It is a much larger space and will allow us to do larger exhibitions and exhibit larger paintings and works of art. We are really excited about it and just finished two very successful group exhibitions, one entitled “Fiori dal Mal” and the other “Sogno di una collettiva di Mezzo Estate.” One was dedicated to Charles Baudelaire while the other to William Shakespeare. You may find more info on our www.ARTwalkITALY.com website. The artists especially have been really having a lot of fun with these events. We wanted to create an outlet for artists in this moment of Covid pandemia and have prepared a tris of group exhibitions with ARTwalk events. Luckily there has been a good amount of tourists as well and the exhibitions have been positive.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My husband and I have enjoyed a relatively smooth road. We have really had a lot of luck and have grown in the past ten years in a way I hadn’t imagined. We enjoy working with our fabulous artists, organizing exhibitions, creating catalogues and everything that goes with the promotion of the events. The community has also been involved more than we could have ever hoped for. So many people have helped us and been supportive. We are very appreciative of our community and grateful for our positive experience.
I’d like to thank Jan Baum. For those who don’t know of her, she was one of Hollywood’s most amazing gallerists and had a very active gallery for over thirty years. I met her through my family, and she took me in as an intern in 1993. She taught me the ropes so to say. She always seemed to work smoothly. Her gallery was on La Brea and was very large and beautiful. That experience really prepared me for most things about the job and gallery life Jan was such a wonderful and beautiful person. Everyone around her was beautiful too. She made running a huge gallery look easy. She had fabulous artists, gorgeous opening receptions, great invitations, incredible space and was probably one of the most positive people that I have ever met. She was just delightful. Always so kind and knowledgeable. I so enjoyed her work philosophy. She was so special. Her exhibits were always uplifting and the work was always of excellent quality. An incredible art dealer. I feel lucky that I learned from her. Smooth, avoid struggle.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We love contemporary art and artists. We do lots of art exhibitions, both solo and group. I am specialized in fresco painting. We are known for our work.
I am certainly most proud of our artists and gallery. I love seeing us all grow. I love how contemporary art positively affects others.
I am determined our gallery is going to be celebrating 40 yrs down the line. This might be a dream, but I’d like to get there. I think certainly this kind of thinking sets us apart from the flock. We really try to serve the community we live in and are continually trying to give back. We do everything possible for our artists. My husband says, “The spirit of wanting to go forward, no matter what!” I guess we just like what we do and are really passionate about contemporary art. Going to the big Art Fairs gets me jazzed. Art Basel and Art Miami Beach, just inspire!
Frieze in LA, we went to the opening and that was really fantastic. In the first row of galleries at The Box was a tribute to a project I assisted Eugenia Butler on 25 years prior, “The Kitchen Table Project.” That really got me excited. I was really moved that she was honored in such a wonderful way and so proud of her to be at the opening of Frieze. That would have meant a lot to her, as any serious professional artist. I have worked with a lot of amazing people over the years, I am so humbled by these experiences, and interning/assisting conceptual artist Eugenia Butler on her very expansive conceptual project is one of them. These experiences have definitely set me apart. I had a very unique opportunity with her, for example, to help her organize a four-day event at the ART/LA93 fair. Eugenia chose thirty of the world’s most brilliant artists at the time, including Marina Abromovic and others, and created a conceptual piece with the conversations that she had with them at lunch and dinner, staged in the middle of the fair. At the time, this was quite a novelty. It was an eye-opener for me, at the age of twenty-one, because all of a sudden I was in the middle of the REAL contemporary art world!!! That project definitely set me apart and set me on my road too. I will be forever thankful to Eugenia! She was an amazing artist and she really taught me so much. My life has really been about working with incredible people or studying with incredible artists. I have been blessed and have had some great experiences.
I was born in San Francisco, California. In 1994, I graduated with a B.A. from Occidental College of Los Angeles in Art History and the Visual Arts with a minor in Theater and French.
In 1993, I conducted the role of assistant to conceptual artist Eugenia Butler on the project The Kitchen Table presented at ART/LA’93 fair, where artists of the caliber of Marina Abramovic, Carolee Schneemann, Felipe Ehrenberg and other thirty figures of international level were present. Danielle also interned for distinguished Hollywood gallerist Jan Baum the same year. I was really happy to see some of the videos we organized displayed at Frieze 25 years later with the Box Gallery.
The love for the Renaissance took me to Italy in the fall of 1994 where I studied at leading Florentine atelier, from Charles Cecil Studios to The Florence Academy, to the studio of Master Silvestro Pistolesi in 1996, I also studied printmaking with Sweitlan Kracyzna and Santa Reparata International School of Art. Afterward, I frequented the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence (Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze) from 1997 to 1998, and in the same year learned the techniques of fresco painting at the school Vainella of Leonetto Tintori in Prato.
In the summer of 1998, I returned to the United States to work for Treadway Industries in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as with Saltman Art in Burbank, where I worked on prestigious projects including The Venetian Hotel & Casino, Aladdin Gaming, Universal Studios Japan, Disney California Adventure and others, as a sculptress, mural painter and decorator from 1999 until 2000.
In June 2001, I returned to Italy to work for the summer with noted American sculptor Milton Hebald at his studio in Bracciano, Rome. In the fall, I resumed her studies in the fall at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence (Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze), and soon after transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome (Accademia di Belle Arti Roma), and began working in the art department of production designer Francesco Frigeri at Cinecittà, where I interned from 2002 to 2003 working on Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ.
I continued in the meantime my plastic and pictorial research, veering towards abstraction. In 2005 I moved to Arezzo. Soon after, I obtained my diploma in painting with the highest honors in 2006 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome (Accademia di Belle Arti Roma), completing my studies with a thesis on sgraffito fresco painting.
In 2010, collaborating with my husband light designer Maurizio D’Annibale, I opened a contemporary art gallery, the Villicana D’Annibale Galleria D’Arte, in the historical center of Arezzo Tuscany, immediately becoming a favored meeting place for Italian and foreign artists. In 2013 we closed the gallery and opened another project also dedicated to contemporary art, named Via Cavour 85.
In 2015, I was awarded a “Premio Toscana Cultura” by Florentine journalist Fabrizio Borghini for my excellence in the promotion of contemporary art.
Expanding internationally, in 2016 I founded Villicana D’Annibale, Inc., a contemporary art gallery and artists agency headquartered in Pasadena, California with unità locale in Arezzo, Italy.
In May of 2021, I co-founded with Maurizio D’Annibale a Nonprofit Organization PARADISE FOR ARTISTS in Pasadena, California. In June of the same year, Maurizio and I opened a new space dedicated to contemporary art at Via Cavour 113 in Arezzo, Tuscany.
Since 1994 I have participated in numerous solo and group exhibits in Italy and the United States. I debuted my art career with my first solo exhibition in 1998 in Barga Lucca. In most recent years, I have held several solo exhibits in Italy: “Peacock Dreams” in 2010, “American Spirit” in 2012, “Mimì Cocò & Co.” in 2013, “Cocktails” and “Graffi Spirituali” in 2014. My works may be found in private and public collections in the US and Italy.
At present, I divide my time between my studio in Tuscany, Italy and Los Angeles, California and I organize exhibitions, publications and events for artists.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
My biggest advice would be to shoot for the stars! Go for it and you can do it! One of my favorite quotes is one by Winston Churchill, ” Never give up, never give up, never give up!”
Pricing:
- Our artwork ranges from $500 and up
Contact Info:
- Email: losangeles@villicanadannibale.com, tuscany@villicanadannibale.com, info@paradiseforartists.org
- Website: www.VillicanaDAnnibale.com / www.ARTwalkITALY.com / www.ParadiseforArtists.org
Image Credits:
Lorenzo Prodezza, Roberto Cinatti
