BIOGRAPHY                                                                        

                                                                                              

Enzo Gallo (1927-1999)                                                   
Padula, Italy

 

Enzo Gallo was an accomplished artist who mastered all media in sculptures, from wood carvings to marble, Enzo’s works are in the tradition of Michelangelo, he enjoyed the challenges of carving wood and marble sculptures. As a young man, he left his native country Italy, to help in his uncle's marble business in Cuba.

​

In 1948, Enzo Gallo enrolled in the art school "Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro" located in Havana, whose classes transformed him into a professional sculptor and professor of fine art. Enzo, became the youngest professor in the history of his Alma Mater.

 

In 1955, Enzo Gallo graduated from the "Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro" with a master's degree in fine art. In the annual exhibition at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, one of his sculptures, "Ritorno”, won an honorable mention. His major works during this period included an eight-foot Carrara marble relief, "The Sea;' for the Hotel Riviera in Havana; several residential commissions from one of Havana's most fashionable architects, "Cuco'' Perez Llane; and an entrance wall relief for the home of Juan Hernandez, owner of Havana's La Cafeteria Nacional. Enzo also began a monumental relief in Cuban limestone at the Reina Mercedes Hospital, but it was destined, like Enzo himself, to become a victim of Cuban politics.

 

In 1958, Enzo Gallo was accorded his highest honor to that date: his work "Ritorno'' was selected as the one piece of sculpture to represent Cuba in the Mexican Biennial. At age 32, he begun to reap the rewards from his long years of work and school.

 

In 1960, Enzo Gallo, was a professor of fine art and was award-winning sculptor and a master marble worker, the same year, when Fidel Castro came into power, he boarded a plane and immigrated to the United States. Enzo, left behind part of his family, his tools and all the sculptures in his studio. Though he came to the United States, with no money and without a command of the English language, Enzo overcame these obstacles by hard work and disciplined and regained he’s fame as a leading artist, as he was in Cuba. Enzo had learned about marble in Italy, but he learned marble crafting in Havana: handling, cutting, tapping, chipping, hammering, chiseling, shaping and polishing. Enzo found a job at a marble shop both in Miami and Hollywood, Florida. After over a year of working at both marble shops, Enzo got a better job designing lamps and brought his wife and child to Miami. During this period he also met three artists who helped him launch his career as a sculptor in the United States. In the 1960’s, Enzo worked to re-establish himself as a sculptor.

 

In 1961, he designed and executed a plaque bas-relief presented by the Pan American Club to the Consul General of Panama, Manuel J. Castillo.

 

In 1962, he donated a sculpture titled "Winter" to the Children's Home Society of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. During the 1960s, Enzo's reputation as an artist grew along with his business. Notable commissions include a bas-relief at Temple Beth-El and four mammoth relief panels on the front of the law offices of Glasel, Meyer, Leban and Fixel both in Hollywood, Florida. Representing the Fiesta Tropical, Law, Energy, and Medicine, the six-foot-wide panels soar 24 feet, just below the roof line of the building and because of their prominent location, have become one of Enzo Gallo's best-known works. Among all the awards, the sculptor garnered during this period, was a citation from the Florida South Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

 

in 1969, for his spectacular 12-by-27 foot mural in the lobby of the Mona Lisa Apartments in Miami Beach, Florida. The powerful forms of the mural, cast in high relief, are countered by almost delicate copper sculpture, strategically placed along its length, a technique Enzo inaugurated earlier that year in an equally mammoth mural at the Century 21 condominium complex in Miami.

 

In 1970, Enzo reap still more honors and major commissions. A series of major mosaics drew nearly 1,000 to their dedication at the offices of American Savings and Loan Association in Miami Beach.

 

In 1971, the artist was cited by the Florida Tile, Marble, and Terrazzo Institute, for his efforts to make Florida a center of traditional and contemporary marble art. His serenely graceful work in white Carrara marble, "The Nuns;' took first place, for sculpture in that year's Seven Lively Arts Festival in Hollywood. He also took home a first prize from the Florida Sculptors Association show at the Bacardi Gallery in Miami. Major honors were bestowed on Enzo from 1973 through 1974. In 1973 he was notified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that he was among only 339 artists out of 1,700 selected to be represented in a catalog of art works for public agencies and private sponsors.

 

In 1974 one of his marble works was juried into the Pagani Foundation's famed exhibition of sculpture in the open air at the Museum of Modern Art in Milan, Italy.