In conjunction with the Moto Guzzi Open House in Mandello (7-10 September 2023), the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera is opening an public exhibition by artist Ettore Gambioli, who hails from the Marche region, and who has been celebrating the history of the Eagle brand for many years through his watercolours, Indian ink drawings and sculptures.

Ettore Gambioli's passion for Moto Guzzi stems from the influence of his father Paolo - also an artist, sculptor and painter: indeed, little Ettore was only seven years old when the family acquired a California II in 1982. Later, a Legnano green V11 Sport accompanied him as he pursued his artistic activities.

More than sixty watercolours and Indian ink drawings will be on display at the exhibition, along with around ten works of sculpture dedicated to Moto Guzzi both past and present, and to its people, its victories and its most iconic and successful models. In a highly evocative setting - which serves to enhance the artist's precise, confident style, thanks to a number of scaled-up reproductions of some of his works - the art produced by Ettore Gambioli is presented in dialogue with the "art" of Moto Guzzi, embodied by the presence of several valuable vehicles: the legendary 8-cylinder - the most famous racing bike of all time, and star of a host of sporting successes in the 1950s -, the V7 Sport - a symbol of the revolution of the early 1970s, and a top touring-sports model - and the new V100 Mandello - an example of motorcycling innovation, through which Moto Guzzi is opening the door to the future.

The exhibition will run until 12 November.

For information, opening hours and booking, please visit click here

 A special, limited-edition series of prints of some of the works on display has been produced for the exhibition and will be available for purchase in the Museum bookshop.

Ettore Gambioli

After his studies in Urbino at the State Institute of Art, Ettore Gambioli honed his talent at the School of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts (Scuola di Scultura dell’Accademia di Belle Arti), before creating a number of works in the region, including one celebrating the centenary of the Giro d'Italia cycle race and commemorating cyclist Michele Scarponi and other cycling victims of road accidents, and another dedicated to the historic Palio dell'Oca at the entrance to the city of Cagli. Elsewhere, in Spokane, Washington State (USA), he also completed a work to celebrate the twinning of the city with his home town.

Gambioli is also responsible for creating the monuments dedicated to the founding fathers of Moto Guzzi, with a sculpture dedicated to Carlo Guzzi (2011) in the main square of Mandello del Lario, and to Giorgio Parodi (2021) in the Carignano district of Genoa. These works have served to increase his fame, cementing the status of his art as a symbol of the "Guzzista people".

His latest work, inaugurated last July, is dedicated to Valentino Rossi and stands at the entrance to Tavullia: this striking mosaic is crafted from coloured ceramic and Carrara marble tiles, and links the successes of the champion rider with the hills where he was born and raised, framing the sculpture within this context.

The idea of representing Moto Guzzi bikes arose almost by chance. At a certain point in his artistic career, Ettore Gambioli felt the need to push his skills in the graphic and pictorial arts to the limits, having previously sidelined these as he worked predominantly on his sculptures. His passion for Moto Guzzi provided a "natural" inspiration for his next subject. This is how he came to create his first drawings in 2002, in biro or quick strokes of Indian ink coloured with watercolour. This also marked the beginning of a long and uninterrupted collaboration with the magazine Bicilindrica, where he published his new works in his very own column.

Credits

Production and curation: Piaggio Foundation, Andrea Corriga (Trame), Marco Sorito (architect)

Organization and general coordination: Sabrina Caredda (Piaggio Foundation)

Staging project: Marco Sorito, Nicolino Di Carlo (Piaggio Foundation)

Registrar: Andrea Corriga

Social & Communication: Ilaria Coppola, Mariamargherita Scotti (Piaggio Foundation)

Set-up: Nicolino Di Carlo, Federico Filippeschi (Piaggio Foundation)

Guided visits: Romina Giannotti, Marta Settis (Piaggio Foundation)

Exhibition test: Valerio Borghese, Andrea Corriga

Graphic project: Walter Severini Giordano

Multimedia Projections: Marco Ferracci

Graphic print on display: Officina grafica

Fine art prints: Bandecchi e Vivaldi

Scan images: Federico Venerucci (Venerucci Agenzia Creativa, Gubbio).