Anna Rita Cionco

Anna Rita Cionco was born and raised in the province of Viterbo, surrounded by greenery, and from an early age she was fascinated by nature. After qualifying as a teacher, she dreamed of studying architecture but, for financial reasons, began working as a shop assistant in a prestigious clothing store so as not to burden her family. Despite her job, her love of art never left her: she continued to paint and create, initially taking part in small solo and group exhibitions. She later came into contact with several galleries in Rome, including Associazione OAC Margutta 9, with which she established a lasting collaboration. The owner, Roberto Alessandri, noticed in her paintings a use of colour similar to that of Enrico Manera, and Anna Rita worked with the gallery for several years. She also exhibited in Pitigliano, Viterbo and Bolsena. During this period she held summer solo shows lasting about two months, which received significant acclaim. After the birth of her daughter in 2004, she embarked on a career as a teacher, which she continues to this day. Art remains central to her life, and in the school programmes she devises, she always seeks to incorporate knowledge of art and the freedom of creativity. Since 2006 she has lived in Orbetello, a new source of inspiration: the sea, light and nature have become central themes of her painting. In 2024 she took part in a group exhibition in Orbetello. Anna Rita enjoys experimenting and playing with different materials: canvas, glass, hardboard, expanded polyurethane. She describes her inner world as abstract, and when she needs to release emotion she favours intense colours such as reds and oranges, while in other works she uses tones that evoke natural and marine atmospheres: blues, greens, turquoises and white. The materiality of colour is central to her research; whereas in the past she incorporated elements such as small pebbles, today she often uses raised plaster, resins, and gold and silver leaf.