Dario Campanile, Italian (1948 - )
Dario Campanile began to sketch as a very young child. At the age of six and practice with watercolors. Dario was bedridden for three months at 14 and he began to work with oils during that confinement.
In 1967 he entered his first art competition in Norma, Italy. Dario was the youngest participant to receive awards, and was praised by the judges for his excellent work.
At the age of eighteen, Giorgio de Chirico, encouraged him to simply experiment and continue discovering his own techniques, rather than attend art school. He continued to work full time on his art, and by the time he was twenty, he was successfully exhibiting his paintings in the Galleria Esedera in Rome, attracting the attention of international collectors.
Dario went to London to study English and to show his paintings. He was able to support himself, by selling his art there..
Dario returned to Rome, where Madame Lucille Duillars, an influential art consultant from Paris motivated him to work on developing his style which was reminiscent of surrealism. She challenged him to pursue this new direction with an invitation to show at the Gallerie L Fayette in Paris. True to her instinct, Dario flourished in this new freedom to express himself through surrealism.
He was encouraged and inspired by Salvador Dali at the art colony in Cadaques, Spain, the following Summer. Dario then traveled to California, where upon showing his portfolio to galleries, he was offered a show at the Acosta Gallery in Beverly Hills. The show was extremely successful and it introduced him to collectors from the movie and music industries, as well as bringing him many offers to paint book and album covers.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1973, Dario experienced great commercial success, and explored new directions in his art. He worked with clay sculpture, cast paper sculpting, and cast paper bas relief. His artwork caught the eye of actors Valerie Harper, Carl Weathers, and Cheech and Chong, musician Herbie Hancock, casting director Lynn Stalmaster, and writer Harlan Ellison, all of whom are among the many collectors of Dario's work.
In 1986, after working in Los Angeles for over a decade, Dario was honored to be chosen from hundreds of artists to create the 75th Anniversary Logo for Paramount Studios. His beautiful design of the famous mountain symbol is seen on every Paramount publication today.