Antonio Nocera was born in Caivano, near Naples, in 1949. He studied at the Art Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, attending courses in painting, sculpture and scenery. He also expressed interest in working with leather, ceramics and printing techniques. In 1970, he moved to Milan. One of his first exhibitions was held at the Ripa Gallery, Milan. In 1975, he held a major exhibition themed on The Resistance at the Scuderia della Pilota in Parma, until it was moved to the Civic Museums in Modena. In 1978, he created the official poster for the Museum of the First Partisan Republic in Montefiorino, near Modena. He alternated trips between France, Switzerland and England where he held various exhibitions and the eighties saw the trend of “Pulcinella” consolidated.
In 1988, he moved to Rome and worked in collaboration with the State Mint and Parliamentary institutions. The following year, he was formally invited by the Committee for the French Revolution Bicentury celebrations to hold an exhibition at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, and then in Rome, under the patronage of the French Embassy. This was followed by his personal collections of ‘Histoire de Pinocchio” and “Petit Chaperon Rouge ” and also the creation of a portfolio for Professor Luc Montagnier of the World Foundation for AIDS research and under the auspices of UNESCO. In 1998, he created the sculpture of the eleventh official “World Congress of the International Industrial Relations” held in Bologna.
In April 1998 and in March 1999, one of his bas-reliefs on the theme of “The Year 2000” and then, his illustrated volume of “The Gospel” for the Jubilee celebrations, were presented to presented to Pope John Paul II. In 2000, he was the protagonist of the new cycle of exhibitions entitled “Terres de lune, terres de fable” and in the Monastery of San Giovanni in Parma, he began a cycle of exhibitions titled “Gospels in the monasteries of Europe.” In 2001, he offered a preview of his collection of jewelry sculptures titled “The Moon and the Zodiac”. The cycle, “Pinocchio and the Moon”, held during 2002 and 2003, followed an international itinerary. In June, 2002, he presented the illustrated book “The Adventures of Pinocchio – Story of a Marionette” by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Alexandrine Hall, at the Palazzo di Sapienza in Rome. In November 2002, he inaugurated the exhibition “Pinocchio et la lune” at the Paris City Hall. That same year, at the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels, he held an exhibition on “Pinocchio” with a presentation by Giorgio Napolitano. In July 2003, he held a solo exhibition at the Pontifical Lateran University entitled “Sacred Images” as part of the European Symposium “University and school in Europe”. In conjunction with this event, and on the occasion of the twenty-fifth year of his Pontificate, Master Anthony Nocera was received at Castel Gandolfo by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, to whom he donated his collection of enamels entitled “Sacred Images”. On the 60th anniversary of the INCA and CGIL Trade Unions, he created some works in exclusive for them and worked on the development of the logo used to mark the occasion. On 29th May, 2005, and with the blessing of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, his sculpture “Christus patiens” was placed in the Church of the Holy Spirit of Neapolitans in Rome and inaugurated an exhibition devoted to it. He has produced works of high institutional representation for the Department of National Heritage Archives and the Ministry of Heritage and Culture Library. In 2006, he created a bronze monument to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Marcinelle tragedy in Belgium, which was commissioned by the National President of the INCA and CGIL Trade Unions. During his official visit to the Vatican on 20th November, the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, gave His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, a silver bas-relief entitled “Peace” which was work of the sculptor. On 16th January, 2007, he opened his exhibition “Once upon a time …” which includes over 150 works including sculptures, paintings and drawings, at the Monumental Complex of San Michele a Ripa in Rome and under the patronage of the President of the Republic and sponsorship of the Senate, House of Deputies, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education as well as local authorities. The same exhibition has also been held at Palazzo Doria Pamphili in Valmontone, the Royal Palace in Naples (during the “May of Monuments”), in the Lihermann Gallery in Liège, Belgium and in Pescara in the ex-Aurum halls.
