Born in 1939 in Galatina (Lecce), Marrocco started teaching sculpture at the state Istituto d'Arte in Galatina (1960-1962), before moving to Milan in 1963. Here he soon began to be active in the artistic community, also collaborating with architects and planners. From clearly classical interests, his attention moved progressively towards the area of technology and then to the salvaging and recycling of "material", and the poetry which is connected to this, finally arriving at the most recent "ambient works".
A long
series of appearances in individual and group shows exemplifies the somewhat
complex but singular route followed in this search which is still underway.
His first individual show was in 1966, in the Galleria Montenapoleone
in Milan, while other important appearances were at the Centro Apollinaire
(Milan, 1971) and at the Galleria del Milione (Milan, 1976, 1980, 1982),
as well as in Ferrara (Palazzo dei Diamanti, 1977), in Milan (Mercato
del Sale, 1979, 1981, 1984; Galleria Blu Profondo, 1986), in Lissone (Galleria
Radice, 1982), in Brescia (Multimedia arte contemporanea, 1981, 1984),
in Lecce (Telamone Centro d'Arte, 1985), and in Ancona (Galleria del Falconiere,
1988; Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, 1988). His many collaborations include:
"IX Premio 5. Lega" (Modigliana, 1967), "Operazione Vesuvio" (Naples/Milan/Cologne,
1972), "Fotomedia", (Milan, Rotonda del-la Besana, 1975), "X Quadriennale:
la nuova generazione" (Rome, Palazzo delle esposizioni, 1975), "Premio
Termoni" (Termoli, Castello Svevo, 1975), "Sicof" (Milan, 1975), "Interventions
sur ies mass-media" (Paris, Galerìe Lara Vincy, 1977), "Verifica
'76" (Lecce, Santa Maria a Cerrate, 1976), "Blow-up" (Alessandria, Galleria
comunale, 1977), "Il volto urbano" (Ferrara, Palazzo dei Diamanti, 1979),
"L'uso della scrittura" (Lecce, Chiostro dell'Accademia, 1981), "Terra
d'Italia" (Ancona, Galleria civica d'arte moderna, 1983), "Ab Origine"
(Martina Franca, Studio Carrieri, 1983), "IL filo dell'acqua" (Gallipoli,
Castello Angioino, 1983), "Feticci provvisori" (Modena, Centro Sala, 1983),
"Neoclassica" (Milan, Arte polivalente Bonaparte, 1984), "De Scultura
II" (Caltagirone, Museo civico, 1984), "Tra concettualità e rappresentazione"
(Montepulciano, Palazzo Ricci, 1985), "Le perle delle nuvole" (Brescia,
Galleria Multimedia 1986), "Giornale di bordo" (Corato, Chiostro Palazzo
DI Città, 1987), "Premio Città di Marsala" (Marsala, Galleria Civica d'Arte
Moder-na, 1987), "Point de repère" (Tuglie, Palazzo Ducale, 1987), "Salvati,
Tresoldi e..." (Milan, Busnelli, 1987), "Artefactum '87", (5. Caterina
DI Nardò, Various locations 1987), "Assemblaggi" (Perugia, Rocca Paolina,
1988), "L'infanzia dei sogni" (Brescia, Galleria Multimedia 1988). In
1987, as part of "Artefactum '87" (S. Caterina DI Nardo) he created the
"Fuochi d'artista", in collaboration with Rosario Scrimieri and General
Laser of Rome. One of his large-size sculptures in bronze, "The city on
stilts", will be mounted in the Olympic Park in Seoul.
Among his collaborations with architects and town-planners is his involvement in low-cost public building in Rende (CS), in 1971-72, with the architects Malara and Drago of Milan, and the competitions in 1971 for the Valle del Ticino and for the new cemetery in Modena in 1972 with the architectural studio "Giesse" of Milan. He also collaborated with the architects Scrimieri, Genco and Caproni in the creation of the stained glass windows and stalls in the new Basilica of Cascia (1981), and the religious fittings of the new Penitentiary of the same Basilica (1986). In the field of private dwellings, he has done important work with the architects Salvati and Tresoldi of Milan, with whose buildings Marrocco's works coordinate perfectly, creating new geometries of space. He also created (1987) a "Via-Crucis" in stained glass for the Church of 5. Marco in Morcone DI Benevento.
In the meantime he continues to work on scenography for concerts, collaborating with the "Hyperprism" group of Perugia, directed by Fernando Sulpizi. Examples of this work are: "Si va per cominciare" (Pavia, 1980), "Sette pagine con frontespizio" (Pavia, 1980; Terni, 1981; Santarcangelo XIII Festival, 1983), "Cantando la palafitte" (Civitanova Marche, 1984; Trevi, 1984; Borgovellino, 1984; Perugia, 1984; Bologna Palazzo dei Congressi, 1984), "Fosfeni per Narciso" (Milan, Gal-leria Blu Profondo, 1986), "Mar-rocco, uno scultore in concerto" (Ancona, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, 1988).
In 1975, Edizioni Apollinaire of Milan published Calendario, with texts by Toti Carpentieri and a preface by Pierre Restany; then, in 1980, Sette pagine con frontespizio, with music by Fernando Sulpizi and texts by Stefano Ragni was published for Classico Musicale of Florence. In 1985, Nuove Edizioni Gabriele Mazzotta published Il presbiterio nuovo della Basilica di Santa Rita a Cascia, edited by Toti Carpentieri The magazine "Area" (1986) devoted its front cover and a major article written by Cesare Chirici to the iconography of the Penitentiary of the Basilica of St. Rita at Cascia, created in collaboration with the architects Scrimieri, Genco and Caproni. In the same year the magazine "Arte & Cronaca" devoted a long article by Toti Carpentieri to the same subject.
Works have been written on him by, among others: Francesca Alinovi, Bruno Alfieri, Adriano Altamira, Renato Barilli, Riccardo Barletta, Toti Carpentieri, Elvira Cassa Salvi, Nicola Cesari, Cesare Chirici, Giorgio Cortenova, Miriam De Cesco, Anna D'Elia, Gianni Drago, Pedro Fiori, Flaminio Gualdoni, Viviana Kasam, Romana Loda, Filiberto Menna, Dino Muli-nari, Daniela Palazzuoli, Marilena Pasquali, Michele Petrantoni, Michele Polverari, Pierre Restany, Giorgio Ruggeri, Walter Schonemberger, Franco Solmi, Luciano Spiazzi, Rino Tacchella, Tommaso Trini, Marisa Vescovo, Gian Piero Vincenzo, Francesco Vincitorio.