Francesco Agresti (born 1949) was born and brought up in Itri, Italy. He later went the Bronx, New York, where he studied and obtained his BFA and MFA. He has had several representations and showings in Russia, Germany, Italy, and in the USA, including: Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Iowa, and New York. He still keeps a studio on the Via Appia. He was represented by several galleries before moving back to Italy for some years, to pursue his passion to teach at University (Napoli), to paint and to tend to his Olive Grove. When he returned to America in the early 90s, he taught at Colleges and Universities in the Winston-Salem, Greensboro area, and he became a Professor in the visual arts, before finding paradise in Venice, where he now resides, paints and creates.
Agresti says he is so lucky he was able to return to his roots and the old world with all its charm. He sees the familiar and the known as leading him to the mysterious and the unknown, which he says is transformative. Literal physical objects are important to him. He says even the physicality of the paint mimics the physicality of the earth. In much of his work there is grief and pathos that require the literalness of the image to make the feeling felt. Agresti believes that any painting is just a self-portrait, because it expresses what the artist is going through at the time he/she is painting. His paintings are a great source of inspiration to many artists.
