Roberto Cafarotti
Roberto Cafarotti (born 21 August 1978) is an Italian contemporary painter and nuclear engineer.
Biography
Roberto Cafarotti was born in Rome in 1978. He showed an early interest in art, creating his first painting at a young age. Despite pursuing a scientific education, including a degree in nuclear engineering (Laurea in Ingegneria with specialization in Nuclear, obtained in Rome in 2010), he continued to develop his artistic practice.
Career
Cafarotti's work focuses on figurative painting in oil on canvas, exploring themes of human existence, personal and collective experiences, freedom, destiny, and the metaphorical "game of life".
His solo exhibition Life is a game, curated by art historian Daniela Brignone, was held at the Galleria Civica don Sandro Vitalini in Campione d'Italia (with additional venues in the Lugano area) from May to June 2025. It featured 17 oil paintings and was accompanied by a catalogue published by Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori. The exhibition received coverage in regional publications, including an article in Magic Lake Como (autumn 2025).
In April–May 2021 he took part in the group exhibition "Arte in vetrina" in Guastalla, displaying expressionist paintings in shop windows along Corso Prampolini.
He has been featured in the art publication Profili d'artista 2024-2025-2026 by Giammarco Puntelli (Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori).
His works have also appeared in online auctions on platforms such as Catawiki and ArsValue.
In 2026 he was selected for the 8th edition of the artistic-environmental project Apiario d’Autore, for which he created a painted frontal for a real beehive to be installed in the Giardino Botanico Michele Tenore (Parco Nazionale della Majella) and naturally modified by the bees and the environment.
In July 2026 he presented the solo exhibition Before Dawn (also referred to as "Prima dell’alba") at the San Giovanni Boutique Hotel in San Giovanni in Persiceto (province of Bologna), open from 11 July to 8 August 2026. The exhibition forms a significant chapter in his research into Contemporary Mannerism, centred on elegant, tense and fragile figures in a pictorial universe suspended between beauty and unease, where the moment before dawn becomes a metaphor for uncertainty and existential transformation.
Awards and recognition
On 9 September 2026 he was proclaimed winner of the Premio Fabrizio De André – Parlare Musica (25th edition) in the painting section, with the work Human Egg (oil on canvas, 50 × 40 cm). The announcement was made at the Campidoglio in Rome in the presence of mayor Roberto Gualtieri. The prize, sponsored by the Fondazione Fabrizio De André ETS and organised by iCompany under the artistic direction of Luisa Melis, promotes creativity in music, poetry and painting. The award ceremony took place on 18–19 September 2026 in the park of Villa Bonelli (Rome), with free admission.
Public collections
In 2025, on the occasion of the solo exhibition Life is a game at the Galleria Civica don Sandro Vitalini in Campione d'Italia, Cafarotti donated the work titled Filtri to the Municipality of Campione d'Italia. The municipality accepted the donation and integrated the work into its permanent collection.
Style and themes
Cafarotti's paintings are characterised by narrative tableaux that combine realistic elements with expressionist influences. They show careful attention to detail, proportions and composition while addressing existential themes through symbolic and everyday scenes.
Further reading
(contains an artist profile of Cafarotti)