His earliest training takes place in his father’s ceramics studio, where he also masters the technique of working with a potter’s wheel. After studying at the Art School in his city, he enrolls in the Faenza Ceramics Institute (Istituto della Ceramica di Faenza); these are important years for the Artist’s development, since they enable him to study works by Picasso at the Ceramics Museum (Museo delle Ceramiche) and begin experimenting with gres.
In 1959 he moves to Milan to study at the Accademia di Brera: he becomes Arnaldo Pomodoro’s assistant and collaborates with Nanni Valentini on the creation of several works by Lucio Fontana.
The 1960s:Milan hosts the artist’s first personal show in 1965, followed by other individual and collective exhibitions in Italy; Inspired by the 1968 protests, he begins his first pieces made of metal for urban settings, his “massive iron works” or “grandi ferri”, that recuperate the geometry and constructional logic of the material they are forged from, reflecting the physicality and material nature of the sculptor’s work.
The 1970s: he becomes strongly conceptual and starts exhibiting frequently in Italy and abroad; including the XXVI Venice Biennale (1972 Biennale di Venezia) and the X Rome Quadriennale (1973 Quadriennale di Roma); during this period (1977) the Newport Harbor Art Museum hosts the show in which he presents his Archeology and Landscapes series (Archeologia e Paesaggi).
The 1980s: his exhibition activities continue, and he also becomes increasingly present abroad (1981 Neue Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museum, Berlin, Korea, Switzerland). In 1982, after a trip across the Mediterranean, the sculptor renews his interest in the materials and techniques used for ceramics, constructing the gigantic wheel on which he will form his impressive Turris, which he later forges in iron. His second participation in the Venice Biennale takes place in 1986 and in the late ‘80s he returns to his “broken iron works” or Ferri spezzati.
In the 1990s the tries to confer sculpture with new meaning, defying gravity by suspending enormous blocks of iron. Among his many noteworthy works is Campo sospeso, installed in Castel Burio in the Piemonte region. In the early ‘90s he becomes a Professor of Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, following the great success he obtains through his work with German galleries and museums.
The 2000s:he receives the Faenza Lifetime Achievement Award and wins the International Urban Furnishings Competition of Milan: in 2002 the massive cliff sculpture, Scogliere, formed from five enormous blocks of steel, is placed in front of the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, in conjunction with the inauguration of the space that would house the activities of the Teatro alla Scala until 2004. In 2005 Spagnulo exhibits at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. The following year, the XXIV Biennale di Gubbio hosts “Homage to Giuseppe Spagnulo” (“Omaggio a Giuseppe Spagnulo”).
In 2009 he creates the Door of Light (“Porta della Luce”), a grandiose solumn work for The Cathedral of Santo Stefano in Prato. In 2010 he exhibits at the Galerie Carzaniga in Basel and the Galleria 2000&Novecento in Reggio Emilia, and the Episcopo Castle dedicates a personal exhibition to him, as does the “Giacomo d’Atri” garden in Grottaglie. In 2011 the Milanese Studio Maffei presents a selection of sculptures and paper works; in October Palazzo Pretorio in Cittadella hosts the exhibition “Giuseppe Spagnulo – Terra e Fuoco”, dedicated to Earth and Fire, and in November “L’Ombra di Napoli” opens at Giraldi Gallery in Livorno.
In 2012 he participates in the collective show, “bidding farewell” to 1970s Milan, curated by Francesco Bonami at Palazzo Reale: “Milano Addio anni 70 Arte a Milano 1969-1980”. The Walter Storms Gallery in Munich also dedicates a solo exhibition to him. An important biography on the artist is published in 2013 in GlI Ori editions, edited by Bruno Corà. In 2014 Spagnulo inaugurates a large personal exhibition in Verona at the Galleria dello Scudo, and he also shows at the Galleria Comunale of contemporary art in Arezzo and the Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Cassino. The prestigious show “…Ma un’estensione” takes place in 2015 , featuring Gastini, Icaro, Mattiacci, and Spagnulo at the Galleria Internazionale d’Arte Moderna Ca’Pesaro, in Venice, curated by Bruno Corà.
2016 is both the year of the Maestro’s passing and the date of the exhibition, “Materia Prima”, dedicated to raw materials, at the Museo di Montelupo.