About the artist:

Born in France to Corsican parents, Moretti studied architecture at Paris` Ecole des Beaux Arts (School of Fine Arts). He worked as an architect and designer in France and New York before moving to Fort Lauderdale in 1961, when he designed the Edgewater Arms condominium building on Galt Ocean Drive. In 1969 Moretti left architecture and design to sculpt full time at his Oakland Park studio, which is crammed with wood and marble from Guatemala and Italy. He travels to select materials and sometimes sculpts on location, often spending two-month periods in the village of Ortonovo, near Pietrasanta, Italy. Sculptors, including Michelangelo, have used marble taken from that area of Northern Italy for centuries. Among the awards Moretti has won are a first prize for sculpture at the Museum of Art`s Broward Artists Competition in 1969, and a first prize in sculpture and best in show from the Broward Art Guild in 1971. To create his non-representational sculptures -- some wood pieces measure six feet across and his marble works can weigh 1,600 pounds or more -- Moretti uses hand tools, power tools, sandpaper ... and hours of labor. Since moving to Fort Lauderdale, Moretti has been a leading figure in local art circles. He is the namesake for Broward County`s annual Moretti Awards for cultural excellence, for which he created a sculpture. The Moretti Awards were begun in 1983 and each Spring honor individuals, organizations and businesses for contributions to the arts in Broward County. Positioned near a desk in the center of Moretti`s studio are reminders of his homeland: photographs of the Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi, who lived and worked in Paris, and a sidewalk cafe on the Boulevard Montparnasse in the City of Light. Moretti often visits France during trips to the Northern Italian marble quarries, but said he has no plans to return there to live.