He began exhibiting his work in 1971, referring to his early works as ‘mythical conceptual art’. In the late 1970s he turned away from conceptual art to create a new kind of figurative painting and established himself as a key member of the Transavanguardia movement in painting alongside Francesco Clemente, Mimmo Paladino and Enzo Cucchi.

Chia draws freely on the art of the past to create a style that is entirely personal, yet is enriched by the echoes of its sources; heroic figures imbued with an enigmatic sense of mission are Chia’s main protagonists as manifestations of his own identity.

His work has been the subject of numerous solo museum exhibitions around the world including Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1983); Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1984); Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (1984, 1992); Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (1984); the Museums of Dusseldorf (1984), Antwerp (1989), Mexico City (1989); Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence (1991); the Museums of Karlsruhe (1992), Palm Springs (1993), Villa Medici in Rome (1995); Palazzo Reale in Milan (1997), the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida (1997), the Galleria Civica of Siena (1997), the Galleria Civica in Trento (2000), the Museo d’Arte of Ravenna (2000); Palazzo Pitti and the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Florence (2002); and the Duomo of St. Agostino in Pietrasanta (2005) and Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna of Rome (GNAM) (2010).

Chia’s work forms part of some of the world’s most important collections including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA; Tate Gallery, London, England; Art Institute of Chicago, USA; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA; Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA; Basel Kunstmuseum, Switzerland; Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Japan; Setagaya Art Museum, Japan; Fukuyama Museum of Art, Japan; Utsunomiya Museum of Art, Japan; The Museum of Art, Kochi, Japan; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Groninger Museum, Netherlands; Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany; Stadtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany; FAE Foundation, Musee d’Art Contemporain, Lausanne, Switzerland; Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel; Castello di Rivoli, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy; MART, Museo d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Italy; Senato della Repubblica Italiana, Palazzo Madama, Rome, Italy.

• 2015 Meraviglia: Enzo Cucchi/Sandro Chia/Michael Warren, Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, Ireland
• 2015 Sandro Chia: Fantasy and Myths, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Korea
• 2014 Sandro Chia: Dipinti e Acquerelli, Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, Ireland
• 2010 Sandro Chia, Triennale Bovisa, Milan, Italy
• 2010 Joy and Sorrow of a Young Painter, Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 2010 Akira Ikeda Gallery, Berlin, Germany
• 2009 I Guerrieri, Scuola dei Mercanti, Campo Madonna dell’ Orto, Venice, Italy
• 2009 Campestre Romantico, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Tokyo, Japan
• 2009 Della Pittura, Popolare e Nobilissima Arte, Galleria Nazionale Arte Moderna (GNAM) Rome, Italy
• 2009 The Magic of the Press – Opere Grafiche, Echo Italia Montreal 2009, curated by Camera di Commercio Italia, Montreal, Canada
• 2008 Talking Paintings, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
• 2008 Saints and Sinners, Charles Cowles Gallery, New York, USA
• 2008 Gods and Heroes, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA
• 2006 Sandro Chia, Klaus Steinmetz Arte Moderna, San José, Costa Rica
• 2006 Gary Nader Fine Art, Miami, USA
• 2006 Il Marmo e la celluloide, La Versiliana, Forte dei Marmi, Italy
• 2005 D’oro e d’argento, Pietrasanta, Italy
• 2005 Galleria Astuni, Pietrasanta, Italy
• 2005 Contini Art Gallery, Venice, Italy
• 2004 Sandro Chia, Galleria d’Arte Contini, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
• 2004 Pompa Magna, Centro Cultural Ourense, Ourense, Spain
• 2004 Litania a Colori, Tuscan Sun Festival, Chiesa di S. Agostino, Cortona, Italy
• 2004 Sandro Chia, Villa Bohm, Neustadt am der Weinstrasse, Germany
• 2004 Viandante Naufrago, Galleria Boxart, Verona, Italy
• 2004 Sandro e/o Sandro, Galleria Tega, Milan, Italy
• 2003 Divano a Mare, Spazio Bisazza, Milan, Italy
• 2003 Sandro Chia, Galleria Tega, Milan, Italy
• 2003 Affido al disegno…, Temple University, Rome, Italy
• 2002 Miti e Leggende, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence, Italy
• 2002 Sandro Chia, Galerie Vidal Saint Phalle, Paris, France
• 2001 Sandro Chia, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Paris, France
• 2001 Magazzini D’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
• 2000 Galleria Civica D’Arte Contemporanea, Trento, Italy
• 2000 Museo di Ravenna, Italy
• 2000 Velge e Noirhomme, Brussels, Belgium
• 1999 Tony Shafrazzi Gallery, New York, USA
• 1999 Magazzino D’Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
• 1998 Pepperdine University, California, USA
• 1998 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
• 1998 Lutz Gallery, Germany
• 1997 Sandro Chia: opere selte 1975-1996, Magazzini del Sale Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy
• 1997 Galeria Civica, Siena , Italy
• 1997 Palazzo Sforzesco, Milan, Italy
• 1997 Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA
• 1997 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
• 1997 Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 1997 Sandro Chia, Arengario di Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
• 1996 Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, USA
• 1996 Sandro Chia: Recent work, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
• 1995 Elektra, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
• 1995 Sandro Chia, Academie de France, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy
• 1994 Sandro Chia, Waddington Galleries, London, England
• 1993 Sandro Chia, Espace des Arts, Chalon sur Saône, France
• 1993 Palm Springs Art Museum, California, USA
• 1993 Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• 1993 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
• 1993 Larry Gagosian/Leo Castelli, New York, USA
• 1992 Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany
• 1992 Retrospective, Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
• 1992 Works on Paper, Galerie Hilger, Vienna, Austria
• 1991 Dipinti, Disegni, sculture, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
• 1991 Sandro Chia: Dipinti e titoli recenti, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence, Italy
• 1990 Yoshimitsu Hijikata Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
• 1990 Fondazione Mudima, Milan, Italy
• 1990 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
• 1989 Novanta spine al vento, Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, Austria
• 1989 Museo della Biennale, Venice, Italy
• 1989 Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico
• 1989 Museum of Contemporary Art, Monterrey, Mexico
• 1989 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
• 1989 Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
• 1989 Yoshimitsu Hijikata Gallery, Nagoya, Japan
• 1988 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
• 1988 Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
• 1987 Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 1987 Sperone Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
• 1987 Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, Italy
• 1987 Fischer Fine Art, London, England
• 1986 Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 1986 Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
• 1985 Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, USA
• 1985 Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich, Switzerland
• 1985 Galerie Michael Haas, Berlin, Germany
• 1985 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
• 1984 Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany
• 1984 Sandro Chia Peintures 1976-1983, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
• 1984 The Mezzanine Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
• 1984 Kunstverein für Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
• 1984 Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
• 1984 Schellmann und Klüser, Munich, Germany
• 1984 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
• 1984 Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg, Germany
• 1984 James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• 1984 Venator Intrepidus, Galleria Mazzoli, Modena, Italy
• 1983 Sandro Chia: Bilder, 1973-1983, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany
• 1983 Sandro Chia, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1983 Leo Castelli, New York, USA
• 1983 Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
• 1983 Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France
• 1983 Natalie Seroussi, Paris, France
• 1983 Gallery Five, Stockholm, Sweden
• 1983 Galerie Silvia Menzel, Berlin, Germany
• 1983 Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany
• 1982 James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
• 1982 Sperone Westwater, New York, USA
• 1981 Bruno Bischofberger, Zürich, Switzerland
• 1981 Anthony d’Offay, London, England
• 1980 Sperone, Westwater Fischer, New York, USA
• 1980 Art e Project, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1980 Galerie Paul Maenz, Cologne, Germany
• 1979 Mario Diacono, Bologna, Italy
• 1979 Galerie Paul Maenz, Cologne, Germany
• 1979 Framart Studio, Naples, Italy
• 1979 Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, Italy
• 1978 Galleria Giuliana De Crescenzo, Rome, Italy
• 1978 Galerie Paul Maenz, Cologne, Germany
• 1978 Galleria dell’Oca, Rome, Italy
• 1978 Studio Antonio Tucci Russo, Turin, Italy
• 1977 Galleria Fiorino, Genoa, Italy
• 1977 Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, Italy
• 1977 Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy
• 1976 Studio Antonio Tucci Russo, Turin, Italy
• 1976 Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy
• 1975 Galleria Lucrezia Domizio, Pescara, Italy
• 1974 L’opera descrivibile, Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy
• 1973 Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
• 1972 Copia, Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy
• 1971 L’ombra e il suo doppio, Galleria La Salita, Rome, Italy