CESARE CATANIA
"THE EMBRACE"
Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Venice
30.06 - 24.08.23
... the Laboratory of Emotions ...
ATTEND THE OFFICIAL PRESENTATION ON JULY 27, 2023
On 27 July 2023, the first sculpture belonging to “the Other Side of the Moon” collection will be officially presented in World preview, a collection created during the Venetian stay of the artist Cesare Catania, in artist residency program at the Donà dalle Rose Foundation.
The new collection is created by the artist by mixing rusted steel, silicone, acrylic together with lagoon materials found on site, such as briar wood, Murano glass and Venetian mirrors.
A mix between the contemporary art of Cesare Catania and the millenary tradition of Venetian art!
The Exhibition and the Artist’s Residence – EXHIBITION EXTENDED UNTIL AUGUST 24th
From 30 June to 24 August 2023. Personal exhibition of Cesare Catania and Artist Residence at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose in Venice, a palace built in 1610 by Doge Leonardo Donà. A place of charm and undisputed history, today it contains a collection of historical and contemporary art of immense value.
Titian’s house once stood in the nearby Calle dei Botteri, at number 5613.
The frescoed interiors and historical flavor form the context for this personal exhibition which is part of the “Embrace Project”, a socio-cultural artistic project wanted by the artist Cesare Catania and to which various bodies and institutions are joining.
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And precisely because of his project, his initiative and the strong social message he carries with him, in 2023 Cesare Catania was appointed unique global ambassador for the International Hug Day, a day that falls every January 21 since 1986.
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“The Laboratory of Emotions”. This is the subtitle of a contemporary art exhibition (and of the Residenza D’Artista) which aims, among other things, to support the Palazzo’s collection and Palazzo Donà dalle Rose itself at the same time. In fact, part of the proceeds will be donated to the Donà dalle Rose Foundation in support of cultural activities linked to the prestigious venue.
A Unique Experience at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose and the New Collection of Geometric Sculptures!
In addition to entering the official collection of the Donà dalle Rose Foundation, from 30 June to 30 July 2023 Cesare Catania will shape the material of his new collection inside Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, thus creating a living contemporary art exhibition! In fact, during the course of the exhibition the number of works on display will increase due to the fact that the artist, temporarily residing in the Palazzo as did the great masters of the past, will experiment with the use of new materials found on the spot and merging together his techniques unmistakable with materials from the Venetian area.
The new collection will be contaminated by the surrounding place, will have the peculiar characteristics of the artist’s works of this period and will mix the Venetian tradition with the Catania”. The new title of the new collection is “The Other side of the Moon”, in connection with the latest artistic projects developed by the Donà dalle Rose Foundation at the prestigious Palazzo.
An explosion of Fantasy!
The exhibition displays works of traditional art and digital works at the same time, focusing its attention on the famous painting of the Hug (2016 – Oil on canvas), a work that can be appreciated against the background of the enchanting museum from the very first steps of entering the exhibition.
In the main room there are around fifteen other works of art belonging to the contemporary artist who has perfected over the years a unique technique to best express his inspirations and own emotions: we are referring to the so-called “Tecnica Catania“, a processing of the material in which the artist skilfully mixes silicone, acrylic and mineral pigments to give life to a material that plasmata allows you to create paintings that literally come out of the canvas and sculptures that come out of space!
Going forward in the exhibition you can also view NFTs and digital artworks: the Metaverse has never been so close!
The Critique
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(Chiara Donà dalle Rose)
Some of the exhibited works
Discover the “Feelings and Emotions” collection!
Among the works of art on display in the first part of the exhibition of Palazzo Donà dalle Rose we find some pieces belonging to the collection “Feelings and Emotions”. This collection highlights for the author all the main feelings and emotions that accompany the artist in the creative process and is made up of the following unique pieces.
The feelings touched by these works range from happiness, to passion, to shyness, from the presence of one’s own ego to its absence. Within the 10 paintings we also find a diptych that pays homage to Harlequin, a comic and dramatic character at the same time and to whom the artist has dedicated several works during his career (we mention among others “The Harlequins” (A B e
C version), 2 paintings and a tapestry made between 2015 and 2016; “Harlequin in the Land of Giants” (A and B Version), oil painting on canvas and digital NFT made respectively in 2017 and 2022)
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Work Number 73 – Black – Incognito
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The first real feeling that distinguishes the production of a work of art for Cesare Catania is the absence of any specific thought referring to it. The unknown (in absolute black) represents the uncertainty about what to express and from an emotional point of view it is identified with the restlessness of those who question themselves absent in front of a blank canvas or in front of a shapeless block of clay.
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Further details on the work “Nero – Incognito” below
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Work Number 77 – Rose – Shyness
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The moment he approaches to execute his own work of art, despite his artistic background and despite the fact that the ideas are now clear on what to represent, the artist experiences a feeling of absolute smallness and shyness in front of the work not yet created. In this, shyness enhances the executive spontaneity and the artistic authenticity of the creative process.
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More details on the work “Rosa – The Shyness” below
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Work Number 80 – The Presence
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The first sculpture of the diptych in question represents presence. Physically and strictly speaking, the two rusty steel planes of the cube balanced on one of its corners seem to contain a shapeless mass of silicone and black and white acrylic, almost as if to confine the presence of the work to the place where is located and in its geographical and temporal uniqueness. In a broad sense, the meaning of this phase is very clear: the artist perceives his presence in that place exactly in front of the work he is creating and savors all its distinctive features. In practice, the artist tries to savor his presence in the place and time in which he finds himself in front of his almost complete work of art. This state of mind is fundamental for what will come immediately after: the Absence.
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More details on the work “The Presence” below
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Work number 83 – The Harlequins (A Version)
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Artwork belonging to the diptych of the same name which is part of the “Feelings and Emotions” collection and which pays homage to the character of the harlequin so dear to the author. Harlequin is both a comic and dramatic character and represents mankind in the broadest sense for the author. For the author, we are all harlequins… Already in the past the author has made several harlequins, both in traditional art and in digital art. We remember “The Harlequins ( A Version) – 2015” , “The Harlequins ( B Version) – 2016” , “The Harlequins ( C Version) – 2016”, “Harlequin in the Land of Giants” (A Version) – 2017 , “Harlequin in the Land of Giants” (B Version) – NFT – 2022.
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More details on the works “The Harlequins (A and B Version)” below
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Work number 86 – The Heart of the Earth (E Version)
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This sculpture belongs to the “Feelings and Emotions” collection and pays homage to a theme so dear to the author, the theme called “The Heart of the Earth”. The Earth is seen by the author full of energy and meanings …. Already in the past the author has created several works with the same title and the same theme, both in traditional art and in digital art. We remember “The Heart of the Earth” ( A Version) – 2012 , “The Heart of the Earth” ( B e C Version) – 2018 , “The Heart of the Earth” ( D Version) – NFT – 2022.
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Read more about the sculpture “The Heart of the Earth (E Version)” below
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The “Hugs” by Cesare Catania
In the second part of the exhibition, the author develops the theme of the Embrace, a theme from which both the four homonymous works on display take their name, as well as the exhibition, as well as the socio-cultural project underlying the exhibition itself .
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Opera Numero 17 – L’Abbraccio (A Version)
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The first real graphic representation of this gesture, so simple but at the same time so full of meaning, takes place for Cesare Catania in 2015, when he draws version A of the Hug with wax crayon on paper. A numbered copy of the famous sketch is on display at the Poetry Museum in Piacenza.
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Further details on the work “The Embrace A Version” below
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Work number 48 – The Embrace B Version
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The following year, the artist creates an extraordinary oil on canvas tapestry measuring almost 3m x 2m, a contemporary work of art that will lead the artist to somehow consolidate his passion for informal art cubist. This second version of the hug has been exhibited on several occasions.
Among these we recall, in 2016 a Lugano (Istituto Elvetico), where the tapestry was selected to represent the visual arts during the international week of the Italian language, an event of the highest caliber, supported by the High Patronage of the President of the Republic, the Italian Foreign Ministry, the Embassies of the Swiss Confederation and the Italian Consulate.
After being exhibited in 2018 at Montecarlo, the same oil on canvas tapestry was exhibited in 2019 at Museum of the Royal Villa of Monza, within a personal retrospective.
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Further information on the work “The Embrace B Version” below
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.Above the image of the tapestry entitled “The Embrace (B Version)” inside the Small Museum of Poetry in Piacenza
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Diptych Number 88 and 89 – The Embrace (C e D Version)
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In 2022 the author decides to return to the theme addressed in past years and to give birth to a new diptych by abstracting the main colors of the tapestry created in 2016 and to reproduce the two figures (the yellow one and the pink one) in a pair of works of three-dimensional art close to the last collection “Feelings and Emotions” as regards the technique used (“Tecnica Catania“) but which somehow envelops the artistic and inspirational background of almost a decade as far as it concerns the emotional contents.
In fact, the artist creates a diptych in which the colors of the Abbraccio B Version blend together between acrylics, silicone and mineral pigments. Two paintings that literally come out of the canvas!
Work Number 91 – The Embrace (F Version)
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The first sculptural work of the Embrace, Cesare Catania creates this masterpiece of contemporary and geometric art in 2023, on the occasion of the Biennale of Poetry among the Arts (BiPa), on display in Piacenza between 4 and 8 May in the gardens of the Ricci Gallery Oh yeah.
It is a work of almost 3 meters in height including the underlying pedestal in polished steel. The sculpture, intentionally in rusty steel, highlights the main geometries of two people embracing, a simple gesture as well as their representation. The two figures almost seem to merge in a single rotating movement.
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The same sculpture is exhibited in May and June 2023 together with other works of art by Banksy and Rosa Mundi at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, awaiting the start of the solo exhibition and of the artist residency of the month of July 2023
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The Metaverse has never been so close…
In the third part of the exhibition, it is possible to approach a concept that is now real but equally futuristic as that of the Metaverse.
After having approached digital art in 2016 for educational purposes and to explain his own cubist works of art in a more complete way (see the explanatory video made to explain the titled cubist tapestry to its audience “Trois Hommes“), after having personally experienced the digital acquisition, 3D modeling and 3D printing of his sculptures in order to be able to reproduce their shapes and colors (see, for example, the reproductions of made in 2017 with 3D printing and completely repainted by hand by the author), in 2021 Cesare Catania created his first NFT collections. Recognized by critics as one of the most influential digital artists, he initially creates 5 NFT collections, collections exhibited in the Poetry Museum of Piacenza in a dedicated video room.
After minting his first NFTs, the artist opens his personal exhibition entitled
Actually already in 2020 the artist had inaugurated a first digital version of her gallery in the exhibition
Work Number 71 – Harlequin in the Land of the Giants (B Version)
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Among the NFTs on display in the exhibition, we find the famous “Harlequin in the Land of Giants” (B Version), a digital and revisited version of the oil on canvas painting of the same name created by the artist in 2017 shown below.
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The first oil on canvas version of this painting made by Cesare Catania is from 2017
(A Version) and represents Harlequin (representing mankind) running in a predetermined chessboard overrun by Giants (representing Corporations and Multinationals).
On display at the Piacenza Museum is the digital Version B Version of the same painting, a short film of more than 2 minutes that expresses the same concepts as the traditional oil on canvas version but with strong futuristic connotations.
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More information on the work “Harlequin in the Land of Giants (B Version)” below
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Cesare Catania
Cesare Catania is an Italian artist. Painter, sculptor and digital artist, he began his successful career some time ago, fusing tradition and innovation in his art. His creative abilities and aesthetic taste enthusiastically embrace technology and development towards the future. In his works of art the boundaries between painting, sculpture and digital art blur, always maintaining his attachment to his contemporary art. After more than a decade of international success as a traditional artist, he has recently amazed critics for his ability to play the role of digital artist. Fascinated by modern art, architecture, cubism and the pictorial masters of the classical age, Cesare Catania’s artistic maturity is still evolving today; always looking for new techniques to best express his inspirations. p>
Click here and find out more about the artist Cesare Catania:
The evolution of the "Catania Technique"
The Artistic Background and the ability to mix Silicone and Acrylic
Already in past years Cesare Catania has created works of art by mixing silicone and acrylic. The first ever of the works created with this unique technique is entitled 'Le Uova" (2012-14), a three-dimensional painting that studies the contrast between shapes and colors and which gives the artist the possibility to discover your passion for this kind of expression.
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Over the years, the artist created other works in silicone and acrylic. Among these we remember “La Macchia” (A Version 2013 and B Version 2017),
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the collection of four sculptures entitled "La Bocca dell'Etna" (B C D E Version) made in 2017 and whose version E is studied by the author for people with Dalton syndrome.
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The “Cuts”
We also recall the entire series entitled "Il Taglio", five three-dimensional paintings created between 2017 and 2019 and which represent the evolution of a single stroke on a canvas through the 'opening of contrasting colors. In particular we want to remember:
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Work number 60 – “The Cut” (2017)
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This three-dimensional artwork represents a black cut in a world charged with red turmoil. The cut artistically synthesizes a rapid and uncontrolled movement typical of the artist who creates a work of abstract art in front of his canvas. "Il Taglio" by Cesare Catania sums up concepts such as movement, abstraction, spatial absence, spontaneity and emotional charge. All in one sculpture framework.
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More details on the work "Il Taglio" below
Work number 63 – “The Cut (B Version)” (2018)
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This three-dimensional work of art develops the concept of the cut already presented in the work of art number 60 entitled "The Cut". It represents cuts in a world charged with red turmoil. As in the previous version, here too the cut artistically synthesizes a rapid and uncontrolled movement typical of the artist who creates a work of abstract art in front of his canvas. "Il Taglio" by Cesare Catania sums up concepts such as movement, abstraction, spatial absence, spontaneity and emotional charge. All in one sculpture framework.
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Further details on the work “Il Taglio (B Version)” below
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Work Number 64 – “The Cut (C Version) - Confusion” (2018)
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This painting - sculpture of contemporary art elaborates the concept of the cut already presented in the works of art number 60 and 63 entitled "The Cut" A and B Version. It represents an open and confused cut in a world full of yellow agitation. Unlike previous versions, in this case the cut is not sharp but confused and undefined. Here too "Il Taglio" by Cesare Catania sums up concepts such as movement, abstraction, spatial absence, spontaneity and emotional charge. All in one sculpture to hang on the wall.
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Further details on the work “Il Taglio (C Version)” below
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Works Number 65 and 66 – “The Cut (D and E Version)” (2019)
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These sculpture-paintings elaborate again the concept of the cut already presented in the works of art number 60 and 63 and 64 entitled "The Cut (A-B-C Version). These are two new versions of the Taglio and on this occasion they are covered by the artist entirely with Diamond Dust. Here too "Il Taglio" by Cesare Catania sums up concepts such as movement, abstraction, spatial absence, spontaneity and emotional charge. Further details on the works “Il Taglio (D and E Version)” below.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN VENICE
THE ARTIST CESARE CATANIA WITH THE EXHIBITION
“THE EMBRACE – THE LABORATORY OF EMOTIONS”
The exhibition is linked to the international socio-cultural project “The Embrace”
and will be open until July 30 at the same time as the exhibition of
“Banksy and Rosamundi: the Bestiary in the Rose Garden” to be held instead
on the main floor of the same building
Venice, June 2023 – The artistic-cultural panorama of Venice is increasingly in turmoil and variegated thanks also to a rich program of events that will enliven summer in the lagoon.
He fits perfectly among the personal exhibitions at the starting blocks “The Embrace. The laboratory of Emotions” by the international artist Cesare Catania which he presents at Venice, at the iconic Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, an exhibition full of works and meanings, conceived as an intimate journey into the artist’s production through the years.
A real magnifying glass on the poetics of Catania and on works of a different nature, from sculpture to painting up to NFTs, all connected by the conceptual fil rouge of a “democratic” art, freely usable and cleared by customs from the usual institutional places such as museums and galleries, capable of speaking to people by involving them in an emotional journey that develops in unusual locations as in the case, precisely, of the very ancient Palazzo Donà dalle Rose.
This same concept of “democratic” art, also capable of going beyond any geographical and religious difference, against racism, injustice and discrimination connects directly to International socio-cultural project “The Embrace” conceived and promoted by Maestro Catania together with top-level realities, including the Italian Embassy in Angola and the Pediatric Division of the Fatebenefratelli Hospital in Milan.
Engineer by training and artist by passion, profound connoisseur of everything that falls within the digital universe and fervent supporter of cubism, Cesare Catania has been nominated January 2023 in the USA “Worldwide Ambassador of International Hug Day” and inserted by Forbes among the most competent Italian artists in the world in the field of NFT and Metaverse.
Catania arrives in Venice thanks to the recent collaboration with the Foundation Donà dalle Rose which for the entire month of July will welcome him in the palace of the same name in Artist Residence, as well as having included it in the parterre of its leading artists.
At the same time as the Catania exhibition, again at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, the exhibition “Banksy and Rosa Mundi: the Bestiary in the Rose Garden”.
Visitors to the “The Embrace” exhibition will be immediately fascinated by the strength of white marble whose dust, skilfully worked with fragments of meteorite and steel, finds its highest expression in the sculptures entitled “Heart of the Earth” (A and B Version) located in the entrance hall of Palazzo Donà among friezes and other marvels dating back to the 17th century in a perfect mix of ancient art and contemporary art.
However, the sculpture section will not lack other colorful surprises such as the works in iron, natural rope, wood, silicone and acrylic, which pay homage to “Bocca dell’Etna”. However, it will be the series ‘Feelings and Emotions‘ to give back to the viewer the figure of the innermost feelings and emotions by the Maestro through the presentation of works full of pathos among which two stand out sculptures in steel, silicone, acrylic and natural pigments (“Presence” and “Absence”) but also vibrant 3D paintings in silicone, acrylic and natural pigments on canvas as “Yellow Happiness”, “Pink Shyness” and “The Harlequins”.
The Catania exhibition is a blaze of pure art, which often and willingly borders on suggestive experiments capable of giving life to works that know how to envelop and make you dream like the works in silicone and acrylic, among which they deserve a special mention the versions B and C of “The Embrace” in addition to the famous canvas “The Embrace ” recently exhibited in Milan before and subsequently at the Poetry Museum in Piacenza.
The informal art works are also very particular which stand out in all their visual strength among the architecture of distant times of Palazzo Donà dalle Rose, taking the visitor by the hand and accompanying him to other worlds, such as ne “The man who does not see”, “Summer Readings” (homage to Pier Luigi Nervi), “The Embrace – A version”.
EXHIBITION TICKETS
Cesare Catania’s exhibition is open to the public for a fee. To purchase the ticket, please refer to the following link below:
and remember the possibility of requesting a combined ticket for the Catania, Banksy, Rosa Mundi exhibitions, all present at Palazzo Donà dalle Rose.
PRESS REVIEW
Itinerari Nell’Arte
THE HISTORY OF THE EMBRACE PROJECT
THE EMBRACE PROJECT
The Venice exhibition is part of the traveling project called “Embrace project”.
The “Embrace Project” is a socio-cultural artistic project that intends to promote art,
culture, medicine and science in general with the aim of doing good in an ethical way,
defending the weakest categories, against any type of discrimination and prejudice.
The Project, conceived by the artist Cesare Catania, refers precisely to the title of one of his works, note
such as “The Embrace” (B Version – year 2016 – 255 x 175cm). Specifically it is a tapestry
made in 2016 with a palette knife oil on canvas representing the embrace between two people, each of
which she is identified by a different colour.
The same contemporary artwork had already represented art during the week of
Italian language at the Swiss Institute of Lugano in 2016, an event of the highest caliber
supported by the High Patronage of the President of the Republic, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Italian, Embassies of the Swiss Confederation and the Italian Consulate .
AMBASSADOR 2023 FOR WORLD HUG DAY
Cesare Catania – appointed for 2023 as the only Ambassador in the world of the Day International of the Hug (celebrated on January 21 starting from 1986, the year of his creation) – is convinced that it is children who have been most affected by the pandemic suffering more from an inevitable and dutiful social distancing than, however, not it belongs to their expansive nature and prone to meeting each other.
THE PRESENTATION AT THE PALAZZO PIRELLI OF THE LOMBARDY REGION
These and other reflections led to the ultimate definition of the “Embrace Project” which is was presented for the first time in Milan on 17 November 2022 at Palazzo Pirelli, headquarters of the Regional Council of Lombardy, in collaboration with the municipal council of the same Lombardy Region.
For further details discover the video of the official presentation day, in which the absolute protagonists were the children!
THE EMBRACE PROJECT AND THE INSTITUTIONS
On 19 January 2023, on the occasion of a personal exhibition at the Galleria d’arte del Salotto in Milan, Cesare Catania has once again put the spotlight on his project but this time he has too officially presented some of the partners who have joined the initiative supporting it both in Italy both abroad. This is the case of the pediatric ward of the Fatebenefratelli Hospital, directed by Doctor Luca Bernardo, and of the Italian Embassy in Angola, at whose helm we have been finding since 2020 Cristiano Gallo.
THE EMBRACE PROJECT FOR CULTURE AND POETRY
Starting from 25 March until 23 April 2023, the “L’Abbraccio” project and the homonymous exhibition touched the historic city of Piacenza, where the Piccolo Museo della Poesia has hosted, in addition to one large series of works from Catania, including the famous original painting “L’Abbraccio”. Among the works in exhibition, in addition to the Hug, also a sculpture in silicone and acrylic entitled “La Bocca dell’Etna” (E Version – year 2017 – 100x100x20cm), the first contemporary work of art made for people with Dalton syndrome (see image below). The color palette has in fact been studied by the artist on the visual spectrum of people affected by this pathology. The sculpture in question is was officially presented for the first time in Montecarlo in 2017 within the exhibition entitled “Art for Everyone“, just to demonstrate how Maestro Cesare Catania intends art as an instrument of universal and democratic vehicle.
The initiative at the Piccolo Museo della Poesia therefore sets itself the main objective of convey a universal message of brotherhood and actively support culture literary: in fact, part of the entrance ticket will be donated to the Museum itself to support it economically in future ordinary activities.
To find out all the details on the past Piacenza exhibition in April 2023, click on the image below:
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