Catania, at the Palazzo della Cultura the exhibition by Libero Elio Romano

The Academy of Fine Arts of Catania promotes a large anthological exhibition to Libero Elio Romano at the Palazzo della Cultura, one of the masters of the twentieth century. Fifty-seven works, between nudes and sculptures, in a multimedia path with installations, 3D prints and digital animations. On stage the melancholy poetics of a post-impressionist artist who softened the glare of the Sicilian light. The exhibition will remain open to the public until 20 January 2023.

THE WORKS ON EXHIBITION

Fifty-seven lesser-known or completely unpublished works from private collections are on display. These are rural landscapes, glimpses of interiors with still lifes, a gallery of family portraits, sculptures, two marines in the light of the black lava cliff of Catania and a collection of nudes. Works that investigate the entire production span of the author during the twentieth century.

THE LIFE

Son of a magistrate who wanted him to be a judge, Elio Romano in the capital is close to circles of intellectuals who opposed the fascist regime. Wanted by the political police in 1938, he manages to return to Sicily where he finds refuge in the Morra countryside with his family. And this is where, to save it from racial persecution, for about three years he hides his fellow Jewish sculptor Ingeborg Franck Hunzinger and her partner, Helmut Ruhmer.

THE CURATOR'S PROJECT

The exhibition comes twenty-seven years after the last anthology dedicated to him in Catania and is divided into four chronological sections: the formative years in Catania, those of the academic study in Rome and Florence, the war and the postwar period, the years of maturity. "The intent - explains curator Vittorio Ugo Vicari - is to move the author from the dimension of criticism to that of art history with a methodological gap useful for the author's historicization process".

CREATIVE AND EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOP

Conceived by the homonymous Study Center and produced by the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania the show on Elio Romano it turned out to be an extraordinary creative and didactic laboratory. In these two years, the project has involved teachers and students from the three departments of the institution.

THE EXHIBITION CONCEPT

Multimedia projections complete the exhibition at the Palazzo della Cultura, an old video restored and integrated by the curator's interventions and 3D prints of some sculptures. At the end of the tour, a room will host a virtual visit "inside the paintings" for an immersive experience in places and with the people dear to the master. A project curated by Enrico La Rosa, responsible for the exhibition set-up.

INFO

The exhibition “Libero Elio Romano. 1909 - 1996 "is free. It will be open from Monday to Friday from 9 at 13. Saturday from 16 at 19. Guided tours for groups and school groups are organized by the Academy of Fine Arts and must be booked by sending an email to mostraromano@abacatania.it

Gives Villa Maria you can easily reach Catania by car and by train (the railway station is just a few meters away) in about 20 minutes.