Catania, from 15 January at Castello Ursino the exhibition of Piero Zuccaro

The exhibition by Piero Zuccaro is entitled "Visual Meditation"., between painting, music and poetry, crosses Franco Battiato's profound sense of spirituality. The exhibition is scheduled in Catania, in the halls of Ursino Castle, from 15 January until 30 April. E’ produced by the Lauro Chiazzese Foundation for Art and Culture, with the patronage of the Municipality of Catania and the partnership of the Teatro Stabile of Catania.

On display is a mystical and rarefied narrative, punctuated by forty works by Piero Zuccaro, artist and professor of painting techniques at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catanzaro. Three cycles brought together for the occasion by the curator, the art historian Sergio Troisi: 14 was, 12 crayons and 20 silkscreens. Among the works also the meditative video-installation "Uncertain and Oscillating Interior” devised, written and directed by Zuccaro with the participation of Franco Battiato. The project, long cherished by the two artists, it developed over a period of time between 2013 and the 2017.

The unmistakable voice of Battiato completes the installation, registered in 2017, while reciting Shitao's verses, Chinese painter who speaks of "purity of spirit" as a prerequisite for "authentic painting". While Zuccaro makes his own the words of St. John of the Cross who asks God to manifest his presence. The exhibition is organized in partnership with the Teatro Stabile di Catania whose technicians will supervise the transport, lights and display setup. While the catalog - in progress - will have the editorial guise curated by Francesco Messina, art director and graphic designer to whom Battiato has entrusted the cover of several albums. Sponsor of the Cora Banche project.

TIMETABLES

Piero Zuccaro's exhibition will be open to the public from 15 January and until 30 April 2023. Visits every day, give her 9.30 at 19. Admission to the exhibition is included in the ticket for the visit to the Ursino Castle Civic Museum (entire 10 euro, reduced 5).

PIERO ZUCCARO

Piero Zuccaro was born in 1967 a Catania, where he graduated in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. During the years of study at the Academy he came into contact with the artistic environment of Catania; here he meets the master Franco Sarnari, important guide for the growth of his pictorial research. The meeting with artists of the sixties and seventies – from Guccione to Ruggeri, Forgioli, consecrate – it leads him to deal with the national and international artistic and critical panorama. Music and dance enter his training path, thanks to the attendance with the master Franco Battiato and the collaboration with the choreographer Donatella Capraro.

The reflected image, particularly, becomes the dominant theme and place of research; a research conducted at times with openings towards abstraction, as Piero Guccione pointed out in the text in the catalog for the personal exhibition of 1998 (New Figuration Gallery, Ragusa). More recently, Zuccaro's research explores the internal light of architecture, in particular the interior spaces of sacred places. Piero Zuccaro teaches Techniques for Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catanzaro, lives and works in Catania.

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.