Exhibitions not to be missed if you are in Sicily this fall!
Fall is just around the corner but Sicily still holds many surprises, including several really interesting exhibitions for art lovers!
From the beautiful sea, to cities rich in history and charm, the island shines with art this year. Original and out-of-the-ordinary paths by Mariano Franzetti and Francesco Snote, but also more classic proposals such as Frida Kahlo and Caravaggio.
So here is a collection of the most beautiful exhibitions to see in Sicily in autumn 2022!
In nature as in the mind
Segesta Archaeological Park
-Calatafimi (Trapani)
Until November 6, 2022
The protagonists of this exhibition are Mario Merz, Ignazio Mortellaro and Costas Varotsos, and the artists’ interventions occupy the entire archaeological area, from the majestic temple to the agora, a place of confrontation and dialogue. The artists’ attention goes as far as confronting the space so none of their works will leave a mark on the park, respecting the environment as much as possible.
In the Agora, there are works by Mario Merz that represent geometric beauty through a blue neon spiral that brings back Fibonacci’s quest. Mortellaro’s work, on the other hand, stands in the Antiquarium area in the direction of the valley, and to the right of the temple is the work of sculptor Costas Varotsos with which he expresses the synthesis of a reflection on the human condition and its ancestral relationship with the Universe.
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Royal Palace, Palermo
Until October 31, 2022
Sixteen artists with as many different personalities towards contemporary art who, from the 1960s to the present day, have made themselves interpreters of our time. Twenty-eight of their works are on display that emphasize awe and wonder in the world to counter the wounds of our times such as wars, pandemics.
Fringe. Cartoons ICons
MEC Museum, Palermo
Through Oct. 31
This exhibition, curated by Miliza ROdic, repurposes the times at the center of Fringe art, the unknown South African pop artist known worldwide for his stunning works that bring back family values, love and childhood moments. The protagonists of the new exhibition are his own favorite characters, icons that allude to the world of photography such as Diane Arbus, cinema (Kubrick) and the immense world of comics and Disney cartoons.
The artist unites all the works by mentioning the Apple brand.
Caravaggio: last landing
Church of the Abbey of Ragusa
Until October 15, 2022
Pierluigi Carofano curates the exhibition of the Lombard master’s works dedicated to St. John the Baptist lying. The patron saint of the city of Ragusa, he was one of the most frequently reproduced subjects in Michelangelo Merisi’s paintings, even in a childish or barely adolescent version from the theme ” San Giovannino” that is central to the work exhibited in the capital city. Along with the lying St. John the Baptist, four other works, all focusing on the figure of the saint, by Domenico Piola, Luigi Garzi, Giovanni Odazzi, and Francesco Rustici are on display.
Frida Kahlo, portrait of a life
MAC,
Gibellina
(Trapani)
Until September 30, 2022
150 original photographs chronicle the loves, life, art, and historical events of Frida Kahlo, one of the most important artists of the 20th century. The shots illustrate his existence. The Mexican painter, who was born in 1907 and died in 1954, is trapped in the images of the leading photographers of the day-Imogen Cunningham, edward Weston, Nickolas Muray, Lucienne Bloch, and Leo Matiz.
An exhibition along which visitors have the opportunity to immerse themselves and learn about the free and untamed personality of a woman who found in painting a passionate form of almost visceral storytelling with autobiographical overtones.
Also on display are photographs by the painter’s father, Guillermo, a well-known Mexican photographer, who immortalized Frida in her private joys and sorrows.
Ryan Mendoza. The Golden Calf
July 31 to September 26, 2022
“The Golden Calf” is the result of a three-year conceptual journey. Composed of 42 works, including paintings, sculptures and installations that invade the Palace, from the exterior façade of the Courtyard to the main floor to the Gardens.
Almost all of the works were created by Mendoza, an irreverent artist who is not content to define himself by one style.
The biblical golden calf, which gives the exhibition its name, a symbol of false idols and idolatry, is contrasted with the bat: the anti-hero who for Mendoza, includes the marginalized the weakest.
Other anti-heroes, represented as bats, find locations in various places in Italy, thanks to the fruitful collaboration of the Mann (National Archaeological Museum in Naples), the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, Castrum Caetani at the Appia Antica Archaeological Park in Rome.
“The secret mania-Giovanni Verga photographer.”
Civic Museum ” Immaginario Verghiano,” Trao-ventimiglia Palace (CT)
Until September 18, 2022
We also include this one, despite the fact that it ends in September. A totally Sicilian exhibition, the City of Vizzini together with the “Immaginario Verghiano” Civic Museum and the 3M Foundation celebrate the 100th anniversary of Giovanni Verga’s death.
The exhibition is aimed at revealing Verga’s passion for photography, which the writer himself had called his “secret mania” and the relevant role it played in his life.
His activity as a photographer remained ignored for a long time, but he juxtaposed it with his literary passion from 1878 to 1911. In 1970, the glass plates and rolls of film with which the writer impressed his photographs were discovered, but they remained little known to the general public for some time.
The protagonist of his works is the Urban and rural Sicily, the same one he describes in his books, but other landscapes are also present, such as Switzerland, the Lombard lakes, and Bormio, which Verga visited leaving from Milan where he lived for some time.
Also present are portraits of relatives and friends juxtaposed with appearances of farmers, peasants, massari and maids: simple characters who brought his novels and novellas to life.
1943. Faces and Places of Liberated Sicily, Nick Parrino
Modena Art Gallery at the Ciminiere in Catania
Until December 31, 2022
80 images by Nick Parrino, an Italian-American photographer following the U.S. Army during World War II. The photographer captured some moments of the daily life of the people of Sicily after the September 3 armistice.
Giulia Nari