Fires at the Fortino


Project: "W Sant'Agata - Catania in Pop Art"

Year: 2018

Dimensions: 100 x 120 x 4 (cm)

Technique: Acrylic on canvas

Description:


Fires at the Fort is the artwork of the project “Viva Sant'Agata – Catania in Pop Art” that best represents the brightest and most pyrotechnic aspects of the patronal festivities in honor of Sant'Agata in Catania.

Everything is celebrating, from the stalls selling nougat and caramelized apples to the candelore that meet to the sound of music in the streets of the city and the main protagonist of this artwork of mine is precisely the Fortino, the Porta Ferdinandea built in 1768 to commemorate the centenary of the historic eruption of 1669 that had buried the western area of the city.

Among the historical bearers of the Candelore, I have depicted Sebastiano Romano, because although he was not an actor, he made a good impression when in 1969 he appeared with the Ortofrutticoli candle in the opening scene of the film “Un bellissimo Novembre” written by Ercole Patti, directed by Mauro Bolognini and starring Gina Lollobrigida.

Fuochi al Fortino from 2018 to today boasts numerous exhibitions, including Etnacomics, Palazzo della Cultura in Catania, the Sicily Fest in London, the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Catania

and the Rinascente store in Catania.

In 1954 in Piazza Palestro “Al Fortino” the film “The art of making do” written by

Vitaliano Brancati directed by Luigi Zampa with a tireless Alberto Sordi

(four films played in the same year).

EXHIBITIONS


2018/2019: Catania - Palace of Culture;

2018: London - Sicily Fest;

2020: Catania - "RINASCENT" Store;

2022: Catania - Modern Art Gallery;

2024: Catania - Clerics' Palace;

2025 Berlin/Germany - "Nicoleta Gallery".