The highest authorities have inaugurated Alessandro Russo's exhibition at the Marca in Catanzaro, which will remain open free of charge until June 2. Undersecretary Wanda Ferro: “Even when he depicts distant landscapes, I continue to see the colors of our Calabria.”
The exhibition, curated by Marco Meneguzzo, consists of about eighty works, almost all recent or very recent, but with some forays into the early years of the artist's expressive maturity. It is therefore a true anthology, after the exhibition that the Monumental Complex of San Giovanni dedicated to him in 2011, which includes almost all the pictorial cycles that have characterized his activity. The "comizi", the "industrial landscapes", the examples of "recovery art", the "urban landscapes" and finally the "ports" are fully represented in their birth and development (the artist sometimes works on several cycles at the same time), and the whole contributes to revealing an artist who is now at the height of his expressive maturity.
Gifted with a natural talent for painting, Alessandro Russo has cultivated this quality by deliberately remaining within the great pictorial tradition, ranging from the "capricci" of Giandomenico Tiepolo to city views, as perceived by the "painters of modern life" at the end of the nineteenth century, obviously adapting the vision and use of painting to everything that has happened during the twentieth century. The result is a kind of "genre painting" of the new Millennium that shows how the classic themes of visual art are such because they are "evergreen", beyond any technological innovation. In this sense, photography (which Russo openly uses as the basis of his work), video, and digital devices accompany painting, without displacing it from the contemporary scene. An important catalogue, published by Dario Cimorelli Editore, completes the exhibition operation: countless illustrations, an essay by the curator, a substantial critical anthology and scientific apparatus (the latter edited by Emanuela Russo), the bilingual Italian-English edition, make the volume the artist's true "mid-career book".
THE EXHIBITION OPENING
A large audience attended the opening of the exhibition "Alessandro Russo. Works 1990–2025”, at the Museum of Arts of Catanzaro (Marca), in the presence of the highest authorities. At the press conference, moderated by professional journalist Luigi Stanizzi, the following participated: Honorable Wanda Ferro, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior; Francesco Fragomele, Vice President of the Province of Catanzaro; Donatella Monteverdi, Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Catanzaro; Francesco Brancatella, Rai journalist; Amedeo Mormile, President of the Province of Catanzaro, and via video conference from Milan, the curator of the exhibition Marco Meneguzzo.
The Honorable Wanda Ferro, always a great promoter of culture, spoke of "an artist of the highest value, recognized in the most important magazines, who gives a recognizability to a Calabrian front that he manages to transfer not in the biographical part, but in the emotional and creative part. Even when he depicts distant landscapes, I continue to see the colors of our Calabria. His canvases are a heritage that brings us back to that path that Marca must continue to support." Finally, Hon. Wanda Ferro emphasized the identity value of Russo's work and his ability to maintain a deep connection with Calabrian roots, even in the most international contexts.
For Councillor Donatella Monteverdi "Alessandro is a complete artist, he has the vision of beauty, the vision he would like to have for the city. I want to thank him because this exhibition not only gives us emotions, but makes us reflect on space and places. The artist, through art, has the ability to make us think, to question ourselves.
And this applies both to us citizens and to us administrators: it reminds us of the responsibility we have towards the community, which is a precious asset." The well-known RAI journalist Francesco Brancatella, said: "The same ethical need that pushed me to tell the pain of the world, and to bring hope back to the places I left, I find in Alessandro's painting. If one is not Calabrian in this way, with this responsibility and awareness, then in what other way can one be? You with color, I with words: experiences that mature outside, but that we feel the duty to bring back to our land." The Vice President of the Province Francesco Fragomele, wanted to highlight among other things how proud the Province is to host an artist of such stature and sensitivity, emphasizing how Russo always aims with his art to make reality more beautiful. The President of the Province, Mario Amedeo Mormile, expressed great appreciation for the artist, reiterating the constant commitment of the institution in promoting art and culture as fundamental tools for growth and social cohesion. Indeed, countless initiatives have been planned by the provincial body led by President Mormile, in the capital and in various centers, all aimed at culture also as a concrete attractor of visitors and tourists. For critic Marco Meneguzzo, connected remotely thanks to Tea Mancuso who organized the event, Russo's painting "combines the characteristics of the vedutista and the painter of modern life, moving between eighteenth-century suggestions and post-impressionist sensibilities, but with a profoundly contemporary gaze. Russo subtracts, simplifies, essentializes, eliminates everything he considers superfluous to make room for a clean vision, where the urban element becomes an existential narrative. A kind of genre painting of the new millennium, which shows how the classic themes of visual art are such because they are evergreen, beyond any technological innovation." Prompted by the moderator, Alessandro Russo, recalling his artistic epic that took him all over the world, thanked everyone expressing his joy for the exhibition in his hometown after so many years. He greeted the most prestigious historical collectors of his works, such as Luigi Verrino founder of Calabroparati sculptor and painter, Giuseppe Spagnuolo President of Banca Centro Calabria Credito Cooperativo, Floriano Noto President of Catanzaro Calcio, entrepreneurs Antonio and Lorenzo Speziali, notary Rocco Guglielmo. Entrepreneur Luigi Verrino, in response to a question from press office head Luigi Stanizzi, specified that the works purchased are of great value. Journalist Luigi Stanizzi took the opportunity to also highlight the presence of many important works by Alessandro Russo in public offices, institutions, private structures, and many homes, explaining that his painting is always recognizable, despite the changes and evolutions over the years: those who stand in front of his paintings immediately recognize his unmistakable stylistic imprint, just look down to the right or left to find confirmation with the signature "Russo". Alessandro Russo nevertheless wanted to emphasize that his works placed in the city's public structures are the result of tenders in which he participated and won.
Among the many present, personalities of high prestige such as Professor Mariateresa Russo, Vice-Rector of the Mediterranean University, Antonietta Santacroce Superintendent of the Politeama Theater, the mayor of the Calabrian capital Nicola Fiorita, Lawyer Marcello Furriolo, former mayor of Catanzaro, Carmine De Simone of Omnia Bank, and other leading political, institutional, artistic and entrepreneurial figures. Several visitors were guided through the artistic journey by Dr. Iacopo Parisi. The exhibition will remain open free of charge until June 2; hours: Tuesday / Sunday 9:30 am - 1 pm and 3:30 pm - 8 pm, info 0961 746797, info@museomarca.com thus offering the public a journey through over thirty years of artistic research, between memory, transformation and a contemporary gaze. The Dario Cimorelli Editore catalogue is nearing completion, with illustrations, an essay by curator Meneguzzo, a substantial critical anthology and scientific apparatus, the latter edited by Emanuela Russo; bilingual Italian-English edition.
Outside the Marca Museum in Catanzaro, as at the Venice Biennale, performance by Carmine Caputo di Roccanova "Looking for a Wife". In closing, journalist Luigi Stanizzi individually thanked about thirty newspapers, televisions, radios, mentioning the editors-in-chief, editors and operators who are widely spreading the news about Alessandro Russo's exhibition-event, giving a valuable cultural contribution.
