Franco Cilia's Works Installed in Ragusa's Cava Gonfalone for FAI Autumn Days
For the Giornate FAI d'Autunno, the Archivio Franco Cilia has launched an exhibition showcasing the works of the late Iblean artist Franco Cilia at Cava Gonfalone in Ragusa. This display includes Cilia's pieces, Ombre and Pietre antropomorfe, which were initially shown at Galleria Pananti in Florence and were lauded by poet Mario Luzi for their representation of Sicilian heritage. Cilia gathered stones from Iblean dry-stone walls, emphasizing the labor of peasants over human achievement. Inspired by Salvatore Fiume, he used a brush to unveil their true nature. The exhibition also features a painting of La Timpa ro Nannu, linked to family lore, and a work inspired by Dante's Inferno, culminating in a tribute to his late son, depicting the quarry as a realm of divine insight.
Key facts
- The Archivio Franco Cilia organized an exhibition of Franco Cilia's work in Cava Gonfalone in Ragusa for the Giornate FAI d'Autunno
- The show is installed in the quarry's last cut, where pickaxe incisions and block geometries remain intact
- Franco Cilia died two years before the exhibition
- Cilia's Pietre antropomorfe were first presented years ago at Galleria Pananti in Florence in a show curated by Ruggero Orlando
- Poet Mario Luzi recognized in the Pietre antropomorfe the essential nature of Sicilian culture
- Cilia collected the stones along dry-stone walls of the Iblean countryside and intervened only with paint, following the example of Salvatore Fiume's painted rocks in Ethiopia
- A large purgatorial canvas painted in memory of Cilia's deceased son closes the exhibition route
- The exhibition includes a work referencing Dante's Inferno and a painting of La Timpa ro Nannu, linked to a treasure legend told to Cilia by his grandfather
Entities
Artists
- Franco Cilia
- Ruggero Orlando
- Mario Luzi
- Salvatore Fiume
- Carlo Levi
- Nicodemus
- Jesus Christ
Institutions
- Archivio Franco Cilia
- Galleria Pananti
- FAI
- Giornate FAI d'Autunno
Locations
- Cava Gonfalone
- Ragusa
- Italy
- Sicily
- Florence
- Ethiopia