Miki Carone's 'Amici Miei' Group Show at Abbazia di San Vito, Polignano a Mare

At the Abbazia di San Vito in Polignano a Mare, Miki Carone (born 1952 in Bari) has organized a group exhibition titled 'Amici Miei' in his Atelier Blu. The show features nine artists from Puglia: Iginio Iurilli, Claudio Cusatelli, Daniela Corbascio, Michele Giangrande, Claudia Giannuli, Gianni Leone, Massimo Ruiu, Jolanda Spagno, and Giuseppe Teofilo. Carone's own work 'Lunatici'—a large glittering blue moon in wood and plastic with small animals—greets visitors. The exhibition draws its name from Mario Monicelli's film and includes an internal prize won by Iginio Iurilli. Carone describes his studio as a place for dialogue with artist friends. The abbey, originally a Benedictine foundation in 801 AD, later passed to the Franciscans and then back to the Benedictines. After the arrival of Christians from Turkey in 650 AD, various epochs overlapped. Under French rule, the Bourbons, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the abbey was expropriated from the Church and became Bourbon property. Current heirs descend from a notary who was a Minister of Finance for the Bourbons. The monks' cells, once used as schools, became farmhouses for fishermen and peasants working for the marquises. The exhibition runs until September 30, 2016.