“The Cats of Rovio” is an artistic project by Yuri Catania. This is an open air exhibition consisting of about 60 giant posters of various sizes hanging in the historic centre of Rovio, with the intention of creating a cultural phenomenon and territorial promotion that involves young people and families from all over Ticino and beyond.
A visual journey where the protagonist is Rovio with its inhabitants and its historical architecture, which will also involve the neighbouring municipalities that have joined the project by “donating” walls: Arogno, Maroggia and Melano.
The works will be true artist’s portraits: photographs that the artist will take personally on a set set up in the church square in Rovio and around the village in sessions open to the public. As the title indicates, the protagonists of the portraits will be the Cats of Rovio with reference to the felines but also to its inhabitants, the Roviesi, known as “cats”. In particular, Yuri Catania is interested in portraying the elderly, those who by experience represent and characterize our territory as they constitute its memory and history.
The portraits will then be printed and applied directly to the walls with biodegradable glue as is done for the ‘classic’ posters, using the collage-decoupage technique or – to use the terminology of current Street Art – the paste-up technique, brought to the fore by world-famous artists such as Obey (Shepard Fairey) and JR.
The exhibition will take place from May 20th, 2021 as the open air project curated by Yuri Catania and promoted by CasaGalleria MonteGeneroso.
Further information: gattidirovio.com
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Thanks to all the sponsors: Comune di Rovio, RSI, Raiffeisen Basso Ceresio, Mendrisiotto Turismo, Artrust, Comune di Melano, Comune di Arogno, Comune di Maroggia, Onys Digital Solutions, Martina Erica Spica Antichità, Blancol, Brico, Bolton Swiss and to all the voluntarees that they are working to make possible this art event.