When art means suffering

"Sons of a minor God" (Syria, the pain of a father carrying his teenage daughter who died in his arms during a bombing)

TARANTO - An interesting exhibition in Taranto by Katundo, opening Sept. 15, 2018 in an unusual location – the Cloister of the former SS hospital.

 ‘When art means suffering’ is an exhibition of pictorial works by Katundo, aka Vincenzo Leone, painter and cardiologist, born in San Marzano di San Giuseppe in 1948, and a doctor for many years in Taranto in the National Health Service.

 Having felt that he needed to offer his expertise to countries with less developed health organisations in need of better regulation, he has since promoted international aid initiatives, with a substantial consensus from his former healthcare agency.

 The initiatives were ongoing for over 20 years, from the late '80s to early 2000s, in Romania, Nicaragua, Somalia, Brazil, Kenya, Rwanda, Bosnia, Albania, El Salvador, Congo, Lebanon, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, all countries in which political and social conditions demanded the utmost prudence. The end of these initiatives coincided with his retirement and his return to Italy, resuming his artistic activity, which had slowed during his social-professional commitment.

 Since his youth, he has gained lots of experience with stone sculpture, copper engraving, and wall painting. He intensifies the painting of acrylic on canvas, sometimes resorting to the large format (2m x 3m), representing the human degradation and pain that had accompanied his experiences in his work. The re-emergence of the Arbresh culture during this time that had characterized his childhood led him to choose Katundo ("The country") as a pseudonym. Although he has never made any official exhibitions, several of his works are scattered around the world, having been specially commissioned (Nicaragua, Brazil, Italy).

 The proceeds from the sale of several of his works have been used to support similar aid initiatives, to which, although no longer physically engaged, the artist continues to contribute. During the inauguration of the exhibition, documents giving insight into the artist’s experience of working in the sphere of international aid will be screened.

 It is evident, looking at some of his works, that his communicative model is influenced by hyperrealism, a mode that best expresses the conditions of suffering and tragedy that are the core of Katundo's artistic inspiration. The unimaginable pain and degradation, to which the human condition is reduced in various parts of the world, mark an artistic production that, far from being a simple expression of individual interest, translates into an instrument of heartfelt denunciation and painful testimony.

Exhibition location:

Cloister of the former old SS. Annunziata hospital

Via SS. Annunziata, Taranto

From 27.09.2018 to 07.10.2018

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday, 0800-2000

Saturday 0800 – 1400

Katundo on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vincenzo.leone.9028

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"A step from madness" (The effects of alcohol)
"The pleasure of vice" (Old woman smoking)