Cesare
Catania

BIOGRAPHY CESARE CATANIA

Painter, sculptor and digital artist - born in 1979 - he began his career over a decade ago by merging in his works multiple traditional techniques from oil on canvas to classical sculpture,

up to the most innovative contamination of mixed techniques in a provocative meeting of

acrylics, oils and fluorescent colors but also silicone, acrylics and steel.

Also involved in various philanthropic initiatives, Catania is carrying out a

itinerant artistic and socio-cultural project with a highly inclusive connotation, born with the desire to bring places and people closer together especially following a pandemic that has brought interpersonal relationships to their knees, hitting the weakest first of all.

The "Project of the Hug" has in itself a simple but at the same time strong, audacious message, capable of going beyond any difference and geographical distance:

"Let's hug each other again"

His creative skills and his aesthetic taste enthusiastically embrace technology and everything that looks to the future under the sign of innovation. Particular attention deserves the "Catania Technique", a mixed technique that involves the use of materials such as silicone, acrylic and mineral pigments, giving both the canvas and the sculptures a material effect of absolute visual impact.

In his works painting, sculpture and digital art

declined in all its facets converse syntonically giving life to

extremely original creations imbued with hyperrealism that make Catania an experimental artist in continuous evolution, capable of being both traditional and contemporary, fascinated not only by modern art, architecture, cubism and the great masters of painting from the classical, but also a profound admirer of that digital culture that led him towards an eclectic artistic production with wide acclaim from both Italian and foreign critics.

The artist's passions and inclinations also include scientific disciplines.

Graduated in Civil Engineering at the Polytechnic of Milan, Catania expresses his technical preparation

both in his productions intended for the Metaverse and in his art

strongly related to geometry and mathematics. This is the context in which the creation of real digital works mounted as NFTs is inserted but always inspired by the meanings of the more traditional art of Catania (i.e. "Arlecchino nella terra dei Giganti (B version)", short film from 2022).

Childhood

Cesare Catania was born in Milan on 1 February 1979 where he spent most of his life and it was in this city that he gradually demonstrated and developed a strong aptitude for the graphic and pictorial arts. Since childhood he unequivocally shows a predilection for the figurative arts as well as a real passion for mathematics and music, two disciplines so different from each other yet so close, in the eyes of Catania that he will borrow from his violinist grandfather passion for musical instruments. In fact, already at the age of 9 he began taking piano lessons and during the following ten years of study he will give more and more space to his admiration and on the one hand for the rigor and on the other for the creativity of classical music.

The Absence of Prejudice

In mathematics and music Catania finds, during its artistic and cultural training, the natural completion of its essence: it is at the same time projected towards a disciplined but also multi-perspective way of approaching life and it will be precisely this type of multifaceted approach to make him grow interest and curiosity towards aspects of everyday life, disciplines and sectors that are at least apparently very different from each other. This absence of prejudice is fully observed in the artistic production of Catania, characterized by a profound ability to grasp and transmit the essence of the painted object and always well represented in detail, now with highly realistic accents, as in the paintings "Metaphysical Composition ” – 2016, “Artistic Composition” – 2016, “The Dynamics of Movement” – 2016, now with abstract and symbolic accents as in the works “Vanità” – 2014, “Flamingos in the mirror” – 2015 – “Strappo” – 2012.

The first pictorial works of Catania in which we find his poetics outlined date back to 1995, when the artist expresses his creativity during the school hours dedicated to drawing, demonstrating a particular aptitude for both perspective studies and informal - abstract graphics.

The love for Engineering In 1998 Catania enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering at the Milan Polytechnic where he perfected his studies in perspective and axonometry, learning to observe both problems and the reality that surrounds him by breaking down all the figures into simple three-dimensional polygons. His ability to decompose and model solids can be found in his paintings and sculptures, capable of expressing realities and feelings both through superimposed two-dimensional planes (see the paintings “144: Terzetto Jazz” – 2014, “Nizza (homage to Matisse and Chagall)” – 2015) as much as with the elegant and harmonious juxtaposition of solid and curvilinear figures (as for example in the painting “Letture Estive (homage to Pierluigi Nervi)” – 2016); think also of the sculptures "The Heart of the Earth" (B and C Version) and of the entire series of geometric sculptures belonging to the "Feelings and Emotions" collection (2022).

Surely also the digital art of Catania is influenced by his love for physics and geometry. His digital artworks are a perfect combination of rotating solids that sometimes give life to actual cinematic shorts.

Art, Science, Mathematics, Photography: many passions, a single artist

In addition to a marked aptitude for technical and artistic sciences, Cesare Catania matured over the years a particular passion for photography, letting himself be fascinated by the colours, the lights and the ability of the camera to immortalize in one shot all the strength and dynamism of moving scenes. The same attraction of Catania for dynamism and moving bodies can be easily observed in several of his paintings, both in the formal ones and in the informal and abstract ones. In "La Violinista di Barcellona - B Version" - 2016, the author portrays the protagonist just like in a photographic shot in which the orchestra and the background disappear to give way to an eccentric and moving musician immortalized in a still image strong and intense.

Mathematics and engineering studies together with the passion for art in general allow the artist to create works in which sculpture and painting are perfectly harmonized. Furthermore, in his paintings, tradition coexists (use of materials such as plaster, wood, stone, oil paint) and innovation (use of silicone and acrylic-based materials) in a creative act that gives life to three-dimensional works which "come out literally from the canvas”.

The technique of an adult and the imagination of a child...

Cesare Catania often prepares his canvases starting from previous projects that he himself carries out with real static studies, so as to make materials that are often fragile and difficult to manipulate as in the case of plaster adhere to the canvas in a complete and lasting way. In many of the paintings in Catania, the latter is armed with nails and nets to follow the pattern of the drawing, highlighting the artist's ability to blend together creative impetus and rational spirit, to the point of breaking down the figures in the painting. In the "Lisbon Zoo" the author portrays, in a vision of superimposed planes, animals such as the elephant, the giraffe and the bull. The latter made of plaster and painted with strong acrylic colors, fill the scene on three superimposed floors and in a dynamic way. Cesare Catania's paintings are a "still image" of actions and feelings, an extreme synthesis between hermeticism and attention to detail.

Among the other techniques used, we recall, as already mentioned, the "Catania Technique", through which the artist mixes silicone, water-based acrylic and mineral pigments. All to give life to paintings that literally come out of the canvas and sculptures that come out of space.

In addition to the aforementioned means of expression, the author never abandons his passion for traditional techniques such as oil and acrylic on canvas, using them both to create hyper-realistic works ("Harlequin in the Land of the Giants"), and for works of cubist informal art (“L'Abbraccio”, “Gli Arlecchini”, “Trois Hommes”). In his journey, techniques often mix together and oil blends with acrylic and resins to give life to works of art that transcend the traditionality of expressive means to give space to the imagination and sensitivity ( "Self-Portrait"). In this Cesare Catania proves to be absolutely consistent with his principle according to which the artist must produce unique works of art using the technique of an adult and the imagination of a child.

A "Catania" in continuous evolution

In his artistic career the artist approaches different artistic currents and, despite his clear and mature stability of thought, still continues to experiment as if he were "a little boy".

His first works of art as a professional are inspired by reflections on his own self and his essence as a human being. In this phase, the works of art that are born are works of art that are somewhat similar to abstract and conceptual art. (2012 - 2014)

Over the years the artist begins to turn his attention to the outside world, making the events that surround him flow through emotions and inspirations that give light to informal and cubist works of art (2015 - 2018).

In recent years, Cesare Catania has turned his attention once again to the study of his own emotions, returning if we will to the Catania of the early years, this time however with a much higher awareness and maturity (2020 - 2022). In the same period his ability for digital art matures, giving life to works of art that draw their inspiration from themes already addressed in his traditional art but which express sensations and concepts in an amplified way through technology and visual animations. In this his digital art approaches "Video Art" and "Kinetic Art", influenced in the production of his digital works also by the passion for photography and cinematography.

Fascinated by modern art, architecture, cubism and the Masters of the Classical Age, Cesare Catania is a constantly evolving artist, always looking for new techniques to best express his thoughts, feelings and general his inner world.