Luigi Camarilla

"Contemporary Ex Votos" are oval works of white ceramic in which the palm of a hand is imprinted in the center, ready to "receive". A three-dimensional symbol representing modern Grace is then placed in that hollow. In the tradition of Catholic popular devotion, the ex-votos testify to the gratitude of the faithful for a saving divine intervention: healings and escaped dangers of a material nature. These author's Ex Votos propose an immaterial conception of Grace Received: Per Talento Received, Per Sorte Ricevuta, Per Passione Ricevuta... are some examples of a reinterpretation that was born with the intention of making the aesthetics of a votive iconography and its contents pass from tradition to current events. The "Yoga Hands" are the latest results of a vocation aimed at plumbing the different sources of Spirituality and the Sacred. The Yoga Hands also have a small hole to be used as an Incense HolderThe author's own words, in an interview, clarify how they were born.“One day I handle one of those Hands, white, of glazed, luminous, intact terra cotta. I look at it as if that open palm were the field in which to represent the personal need for inner balance and Harmony with the Universe which for some time have taken me beyond my interest in the Mediterranean, to the East, to the universe of Yoga, to the sense of its practice, to its powerful symbols. Moved by that intimate suggestion, I painted inside the palm of that hand. With a technique of dots and lines I outlined the scene of joined hands, Mother Syllable, Chakra, decorations, as if they were released there by Henna from a colored India. Mano OM, I baptized it like this, in homage to the vibration that connects the inner universe to the cosmic one. Spiritual Eye and Lotus of Purity were born later, as a natural consequence, to be represented in other Hands. Thanks to the clay of Our Mother Earth.

Born in Ortigia, Syracuse, 1959. He trained in Milan. He worked as a set designer alternating it with experiences in painting, sculpture, song lyrics, poetry. In 1996 his expressive restlessness flows into an all-encompassing artistic adventure. Retired in front of the mythological sea of Stromboli and in the lava woods of Etna, he works on the artistic project "Mediterranean Altars: Pilgrimage of Love - from Passion to Consciousness", a contemporary artistic spiritual path in which painting, sculpture and writing intertwine. The Mediterranean is the heart of his expressive research. Spirituality, Myth and Present Time are the sources that inspire her: the iconographic tradition of popular devotion, the echoes of the ancient Homeric characters, the migrations of peoples that impose dialogue between cultures. Themes that the artist has always materialized using the bright woods of old fishing and migrant boats, a favorite material that highlights the anthropological spirit of his work, stretched between a feeling of origins and civil commitment.

His work has received the patronage of high European and Italian institutions, and has been cited in the book "Mediterranean Art and Culture in the xx° Sec." edited by Unesco, 2004”. In 2014 the City of Pavia -Crossroads of the spiritual paths of Europe- proposes to the Council of Europe the recognition of "Contemporary Artistic Spiritual Path"" for the "Pilgrimage of Love"

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Main exhibitions:

2000, Custom , Mediterranean Altars” - “Alitalia for Art”, Malpensa Airport, Milan

2004 Personal exhibition, Museo del Corso / Rome-Mediterranean Foundation

2005 Personal , Staircase of S. Maria del Monte, Caltagirone

2006 Personal exhibition, Galleria Don Luigi Sturzo, Caltagirone

2007 Group exhibition “Sicilian genius", Museo Historico Nacional, Rio de Janeiro 

2008 Personal exhibition, Church of S. Giacomo, Rome 

2009 Participation Biennale M'arte, Montegemoli (Pisa)

2010 Personal exhibition "Mediterranean: spirituality, myth, present time", Palazzo del Sole 24 Ore, (Mi)

2012 Installation”Myth: Seats of the Odyssey”Sculptures at Arenzano Park 

< span style="background-color: hsl(var(--bs-white)); color: hsl(var(--bs-gray)); font-size: var(--bs-body-font-size); text-align: var(--bs-body-text-align);">2012 Solo show “Mediterranean: Spirituality, Myth, Present Time” Comm. Europea- Luxembourg. 

2013 Personal exhibition “Mediterraneo…” , European Commission - Brussels – Berlaymont 

2014 Solo show ""Mediterranean Altars- Pilgrimage of Love". Castello Visconteo, Pavia

2014 “Works for a Tribute to the victims of Lampedusa”, Italian Cultural Institute, Marseille

2015 Installation "Myth: characters from the Odyssey, Expo Arte Contemporanea, Varedo, (Mi)

2019 Installation for EON “A sea of plastic”, Milan

2022 Retrospective Exhibition, “Mediterranean: Mother Earth and Sea Spirit“ Chronicle of a research. Genzano di Roma