Francesco Lauretta

He starts from a poetic expression of his own roots; he chooses a frequent topos in the literary imagination about the so-called "south of the world," between fascination and holography. His Sicily is that of tales of processions and accounts of santerie and miracles, of the incredible intersection of Catholicism and superstition, popular credulity and solemnity of ritual, of the ancient reality of celebration. The paintings are painted analytically, with a sensibility bordering on hyperrealism. This technique, photorealist and metropolitan par excellence, is cleverly transferred by the artist to a provincial and non-urbanized context, which thrives on contrasts and suspended times, taking on the risk and fascination of an ambiguous reading.

Painting thus becomes narrative, the work aspires to the epic universality of history painting.

He participated to the 7th Premio Cairo, in 2006.