February 5 – May 11, 2008
St Petersburg – Russia

The awesome Italian majolicas from Castelli belonging to the Hermitage Fund have just returned to St Petersburg after a very successful tour in Italy.
The State Hermitage Museum will feature them in the Blue Bedroom of the Winter Palace until May 11th, 2008.

The Hermitage collection includes 77 works that were purchased in Italy by Russian art merchants on behalf of the Russian Tsars and other wealthy families between the 16th and the 17th century.
They had excellent taste: they bought pieces painted by the most talented masters in Castelli, such as Carmine Gentile, Carlo Antonio Grue, Pompeo de Bernamonte, Orazio Pompei, Francesco Antonio Grue, Nicola Cappelletti.

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January 23 – May 4, 2008
Bologna – Italy

One of the foremost Italian artists working today, Luigi Ontani (Italian, born in 1943) has redefined the image of the contemporary artist through his works. His installations, ceramic sculptures and tableaux vivants (living paintings) are a landmark in the history of performance art and photography.

Ontani describes his art as “the adventure I live as a person of art”.
As a matter of fact, he uses his own body as the medium for communication and by means of costumes and masks he assumes the fictional identities of his favorite heroes from mythology, fairytales, history and art history. He said: “I live this ambiguity with irony and aspiring to harmony. My art is the adventure I live on myself.”
As the subject of his art, Ontani can live art, create art, and express his love for art.

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