LVGAXY ASTRO BEE
Site Specific Mixed Media Art by Yuri Catania, 2m x 2m
Villa Ciani Lugano Switzerland
A three-dimensional moon, 2 meters in diameter, rotating on its axis, is Yuri Catania's first mixed-media sculpture made from iron, paper, and mirror, designed as a site-specific piece to harmonize with one of Villa Ciani's rooms.
The interactive artwork is crafted using the paste-up technique on iron and features three subjects. Side B showcases a photographic image of the "Dark Side of the Moon," which is augmented with virtual reality. Side A, the primary piece, is obscured by a large gold-mirrored hexagon as a tribute to the James Webb Space Telescope. This hexagon consists of 169 elements that reflect the twin sculpture on the front. The tiles are teeming with countless white paper bees covering the moon on both twin versions.
LVGAXY ASTRO BEE has been donated to the City of Lugano as a symbol of the dialogue between man, technology, and nature and emphasizes the importance of biodiversity through bees.
Each of the individual hexagons is a unique piece signed by the artist, collectible by the community along with a twin version digitized as an NFT on the MY LUGA blockchain. Purchasing each hexagon grants membership to an exclusive club of 169 owners who will decide how to use the accumulated funds for activities and projects in Lugano. As the hexagons are purchased, the main artwork reveals an astronaut adorned with dahlias and bees, and the reflection in his helmet mirrors the painting in the exhibition room.
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Updated: Nov 1, 2023
LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS is a street artwork conceived by Yuri Catania, set to debut at the NFT Festival in Lugano from August 30 to September 10, 2023, made possible with the support of Lugano Living Lab. Catania's work aims to juxtapose the provocative interplay of nature and technology. With the backdrop of NFT Fest at Villa Ciani, he delves into pivotal themes of the moment: WEB 3.0, Blockchain's role in art, cryptocurrencies, the metaverse, and more. Catania seeks to harmonize these concepts with the breathtaking natural beauty of Parco Ciani. The project unfolds through nighttime photographs of plants and flowers from the park, captured specifically by Catania. These serve as the setting for his astronauts, symbolizing the modern-day heroes tasked with steering humanity through space via technology and science. Their mission: to ensure the future of life on our planet through a harmonious interplay with nature."
Join Yuri Catania, subscribe your attendance at Lugano Living Lab
"As a memento of your participation, you will receive a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) featuring a timelapse video of the installation of the LVGA/XY ASTRO FLOWERS piece."
Support Lugano's green area:
For every ephemeral flower affixed to the wall, the City will plant a real flower in a new green space being developed in town, dedicated to this artwork.
“Moonlight Garden” by Yuri Catania takes the view on a walk through a secret garden in a solo exhibition at Erarta Museum in St. Petersburg from January 26 to May 28, 2023. An intimate photography project capturing the aesthetic perfection of hundreds of colourful flowers lovingly cultivated by the artist’s wife. A metaphysical garden, remote from reality and particularly enchanting by night.
What makes the night so attractive? Why are there so many poems celebrating it?
The night offers a short respite, a chance to call it a day, to zero out, to remind oneself that tomorrow is another day when all dreams will finally come true. The night softly erases everything that was before, allowing one to forget today’s failures and unfulfilled promises. Oh magic night!
The night is a tiny death for today’s imperfection, a short break before its victorious rebirth on the next day. Tomorrow I will be a different person, tomorrow I will accomplish what is long overdue. The night obscures obstacles and renews our faith in ourselves. Oh blessed night!
The night makes us more daring by placing out of sight all those who, willingly or not, constantly witness our everyday life; nightfall eliminates the need for self-control, and the newly mustered strength that we used to waste on suppressing our own desires can be invested in restoring the balance that had been upset during the day. By morning we will once again be one with the world’s harmony. Oh healing night!
The night is like a fairy tale, and sweet are the dreams under its veil! Like an empty canvas in the hands of an artist, it will embrace any visions that we dare to draw in our mind. Oh profound night!
Make a wish and take a walk through the night garden created by the Italian-born artist Yuri Catania. His garden is far from being realistic: the flowers are fresh and colourful, whereas in real life most of them would close up at nightfall to protect themselves from the cold and humidity and preserve their aroma until the next morning when the insects return to pollinate them. Of course there are some real flowers that bloom by night, but those are few and far between and, unlike Yuri Catania’s flowers, rather discreet, and so one can be sure that, rather than picturing flower still lifes, the artist is imaging a metaphysical garden wherein the backdrop of night is no less important than the blossoms.
The photographer dedicated this series to his wife Silvia. The tradition of presenting women with bunches of fresh flowers is a relatively recent one. In the ancient times, flowers were offered to gods only, although a legend maintains that the first bouquet was given by Adam to Eve when, following the Expulsion, they roamed the dismal earth and Eve yearned for the Garden of Paradise.
At night, bunches of flowers not only look romantic: they symbolise rebirth and promise, they represent hopes and dreams. This brings to mind the well-known verses by Rabindranath Tagore:
Night, I come here again
To stare into your eyes
Longing to be silent for you
And to rhapsodise you.
As the dew slowly falls
With the flowers’ measured breath
I will raise my eyes
And in silence you will appear . . .
About Erarta Museum:
Erarta is Russia's largest private museum of contemporary art, a must-see place for gaining insight into modern Russia.
Its permanent collection featuring over 2,800 works by Russian artists, along with more than 40 exciting temporary exhibitions staged by the museum every year, have firmly established it on the list of things to do in St. Petersburg. Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art was repeatedly mentioned as a top choice tourist attraction by Lonely Planet guidebooks; ranks among the top 10 museums in Russia on TripAdvisor; was spotlighted as one of the ‘5 Cultural Gems’ among places to visit in St. Petersburg by National Geographic, and became the country’s first contemporary art museum to be featured on Google Arts and Culture Project