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Meeting with the artist from Catania Claudio Arezzo di Trifiletti: “For me art is a connection and a successful man is one who thinks and acts for the good of others”

We met by chance, as often happens in life. We found ourselves talking about  civil living in a chaotic and often indifferent city, as well as the habits in our city, and we immediately established a certain understanding.  We found ourselves connected on the same channel, that of direct communication, simple, without unnecessary frills. We are referring to the meeting, in a busy town square, with the volcanic and multifaceted artist from Catania, Claudio Arezzo di Trifiletti, 43 years old, descendant of an ancient and emblazoned Sicilian family, artist in constant evolution, who thinks and acts, observes, elaborates and realizes, thanks to his ability to connect immediately with everything that surrounds him, connecting with nature, with the trees, with the breath of the wind, with the colors of the leaves and the sky.

Claudio Arezzo di Trifiletti, attentive to everything that happens around him, free from the chains of approximation and current consumerism, supported by his Christian faith and a strong spirituality, he lives in a house enriched by a private collection of paintings, installations and many memories of his life. Man, boy, instrument of a project that has been going on for some years, with a particular heart and sensitivity. As a young man he was an organizer in a club, at the age of 23 he was the owner of the well-known Clone Zone, but after a trip to India, he opened a door in infinity and realized that he had to follow the path of art. That is when his frantic journey began, his search, his new path where everything is colored, painted, regenerated. For his art he is inspired by objects, or rather, by the vibrations that they transmit, from the history they carry inside.

He has taken part in many initiatives, such as the various murals around the world, but his real passion is the knowledge and the creation of an alternative world for his city that often hides behind an illusory and vague aspect. Among his initiatives, in a tree in Piazza Abramo Lincoln – a stone’s throw from his house, – a tribute to a great journalist like Tiziano Terzani, who was very careful about the problem of the environment. The particularity of his essence, his works and initiatives have convinced us to meet him during the realization of the “Mediterranean” Mural, in the AMT R1 car park in Catania, via Plebiscito 747. The chat with Claudio Arezzo of Trifiletti allowed us to learn more about the artist, discover his passion for art and talk about his initiatives and future projects.

How did passion, transport, and love for art come about for Claudio Arezzo di Trifiletti?

“What is art, everyone represents it in a different way. For many, art can be an emotion in front of an image that does not have to necessarily be considered a work. We are submerged in images that idolize a system by pretending to fight it. Art is a mission, you can be artists doing nothing and giving a smile to those who will treasure it. The artist is not convinced; for me the artist is a discoverer of new worlds. The word art is matter, many apply it to concepts by trivializing its essence. I imprinted a memory of when I was a child, I looked at the trees from under the trunk upwards, the sky embraced them and a voice inside my heart asked me about my future, what I would really like, and really everything that we like does not makes us happy, but the mere fact of being part of a story makes us free to decide and dedicate ourselves to that path, which really starts as a small seed until it becomes a mature tree. For me art is connection, connection is to see through the heart, to feel through the wind, to try as much as possible to be present in several dimensions “.

Tell us about your life path and how you started to change, to feel the vibrations of the world and of your existence, passing from the clubs and the disco to a more intimate connection with others, with the world …

“I was born wanting to communicate, I was always attracted to my neighbor’s well, I was convinced that there were giants inside. I grew up with the my grandparents’ friends, so I can say, I had many grandparents, even today sometimes in my prayers I try to remember them and there are indeed many angels that spend themselves on my inner growth. My life is made of many sounds, moving photographs that will remain indelible. Of all the people I met, many have managed to leave me a lot, I think I’m hungry for life, in its crudity I feel the various realities, and then an infinity to which we all belong. My past life served me as a passage, from one world to another, everything changes when you wake up, the music, the colors, the style, the value of money, and above all the use. First I was devoted to the deceptive image of the successful man, seated on his throne, boat, car, villa, house, travel, clothes, money, parties, happiness. Today a successful man, in my opinion, is one who thinks and acts for the good of his neighbor, of society”.

What do you think of politics, wars in the world, poverty and wealth?

“Politics, unfortunately, with the era of television, the image has lapsed, I see many characters who fight only for the place at the cost of even burning their voters, I like to remember President Pertini because I was really small. We are in 2018. The energy, the air, the light, the water, the earth, everything is mutating, man has been transformed, but very soon it will happen that we will open that door and discover the most powerful technological invention of the times , we will meet again and we will understand that everything resides in us. Fear will disappear, wars will cease and politicians along with all the galleys will no longer have reason to exist along with the wars commanded for hidden interest “.

What does man need today – in every part of the world – to live better and to listen – attentively – to what nature, the earth and the breath of the wind suggest?

“Man needs only to remember who he really is, not to conform to a project that protects him, not to be part of a system that projects him onto a billboard that smiles. He needs to go back to nature, to the benefit of resting his feet on land, to respect the planet without dreaming of conquering the moon. Respecting the planet means knowing how to understand the vocation of a land, supporting a river, not underestimating electromagnetic waves, the impulse of light, the importance of fire, understanding the depth of an ocean as a filled part of a universe that despite everything we know about it, it always remains deeply mysterious “.

Tell us about the projects and initiatives that, as a man in continuous search and rediscovery of himself, of others and of nature, you have carried out in these years …

“My first solo exhibition took place at the Norman Castle of Aci Castello, Inverse Route is the promised premise of Smiles Paintings and Imprints New York which also marked the closure of the doors of that kingdom to which I will always remain very attached. Imprints has continued over time in Barcelona, ​​Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Amsterdam, Turkey, Malta, Greece, Milan, Venice and of course my beloved Catania. From Imprints many works have been created that I have kept along with other works to which I remain connected because they are recognized in the soul. Painted clay bodies of gold, or Peace to All Italian ambassadors in the world, breathe art, etc. I like to create places that help to remember, perhaps keeping a drawing slipped from a child’s folder, or finding a buddy companion for the bell at the entrance, I rediscovered a new way to connect present, past, and future stories. The House Museum under Mt. Etna, or even the Clone Zone, which by nature are distinct and separate, maintain a whole integrity, I exist. Mezzanine Living is a modest attic between the roofs of historic buildings in the center of Catania, for me it is a nest that welcomes lovers of the sky beyond the visual border, of dreamers who enrich the space through a shared breath. Lately, I’ve been dedicating myself to create a new reality in an estate in Ragusa, “Terre di Martorina”.

What does it mean for you to live on earth, to live on an island like Sicily and what is needed for each of us to improve ourselves?

“For me, living on earth means that it is the only cognition of life that I remember, even if I remember unexplainable things, for me living this life means learning and spreading, arriving to fulfill that desire that has seen me born, that is not according to what others would like for you, but to play your own number even though not everything is in harmony. Living in Sicily is very important for me, I have always lived on an island, not surprisingly Imprints was born in Manhattan. ‘Sicily needs love’ like ‘Spring in New York’ are connected by a word to me very dear: World needs love. I have a strong connection with Etna and its inhabitants, with the stone and its air, when I’m in Terre di Martorina I look at the sky between the Iblei  Mountains and Catania and I feel happy “.

Who is today, compared to the past, Claudio Arezzo di Trifiletti, as you see yourself and define yourself in everyday life: what are your hobbies, your readings, your favorite music and what do you think of animals (dogs, cats etc. .) that, more and more often, keep us company, understand us and help us on our journey? What relationship do you have with your city and with others?

“Claudio is still Claudio, if Claudio managed a club as he once did, he would surely feel out of place, precisely because that management served to travel, understand that strength is not arrogance, that the ticking of an ice cube cannot call you back to order. You cannot tell what you were when you became what you wanted, even if the result was not yet to make sacrifices in the name of a cause. Cause I dedicated myself to and perhaps distorted, but no one will ever say that I have not experienced what it means to get in tune with that voice that many say is the wind, that guides you even when transplanting a tree, its design, its position in the future . I spend time between thinking and acting, I think I did a lot maybe my way, but it does not matter, I used the time I had available in the way that I felt most useful, leaving my story, which is waste paper, or true adventure does not matter, I lived it and experienced it. When I returned to the closure of the club, I read, I needed to detoxify, forget many scenes that weighed down my mind, turn to something more peaceful, high, which could make me hope that one day I could improve first, one of the homagetom texts on pilgrimage to S. Marino from a Child Priest was the Poem of the Man God of Maria Valtorta, one of the first very rare series were three volumes of about 800 pages, I read the third, that I think was the last book, I have not had enough time or perhaps cognitive serenity to not have to devote to the reading of my conscience, go to reread all the images and things said maybe in a busy day. The music I prefer is classical, experimental, or the clean sound. I have a wonderful life partner as a gift, called Mia and she is my furry angel. I have a wonderful relationship with my city, I can affirm empathy beyond contexts, I like the narration of sudden stories, which enrich this life with authenticity “.

What do you think about the youth, power, love and giving oneself to others?

“I think young people are living the echo of years passed, plastic power has deteriorated, for me love is abandoning oneself without offending”.

Tell us about your project Imprints, how it originated and what it aims for and tell us about the contemporary exhibition “Private collection Imprints of peace” that you have already scheduled at the Palazzo della Cultura in Catania from 1 December to 6 January 2019 …

“Imprints originated in 2007 in N.Y. A guy with his own savings arms himself with imposing dreams and after India re-experiences the language of the heart. I distributed the invitation to the exhibition to the many hundreds of people who climbed on the cloth. There is no being who does not leave his traces, and these traces are the testimony of his coming to this world. There are infinite traditions, philosophies, religions, customs, which try to divide the thoughts of beings on this Earth. Through this project we witness the equality of all those who tread the canvas, which represents the Earth on which they walk, the “World”. In a society of colors, of forms that, contrasting, give rise to stories and representations of a contemporary reality that lives through testimonies of Being. Please do not interrupt this project that uses art as an instrument of peace. I do not speak English, I come from the land of the volcano, Mt. Etna, and the home of St. Agatha. These sheets, testify in my creation, the union of all of you who pass over us. We are all responsible for this world that wants only the love for your neighbor and the recognition of life that unites us on this Earth. Private Collection Imprints of Peace is the testimony of over 120 performances that become portals, acrylic in size over a 1.50 cm. A mirror of one’s soul in hearing the testimony of the passage. Energy set in motion through the eyes, a story that can be deciphered over time. I would like to exhibit an extremely important passage documented through abstract forms that speaks of the contemporary world as a ray of a great wheel. There is no period that I prefer, even if sometimes I happened to be at risk for really dangerous circumstances. From December 1 to January 6, 2019 at the Palazzo della Cultura, I hope to be able to testify to my city, my most lively pride of being part of it”.

Where do you think art, the path, the enthusiasm and the desire for sharing the connection with the world of Claudio Arezzo di Trifiletti will reach?

“I do not aspire to be understood in the world, one in which I believe that in every part of the world there is a small world that belongs to us, I just try to tune in. I am very enthusiastic without giving too many explanations, sometimes I am down and I try to understand and work in order not to be down any longer, sometimes even by removing dried leaves “.

To finish, what message do you want to leave to those who read you, to those who listen to you and to those who observe and feel your works?

“I like to put color on the day that will come”.

“When I follow my instinct, I know only what I feel, writing it would be impossible, so I paint”.