Postcards of Art and Poetry: Salento as Seen by Ciardo, Russo, and New Video Art

The Cosimo Russo Center for Contemporary Poetry in Gagliano del Capo presents postcards from the permanent exhibition "Ut pictura poesis. Vincenzo Ciardo, Cosimo Russo and the Nature of Salento," curated by Raffaele Casciaro and Antonio Russo.

The meeting will take place on August 17th at 7:15 PM at the headquarters in Via Unità d'Italia.

At the same time, the opening of video artist Alessio Caputo's site-specific work, entitled "Memorie," will take place. This is part of the Center's ongoing initiative to promote contemporary art, which selects one artist each year (the first was Ronnie Bertocchi, in 2024, with Ultrawhite). The artist is asked to explore the landscape of Capo di Leuca, drawing on Ciardo's paintings and Russo's poetry, both imbued with a sense of place.

Ciardo was one of the leading exponents of early twentieth-century Southern Italian painting, inspired by post-Impressionism. Russo was a contemporary poet discovered after his death thanks to the publication of a series of volumes that collected and organized his extensive work.

The presentation will be attended by Gagliano Mayor Gianfranco Melcarne, the director of the Lecce Library and Museum Center, Luigi De Luca, professor at the Lecce Academy of Fine Arts, Mario Panarello, and the president of the Study Center, Luigina Paradiso. The evening will be moderated by Antonio Russo, professor of architectural history at La Sapienza University of Rome.