Cittadino Nel Mondo

Cittadino Nel Mondo is an art collective and art residency program that hosts a small group of artists from around the world. Cittadino Nel Mondo residencies are 'pop-up residency's', created in different locations around the world from the far east like Japan to Italy and other locations. The founder of Cittadino Nel Mondo, Natalia Bieganska, is an artist who has travelled the world extensively and has been deeply inspired by local cultures. As a result of her travels, Natalia has a strong mission to connect artists from different countries and backgrounds. Art for her is a new language, universal in nature, breaking down any cultural differences.

This year's residency will take place in Italy, the birthplace of some of the most famous artists in history.

The Italy program will support the artist to disconnect from city life and work on their art in a warm and rustic setting in the Italian countryside. The program is based in the small village Campagnano di Roma, which is located roughly 45 minutes from Rome and easily accessible by car or train. Campagnano di Roma was on the Via Francigena in medieval times, an ancient road running from France to Rome. The area is filled with ancient Roman and Etruscan history; the energy of painters, sculptors and other makers of the past can almost be smelt in the air.

Each Cittadino Nel Mondo program implies a theme that fits well with the surrounding region and culture. Besides the creative aspect, a core mission of Cittadino Nel Mondo in Campagnano is to take care of nature by teaching artist about sustainability, raising awareness of the local environment, and the production of healthy local foods. Artists will participate and learn about olive oil farming and production from the local Italian family.

The residency will be hosted at a property that provides a quiet, comfortable and rustic setting for artists to create and focus their energies. Overlooking the Italian countryside and olive oil trees, the property offers ample room for the artist to work in a very private setting. During the month-long program, the artist will not only retreat from the routines and pressures of everyday life but will also meet new art collectors and enjoy farm to table Italian food and, of course, wine.

ARTISTS

SIGNE PIERCE
represented by Annka Kultys Gallery, London

Signe Pierce is a multimedia artist whose work straddles performance, photography, video, theory, social media, light design and installation. As a self-described "reality artist", Pierce's work is inspired by the concept of reality being an artistic medium, and that an artist's life can be viewed within a similar context as an artist's work. As a writer, performer, and theorist, she is known for using humor, seduction, technology, science and current events to unpack the various paradoxes of perception and existence within an increasingly simulated world, as well as working to discern what is considered "real" within a burgeoning era of technological singularity.

Over the last few years, Pierce has partaken in multiple performances, installations, screenings, and exhibitions, including solo shows at Times Square Space in New York, Annka Kultys Gallery in London, and Galerie Nathalie Halgand in Vienna, as well as a screening + performance at the Museum of Modern Art, US, and an artist's talks at Yale University, University of Colorado, and Southern Methodist University. She is the star and co-creator of the acclaimed short film, American Reflexxx, which has received multiple awards and has been screened in over 15 countries.

CANYON CASTATOR
represented by Postmasters Gallery, NYC

Castator's large-scale oil paintings bring us into a twisted version of today's social reality. Each is a gruesome, cartoon-like collage with graphically distorted figures, packed into vivid scenes of debauchery. By heightening what is already grotesque and salacious about party culture, substance abuse, harassment, and violence override the casual vice. The more disturbing the scenario, the more macabre its actors. This is a world of extremes, from the overloaded content to the work's strong narrative impulse to the bright and bold aesthetic that Castator never shies from. 



Digital processes give the work its copy-paste quality. Preparatory drawings are executed on an iPad, where compositional elements can be readily resized, moved, deleted, or restored. Imagery is often culled from personal or found photos. Exuberant patterns and a melange of textures, whether they are superflat or perspectivally perfect, commingle with humor and ease. 


Canyon Castator (b. 1989) is a Los Angeles-based painter. In 2013, he was invited to be a resident at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied with Tal R. He is originally from Boulder, Colorado.

PIERO PASSACANTANDO

Piero Passacantando (b. 1979) is an Italian interdisciplinary artist born in Rome. He paints, cooks, and conducts participatory workshops revolving around either painting or art of culinary. In the past ten years, his focus has shifted towards the possible connections between art and food. Piero trained, cooked and catered in various capacities around the United States and Europe. His food is influenced by his travels and offers a broad spectrum of flavors and approaches. In particular, the interaction of Italian, New American, Mexican, Indian, Caribbean and Vietnamese influences play a role in his creations.

Most recently, he has been developing Fomento Fermento. Between collaborative art project and cooking workshop, FF is a knowledge and cultural exchange revolving around fermentation. FF seeks to be informal, hands-on and fun; yet it aims to be informative and to discuss the science and history of fermentation. Through these workshops, Piero hopes to encourage connections between people - to foment the fermentation of love through magic, science, fun and exchange.

Among many art residencies he attended, he also performed his project “I Paint You. You Paint Me.” at Bric Arts, Ed Varie, the Brooklyn Museum, Art in Odd Places, DUMBO Arts Festival in NYC and in Mexico during the LILHA. Passacantando holds an MFA from the California College of the Arts (San Francisco and Oakland, CA) with a concentration in Social Practice, and a BFA from the Corcoran College of Art and Design (Washington DC). He lives and works in Rome, Italy, and New York City, USA.

ORGANIZERS

NATALIA BIEGANSKA
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR

Natalia has been in the fashion and art world for the last 9 years. Most recently she worked at Postmasters Gallery in Rome. Prior to Rome, Natalia was living and studying in New York where she took Marketing and PR courses at Sotheby’s NYC.

Natalia has exhibited her work as an emerging artist in Japan, New York and Italy. Beforehand, she was working in high fashion for international agencies such as Elite and Next Models; and has experience working for some of the top brands including Vogue Magazine, D&G, and GAP. Natalia holds a BA from Wladyslaw Strzeminski Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, Poland majoring in design in 2012.

PAULINA BEBECKA
ADVISORY BOARD, SALES AND EVENTS

After 11 years as NYC gallerist at Postmasters Gallery (est. 1984) and curator the Polish born Paulina Bebecka moved to Rome in 2017 and established the Italian branch of the gallery, PostmastersROMA, with a permanent location situated next to the colosseum. Following the tradition of the mothership gallery the Roman space exhibits works that are representative of our time embracing all mediums, classical and new ones from paintings to Virtual Reality. Her curatorial projects include a NYTimes reviewed exhibition “this one is smaller than this one” of 35 artists which traveled from New York to Vienna and Istanbul. Bebecka holds a masters degree from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London and bachelors degrees in economics and international business administration from the American University of Paris.

ANITA BENN
WELLNESS THERAPIST 

Anita Benn was born in a multicultural family in Switzerland. For various health issues of her loved ones she started looking deeper into alternative medicine. At age of 22 she travelled to India discovering Ayurveda and Yoga. Later Anita decided to broaden her horizons and chosen her school of life to be Shiatsu. Three years of education at the International Shiatsu School of Kinetal taught her, that while we are all responsible for our own body mind and soul, she is able to give her patients the support to activate the self-healing process.

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