3 Montreal artists headed to Italy for international art exhibition

Three Montreal artists have been chosen to participate in the international modern and contemporary art exhibition in Fiuggi, Italy, this month.

Michel Terroux, Salvatore Catania and Sandra Mucciardi are artists with different styles and backgrounds.

Terroux, better known as Terruscito, is known for painting Italian landscapes. His passion for painting, he says, was always a part of him.

“Ever since I was born, I guess, I was sketching,” said Terroux. “Because I’m always doodling or sketching.

“As a kid in grade school and in high school, my favourite time of the day was the art class. And I learned. I’m probably one of the few to learn something from the art teachers at the time, and they encouraged me to go to the Fine Arts in Montreal Saturday class. And after that, it was nonstop.”

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Catania’s love for art dates back to his kindergarten days.

“I was really young,” he said. “And my passion was born scribbling in the notebooks of my classmates. I never forget because back then paper wasn’t always available, you couldn’t find it easily, but whenever I saw blank sheets and a pen, a pencil, anything, I had to write something, draw something.”

Mucciardi says when it comes to painting, she seeks inspiration from within.

“My painting career started over 20 years ago,” she said. “I was in a program called Illustration and Design, and back then we did a lot of painting from observation.

“The whole time I kept saying, ‘oh, I can’t wait to finish school because I’m going to just buy a canvas and just paint whatever I’m feeling.’ I asked myself, ‘what did I paint when I was a kid and what was my approach?’ So by tapping into those earlier memories, it became a source of inspiration for my first painting series of elongated female figures. And I’ve been painting women ever since.”

Mucciardi says pursuing one’s passion doesn’t always mean following a linear path, but passion will always find its way through the noise.

All three artists are off to Italy June 16-25 for the exhibit.

“The event is called ‘Universo Arte e non solo’, which means it’s more than just an art exhibition,” said Mucciardi. “There’s going to be musical and theatrical presentations as well as poetry and book readings.”

“It’s the second year in the role, so it’s a young singing organization, but frankly, it was a real success last year, so they decided to do it again this year,” Terroux said.

Added Catania: “I already have everything ready. I just need to pack my paintings… with a lot of enthusiasm.”