During its inaugural year, Casa Blu Volturno Morani launched the initiative “Sperimentazioni Neocostruttiviste Spaziali” (Spatial Neo-Constructivist Experimentations), inviting contemporary artists to integrate elements of Spatial Neo-Constructivism into their practice. The open call engaged five emerging artists, featured below: Carlo Monopoli, Luna Miscuglio, Ivan Cagnani, Nutty Trapanig, and Victoria Timoniere.
Flavio Morani and Ivan Cagnani present the artwork "Afterlife"
Ivan Cagnani
Born in Faenza on July 1, 1978, the physicist and art photographer currently resides in Casalecchio di Reno (Bologna). He developed an early interest in fine art and macro nature photography. Utilizing supplementary glass lenses and filters, he began experimenting with abstract film photography. Following various artistic and scientific pursuits, he earned a degree in Physics from the University of Bologna in 2015, presenting an experimental thesis on measuring the universal gravitational constant using a custom-designed apparatus.
In 2017, he organized exhibitions in Rome commissioned by the Norwegian artist Ksh—a demanding yet pivotal experience that served to formalize his professional artistic practice.
Alongside his art, he continues to advance his studies in physics, which remain essential to the execution of his works. In 2020, he was selected for a distance-learning Master’s program in Physics at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden, where he specialized in the quantum foundations of light and matter.
In 2022, alongside experimental projects in the field of fundamental forces, he focused his artistic research on the Pianeti (Planets) series. This led to a representation contract with the FP-Art gallery in Genoa, his formal registration as a professional artist, a subsequent contract with a second Genoa-based gallery, LineOutGallery, and his first international collaboration with L’Exposition gallery, resulting in a print exhibition in Montmartre, Paris, on March 3, 2025.
For the artist, contemporary art serves not only as his professional field but has consistently functioned as a stabilizing foundation through challenging personal and health circumstances. Despite a scientific background that informs the technical and aesthetic execution of his work, Cagnani integrates a deep spiritual and metaphysical inquiry into his practice. In his view, the laws of the universe and those of the spirit influence and complement one another, introducing symbolist and transcendental concepts. This mysticism stems primarily from a personal spiritual journey pursued during his adolescence and early youth.
Ivan Cagnani’s works are predominantly abstract; even when the subject matter is ostensibly a flower or a landscape, it is stripped of recognizable elements during production to allow the underlying symbolism to emerge. His methodology consistently involves three distinct, sequential phases: photography, digital processing, and printing. The most complex stage remains the processing phase, during which Cagnani executes numerous iterative digital alterations—often spanning dozens of steps—adjusting every parameter until the work aligns with his intended meaning and internal aesthetic vision.
Printing on rigid substrates, such as aluminum-reinforced anti-reflective plexiglass, tempered glass, and stone, is essential to his practice. Regarding this choice, he states: “For me, the true artwork comes into existence once it is printed—the physical piece that I sign on the back… As long as it remains just an image, it is not alive… I am not a digital artist, even though I employ digital methods.”
Afterlife– The Artist's Description
“Afterlife is an abstract photographic work that, adhering to the symbolic and aesthetic principles of Spatial Neo-Constructivism, revisits the theme of the Last Judgment—a staple of Catholic and Orthodox iconography. The lower, chaotically tangled blue branches represent souls trapped in the underworld. Conversely, the intermediate space directs the blue branches upward, where they achieve their full aesthetic potential within a spacious, orderly arrangement. The composition unfolds beneath the divine light of a veiled red sun.
I chose the theme of the Last Judgment because your documentary video on Volturno Morani addressed the origins of the color scheme in Orthodox iconography, as well as Volturno’s subsequent inversion of it. This recalled a scene from the film Andrei Rublev, where the protagonist struggles to paint a cathedral fresco of the Last Judgment due to a lack of inspiration for such a profound subject.”
Carlo Monopoli and Flavio Morani present the artwork "Creazione della Materia" (Creation of Matter)
Carlo Monopoli
Born in Bari on October 22, 1970, the artist currently resides in Desenzano del Garda (Brescia). He has been painting since early childhood, noting that he began at the age of four. After earning his arts high school diploma, he studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the G. D’Annunzio University in Pescara. Since 1990, he has worked as a freelance illustrator and painter, receiving numerous awards in various art competitions.
From 2005 to 2011, he collaborated as an artist, designer, and art director with companies specializing in the execution of frescoes and murals, participating in projects both in Italy and abroad.
Since 2012, he has served as an instructor of painting techniques for the international program THE FINE ART COLLECTIVE, providing training and technical expertise on the proper application of drawing and painting materials at major Fine Arts Academies and institutions of higher artistic education across Italy. Since 2020, he has produced tutorials and live-streamed demonstrations on major social media platforms, documenting the creation of various artworks.
Since 2023, he has coordinated the Urban Sketchers Desenzano group, a chapter of the global Urban Sketchers movement. That same year, he re-established the “ArtHysteria” school—a drawing and painting studio workshop in Desenzano del Garda.
“Over time, I have studied and mastered a comprehensive range of traditional painting techniques: from pencil to oil painting, watercolor to the classical fresco method, and from preparatory sketching to highly refined, detailed execution.
I have worked extensively to reach a point where I no longer select one specific technique over another to create a work; rather, I allow the medium itself to flow, guided by my creative thought.“
"Creazione della Materia" - The Artwork Description
An analysis of the painting Creazione della Materia (Creation of Matter) reveals a close connection between architectural studies and the concept of Neo-Constructivist painting, manifesting as a pursuit of perfection in dialogue with the Sacred and, simultaneously, with the twentieth-century avant-garde. Its relationship with mathematics, geometry, music, painting, and the laws governing the universe is clear:
“Within this context, I conceived the work Creazione: the gesture of a hand seems to release or gather an energy rooted in the ancient golden ratio, which is referenced and visible within a mathematical formula in the background.”
This golden ratio connects to a sequence of colors and movements that recalls prominent mathematical progressions, such as the Fibonacci sequence, summarized here in a few terms and represented by the spiral—a motif central to the artist’s practice. Color and its physical mass are perceived as vibrations, articulated through the contrast between solid fields and incised lines.
Flavio Morani and Nutty Trapanig present "Rivisitazione di Cellula Cosmica" (Reinterpretation of Cosmic Cell)
Nutty Trapanig
Giovanni Trapani, in arte Nutty Trapanig, nasce a Napoli e cresce a Salerno. Si è laureato presso l’Accademia di Belle Arti di Napoli è un autorevole esponente, dal 1995, della Street Art, figlio degli anni Ottanta. Oggi l’arte urbana è acclamata dai critici della scena espressionista internazionale e Trapanig con la sua genialità, tra fantasia e romanticismo, manda messaggi grazie ad una straordinaria realtà creativa. La sua arte deriva dalla passione per i giocattoli e cartoni animati da cui era fortemente influenzato visiva mente e nel pensiero; egli conserva ancora i disegni che ha usato per fare con il suo madre, un professore di arte e disegno. Attivista del movimento Hip Hop, è influenzato dallo studio della storia dell’arte contemporanea e delle opere di Kelth Haring e Jean Michel Basquiat. Ciascuna delle sue opere ha come protagonista principale uno o più personaggi, sempre rappresentati in una posizione centrale, statica o meno all’inizio di un’azione che non ha ancora avuto luogo, per evi tare che lo spettatore faccia una scelta imposta.
His figures are armed yet harmless—in the most positive sense of the term—and are intended to be viewed through a romantic lens. This perspective reflects his way of engaging with art as an existential framework, functioning as a form of Romantic Resistance against the events that cross our lives. For Trapanig, painting is a political act, a means of taking a stand by broadcasting a definitive message: “I exist.”
The artist is instantly recognizable by his signature motif: a hybrid warrior figure consistently rendered with a helmet. The sheer volume of these figures is highly intentional, serving to assemble an imaginary army of resistance.
"Rivisitazione di Cellula Cosmica" - Description of the Artwork
As the title suggests, Rivisitazione di Cellula Cosmica is Nutty Trapanig’s stylistic reinterpretation of Volturno Morani’s original artwork, Cellula Cosmica. Giovanni chooses to expand upon rather than alter the composition; Morani’s piece serves as both an inspiration and a point of departure for the journey of the characters that animate the artist’s canvases.
Alongside these signature creatures, the work incorporates the logo of Casa Blu Volturno Morani—the gallery that archives the works of Volturno and many contemporary artists of the movement. Positioned at the top, the logo sits among stars which, along with other celestial elements, constitute core components of the Spatial Neo-Constructivist movement.
Just as Volturno Morani stated, “We are light and to light we shall return,” Nutty Trapanig depicts a star radiating a beam of light that dissolves into the black background. This star takes on anthropomorphic qualities: with an open eye, it observes the activity below and acts. Conversely, another star closes its eye, averting its gaze to suggest a sense of duality shared by both celestial bodies and human nature.
Victoria Timoniere and Flavio Morani present the artwork "Oltre" (Beyond)
Victoria Timoniere
Born biologically male on April 14, 1997, in Florence to parents of Sicilian descent, Victoria Timoniere maintained a lifelong affinity for art. She initially treated this interest as a personal passion while pursuing hospitality studies, which she left at the age of sixteen. Following various creative endeavors, including acting, she chose to resume her secondary education and graduated from the Leon Battista Alberti Arts High School. “I had finally chosen the path that had always called to me,” the artist states. “I could finally express myself without feeling judged.”
Art has consistently served as the driving force behind Timoniere’s life and creative output; it also provided the epiphany and momentum for her gender transition. This lengthy, challenging, and complex process culminated on February 16, 2022, with a vaginoplasty procedure in Barcelona—marking a definitive turning point and the beginning of her new life. Victoria Timoniere is a young artist and woman with her entire future ahead of her.
Characterized by talent, energy, and a strong drive to learn and draw inspiration, she demonstrated these qualities through her profound enthusiasm and curiosity regarding Spatial Neo-Constructivism and Volturno Morani. The sensitivity she conveys in her artwork is deeply rooted in truth and her own lived experience. Currently a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, she aspires to travel internationally in the future.
Regarding the Spatial Neo-Constructivist movement, Victoria Timoniere states:
“I chose to join the NCS artists because I share the movement’s core principles. I appreciate the dedication Volturno Morani brought to his artistic research, as well as the tools used to project viewers toward a figurative synthesis of seemingly antithetical elements: the scientific and the spiritual. What fascinates me about his technique is the utilization of blue and red—just two colors to articulate the power of space and matter. For me, as it was for Morani, these colors remain a primary source of inspiration and study.”
"Oltre" – Description of the Artwork
“In this painting, I chose to symbolically represent the phase in which the body has transitioned, displaying distinct feminine characteristics. The breasts, hips, and female anatomy—yet still scarred and distorted by social judgments and prejudices—interact with matter (society), represented by the blue color that penetrates the body. Hands are never depicted, not even within my abstract approach, because they are a part of my body that induces dysphoria, as do the feet, whereas the face is more pronounced and carries its own expression.”
She has finally achieved full self-awareness.
“I utilized a monochromatic technique for the final execution, both out of appreciation for Volturno Morani and Yves Klein, and because the core message of this painting is precisely beyond: beyond appearances, history, and the pain hidden within an abstract, blue body that may look perfect to society, but remains compromised within.”
The Artist's Description
Victoria Timoniere begins by investigating the color blue. Within the NCS framework, this signifies matter— in this specific instance, the artist’s own body, applied to the canvas through assertive palette knife strokes.
The defining characteristics of the new form emerge through lines and symbolic red accents, representing antimatter. As the artistic process progresses, this antimatter fuses exclusively on a chromatic level with the blue of the matter, leaving the viewer with a low relief of the underlying reality, much like the silhouette of a woman beneath clothing.
Luna Miscuglio and the artwork "Cogito Ergo Sum" (I Think, Therefor I Am)
Luna Miscuglio
Born in Galatina on November 17, 1984, she graduated from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts with highest honors (summa cum laude). During her final academic year and the subsequent two years, she focused on organizing and participating in exhibitions across Italy and internationally. Selected by Vittorio Sgarbi, she participated in the 54th Venice Biennale’s Italian Pavilion, showcasing two paintings centered on X-ray imagery.
Parallel to this body of primarily digital work, she dedicates herself to classical painting, frequently depicting faces and anatomical elements. In recent years, her work has been featured in various exhibitions and projects, notably the Puglia Region’s “La Valigia di Cartone” project at Fiera del Levante, as well as Rho Fiera Milano. She currently collaborates with the OnArt gallery in Florence, and her career to date includes four solo exhibitions.
"Cogito Ergo Sum" – Description of the Artwork
Luna Miscuglio’s artwork Cogito Ergo Sum emerges from a reinterpretation of Volturno Morani’s Spatial Neo-Constructivist piece Padre Nostro. The work adopts the original’s color palette and eye motif, though the eyes are reduced to a single one. While in Padre Nostro the gaze is directed elsewhere, here it appears to fixate almost directly on the viewer, establishing an unmediated relationship with the observer.
The figure of a man praying to the Almighty is transformed by Miscuglio into a feminine Greek statue—described by the artist as the “daughter of an ideal, yet unrealistic beauty.” The figure’s gaze turns to the left, while her body’s motion allows for a dual interpretation: she may be on the verge of covering herself completely to conceal her breast, or conversely, uncovering herself. “It is up to the spectator,” Miscuglio states, “to choose what to look at and what meaning to assign to it.”
The Artist's Description
“My painting explores the philosophical meaning of symbolism. God (the eye) is enclosed within a circle, and therefore possesses no actual power over the world. It is an idealized concept; both the believer’s interpretation and human perception are distorted and unrealistic, embodied here by a Cretan statue—the byproduct of an ideal, yet unrealistic beauty. Ultimately, for me, God and the perception of God are purely conceptual and fictitious.”