No portrait of the artist

A couple of km before catching the ferry from Messina back to the mainland, I detoured a couple of hundred metres to visit the house of a local celebrity.
Giovanni Cammarata was born on 29 Sept 1914 and died there in 2002.
He learned the techniques of working cement as a child, working as a groom in a cement factory.
He opened a small workshop making cement products after WWII and was granted land on which to build his business. A few years later the land was taken away from him by the State and given to his rival Mr.Rodriguez. I can only guess at the shenanigans going on, but obviously they never became BFF.
Several years later, GC became an artist; producing a large number of works. Rather than sell them, he clung to them believing that they should become Messina's after his life.
Unfortunately, the locals thought he was a crank and after his death, levelled his house / shed / workshop to make way for a supermarket carpark (in concrete.)
His artistic ability has become recognised since 1990. Two restored works are exhibited at the Modern Art Gallery in Messina, and aothers are in the Basile Arts High School. The remains of his dwelling - part of the front wall - are all that remain.
Even though his fame, if one is premitted to call it that, has spread, the locals still seem unconvinced.Read more