The galleries of Italy bring to Naples the French artist JR, among the most important representatives of the contemporary art scene, famous all over the world for his projects that combine photography, public art and social commitment. The Museum of Intesa Sanpaolo in Naples was presented today at the Gallerie d’Italia in Naples, the new project ‘Who are you, Naples?’, Eighth chapter of the ‘Chronicles’ series, who after after Clichy-Montfemeil (2017), San Francisco (2018), New York (2018), Miami (2022), Kyoto (2024), three American cities (Dallas, Saint Louis and Saint Louis and Washington DC) for a mural on the theme of weapons in America (2018), and fifteen cities of Cuba (2019) arrives in the Neapolitan city with the first installation of this type in Italy, created with the patronage of the Municipality of Naples.
JR’s Site-Pecifica work will be presented today, May 21, at 19.00 in via Duomo, in front of the facade of the “Cathedral of San Gennaro”, the Cathedral of Naples, transformed into a mosaic of local faces, embodying the community spirit, resilience, energy and polymorphic soul of the city. The inauguration of the work, open to citizenship, will take place in the presence of the artist, by Michele Coppola, general manager of the Gallerie d’Italia, of the mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, of Mons. Gennaro Matino, vicar general Archdiocese of Naples and Father Antonio Loffredo, vice president of the Naples Foundation. The collaboration of the Archdiocese of Naples, through the Naples Foundation, was fundamental to allow the construction of the work on a sacred place for the city, recognizing the social and symbolic value of the JR project.
In September 2024, the French artist JR began in Naples a profound exploration of the complex cultural identity of the city. In a week, from 23 to 29 September, the citizens of seven neighborhoods were the protagonists, with photographic sets set up in Piazza Sanità , Piazza Dante, Fuorigrotta, Mergellina, San Giovanni a Teduccio, Piazza Cavour and Borgo di Sant’Antonio.
During this intense period, portraits and stories of 606 Neapolitans from different social and cultural backgrounds were collected, thus capturing the essence of Naples. If the project had been done a week before or after, it would have been completely different. It is made of the people who were there, at that moment.
The result of JR’s work is a monumental photographic collage on the facade of the Duomo and told in its composition in an exhibition at the Gallerie d’Italia in Intesa Sanpaolo in via Toledo, where the ‘behind the scenes’ can also be relived. Three murals of the ‘Chronicles’ series will also be presented on display, made in France (Chroniques de Clichy-MontFermeil), in Cuba (Las Crónica de Cuba) and in the USA (The Gun Chronicles: A Story of America), to show how the art of JR can stimulate conversations by creating a powerful visual impact.
Naples, with its contrasting character – refined and rough, poetic and chaotic, suspended between sea and volcano -, has proved to be an ideal place for this collective narrative. The women and men who participated in the project – pizza chefs, firefighters, policemen, priests, writers, musicians, tourists, grandmothers, students, and the mayor himself – have chosen how to be represented, and have told their story in Italian or in Neapolitan. The portraits, all made with the same light, assign equal dignity to each person involved. Vocal recordings are available on the Jrchronics.net website.
Jr has a personal link with Naples and his culture: his study in Soho, New York, is located a few isolated by Mulberry Street, the heart of the Italian community and home of the feast of San Gennaro. In 2014 he made “UNFRAMED” on the island of Ellis, gluing historical images of immigrants – many of which are Neapolitans – on the former hospital of the island. With the short film “Ellis”, played by Robert De Niro, Jr paid tribute to the many who started to look for a new life in America from Naples.
Through ‘Who are you, Naples?’, Jr invites everyone to reflect on how he would like to be remembered. The work, which combines art and participation, past and present, intends to stimulate new conversations, generate unexpected encounters and return to the city a portrait in which each inhabitant can recognize himself.
Michele Coppola, Executive Director Arte Art, Culture and Historical Heritage of Intesa Sanpaolo, says: “It was extraordinary to return to work with JR, artist and photographer among the most magnetic, known and followed, in a great project of collective art that from the galleries of Italy in via Toledo involves all Naples. A huge and surprising fresco tells on the facade of the Duomo, in the symbolic place of the city, Neapolitans, giving spectacular form to the continuous dialogue between people, roads, monuments and art that is one of the most unmistakable beauties of Naples. Giving life to unique stories and experiences.
Jr declares: “Naples is one of the most interesting cities in Europe because his frenetic life, his energy are not found elsewhere. For example, nobody respects the laws of traffic, but everyone is concerned about each other. The technology has not disconnected people, who help each other on the street. You can ask how long it will be able to remain like this. The Neapolitans are very proud of their city and to welcome us here. Cozy, unique, even in Italy, where everyone knows that there is a truth in this city that every other city has lost.
The mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, states: “Public art has a great value for cities, cultural and social, which v to enrich the artistic heritage of Naples already extraordinary in itself. And so, even places of worship can, precisely through public art, express new meanings and become extremely evocative’s vehicle of collective messages. The facade of the Cathedral of Naples becomes, with the work of the French artist JR, a chaleidoscope of humanity of humanity. And it represents, towards the outside, the souls of the city. Stories, very different from each other, works to recompose the differences and expresses two fundamental principles: coexistence and sharing, between past, present and future “
Domenico Battaglia, Archbishop of Naples, declares: “I am happy that JR’s artistic dream and his staff on the facade of our cathedral in these days finds fulfillment: the facade of our cathedral thanks to this initiative in the next few days will not only be a decorated wall, but a collective breath, a mosaic of humanity that reminds us that we are a people on the way, not an institution that is not looking at the mirror. building to be kept, but a life to share is meat, voice, tears and hope. He dresses perfection, but love. and the son of God, making himself man, took our form: the humble and kneaded contradictions, like a crib that tells the fairy tale of one night, but the daily redemption of a people. This facade breathes a new air, it is because there are live stories behind every stone. And we want to continue walking with our people, with our city of Naples, with the Gospel in the hands and hope in the heart. Mirror of the dignity of each person “.