Last October, the third meeting of School ARt Gallery partners took us to the city of Naples. And how can you leave this city without loving Naples?
Here, art and life are intertwined, part of each other. And the best way to experience them, life and art, is through our ability to embrace the unknown, to harness imagination and creativity.
Naples, from a metaphorical point of view, is this unknown and constant surprise. A true chaotic beauty that brings a smile to your face at every turn. Where you can see an accumulation of times and styles.
In such a globally standardized world, this city stands out for being unique, for being real, for being genuinely “local”, almost like that childhood neighbourhood, with the same old neighbours, the same old friends, the connections that don't fade with time.
Neapolitan streets are full of life and vibrancy. You can feel passion in every “pore” of the city. And all this mix, between the sacred and the more profane, manifests itself on the walls of every street and every corner.
Graffiti and urban art also reflect this unique identity, deeply rooted in the culture and history of the city of Naples. As one of Italy's oldest and most vibrant cities, it has always been a meeting point for various artistic and cultural influences. And the art we find on the streets reflects this diversity, offering a fascinating visual panorama that combines tradition, politics, rebellion and innovation.
From the point of view of graffiti in its purest essence, we find the most diverse and eclectic styles. And all the spontaneity of illegal graffiti that we can find on the streets, dialogues with more institutionalized or simply 'embraced' urban art interventions that will always show a strong connection to religion, sport, social contestation and resistance, alone or all together!
For lovers of urban art or the merely curious, here are two places we recommend as must-sees:
Quartieri Spagnoli: an emblematic district of the city, marked by social problems and urban density, but where at every corner you'll find countless altars and murals paying homage to the city's 53rd patron saint and 'god': Maradona. It's here that you'll find some of the city's most vibrant murals, including the one by Argentine artist Bosoletti, “Iside”.
Sanitá: it's a city within a city. It is one of the most evocative places in Naples, where contrasts, colors, art, music, history coexist, where life and death have coexisted over the centuries and where, in recent years, the desire for rebirth has given the courage to change reality and the strength for a new life. This is where you'll find some of the most vibrant interventions in all of Naples. And where you can see that urban art has been used as a tool for the social and cultural transformation of the neighborhood itself.
There is a third place we recommend you take a closer look at, Spaccanapoli, which, being the historic center of the city and the most touristic area, is full of interventions in endless formats and where you can even find a Banksy piece which, as has become the norm worldwide, is already “fortified” by acrylic in order to protect it from everything that surrounds the public space.
We could talk for hours and show you everything we've discovered in Naples, but it's always best to go there!