Last year, the opening of the annual contemporary art program promoted by the Municipality was marked by a debate only partly cultural: half the world talked about the phallic shape of Gaetano Pesce's Pulcinella installed at Piazza Municipio. This year, it will be all about art: partly because the site-specific exhibition 'Elysian Fields' is signed by Jim Dine, one of the great names of the contemporary scene and a neo-dada prophet, and partly because it will be less exposed as it is held indoors, in some rooms of the Maschio Angioino, from today until February 10, 2026. Born in Cincinnati in 1935, Dine made his mark in pop art alongside Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Oldenburg, with his works present in the most prestigious collections, from MoMA in New York to the Tate in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris; he appeared at the exhibition's presentation in great shape, despite his 90 springs. 'I am in Naples thanks to Vincenzo Trione,' he said, referring to the consultant of Mayor Gaetano Manfredi who is designing the 'Napoli contemporanea' program. The city? 'It resembles my bed in the evening, before going to sleep: covered with all sorts of objects, papers, drawings, pens, and clothes, before I can rest, I have to work a bit.' Peace in Gaza? 'Art should not deal with politics or current affairs: they are horrible things.' More important for him is to introduce the exhibition based, like much of his art, on the emotional interrogation of the past and the fascination with classicism. Thus, the castle's rooms are proposed as stages of a treasure hunt. The main station is the Palatine Hall where one is overwhelmed by 23 large plaster casts representing enormous faces disfigured or fragmented like parts of ancient statues unearthed from excavations, arranged like an atelier: the image recalls that of the 'monster' parks of Bomarzo and Bagaria. 'The plaster heads were made in my studio in St. Gallen, Switzerland, over the past three years. They are portraits I invented or dreamed of, coming from history and the ancient world. There are also lost friends and fragments of my life years ago in the Vermont woods. Plaster is my favorite material for how it feels in my hands,' Dine said. Added to these is 'The gate where Venus sleeps,' a bronze and steel door leading to the apse area, exhibited for the first time, in the chapel which also hosts Renaissance sculptures, including the Madonnas with Child by Francesco Laurana and Domenico Gagini, exhibited after years and now enhanced 'in relation' to the works of the American artist, indeed in 'dialogue' as is now too often said when there is not much to say. For once, the concept of dialogue between ancient and modern is not just a saying: this is shown by the works 'Venus and Neptune' and 'Big lady on a Beaver's stump' placed in the Armory Hall, today characterized by the presence of archaeological excavations visible through a glass floor, revealing Roman structures, a late antique marble basin, and an early medieval necropolis: the sight of Dine's works blending with the archaeological remains is hypnotic. The play between eras and genres continues in other rooms: in the small chapel of the souls of Purgatory, decorated with baroque stuccos and mannerist school paintings, a gigantic amphora, 'Flowers,' is exhibited, which Dine has covered with concretions, as if it had been found in the depths of the sea; the path concludes with two copies of the series 'Small bird with tool' and the recording of a poem recited by Dine himself. 'In a labyrinthine setup, the artist gives voice to the fascination for antiquity, thought of as a distant fairy tale, to be questioned, reinhabited, and profaned. From this idea arise sculptures that resemble ruins fished from the marine abysses,' said Trione. Also present at the inauguration was Manfredi: 'Dine's works are a message to the international audience about the millennial soul of Naples, the relationship with archaeology underlines our identity.

Il Mattino

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