The Saint Gennaro of Jorit Agoch
Graffiti, stencils and murals decorate historic walls, old doors and abandoned buildings converted into houses for social projects. Every corner of Naples serves as a canvas to unleash the expressiveness of the artists , which exhibit their urban paintings inviting the imagination of passers-by.
Creativity transforms the city day after day, placing special emphasis on neighborhoods such as Quartieri Spagnoli or San Giovanni a Teduccio, which until a few years ago no one dared to enter. In this way, renowned artists such as Jorit Agoch have recovered areas, distancing them from urban and social conflicts to change their image and contribute to their prosperity.
Banksy's 'madonna' with a gun
banksy is another of the artists who has made his mark among altars integrated into the street furniture of Naples, in those that the neighbors venerate saints and idols alike . His popular Madonna with the Gun records the religious tradition so present in Neapolitan life, mixing it with the profane and linking the past with hope.
Between the frenetic noise of local activity, clothes hanging, motorcycles occupied by up to four passengers and all those characteristics that make Naples a unique city, we admire the most famous works. Those that increasingly attract a greater number of followers of this fleeting art to the city of Vesuvius.
THE HYPER-REALISTIC MURALS OF JORIT AGOCH
If there is a truly representative figure of Neapolitan street art, it is the local artist Jorit Agoch. Jorit has impregnated Naples with media art, drawing, or rather portraying, from well-known characters, such as Diego Maradona or Che Guevara, to other anonymous ones to whom he has given life and voice thanks to a hyperrealistic and vindictive painting.
His beginnings took place in the suburbs, with drawings that have varied over the years, to focus on the realistic representation of common faces to zoom messages.
'Ilaria Cucchi, sister of Stefano Cucchi', a work by Jorit Agoch in the Vomero neighborhood
It was during the exhibition of his works at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples , in the year 2011, where he really became known. Since then, he has not stopped filling the world with art.
His gigantic murals spread like wildfire, even occupying some of the modern buildings in the Financial district (Centro Direzionale di Napoli), as is the case with his recently completed Ferdinando.
Furthermore, Jorit has left social paintings of him in many countries. So much so that in July 2018 he was arrested in Bethlehem, along with two other artists, for support the liberation -through a portrait- of the Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi.
We enter your world hand in hand with San Gennaro, the saint of Naples who looks at infinity in Via Vicaria Vecchia. It is one of the works most photographed from the city and is located on the façade of one of the buildings in the central district of Forcella, next to the Church of San Giorgio and very close to the Cathedral of Naples, where the statue of the saint is located.
Immediately attract attention wall dimensions, 15 meters high. Likewise, the technique used to represent San Gennaro, inspired by the face of a worker, hypnotizes its color and verisimilitude.
The art of Jorti Agoch in the neighborhood of San Giovanni a Teduccio
The two glass jars in the right corner of the work allude to the blood of the saint's miracle. The Neapolitans are very superstitious, and believe that if the blood liquefies, everything will be fine; otherwise, natural catastrophes may soon loom, and they eye Vesuvius with suspicion.
In this and in the rest of Jorit's portraits we can notice two red stripes drawn on the cheeks of the images of him. Used as a sign of identity, they refer to African rituals in which those who have entered adulthood are welcomed into the tribe.
In the neighborhood of San Giovanni a Teduccio, it is Maradona who presides over one of the facades. The footballer hides messages in his eyes, which are visible when the sun reflects on them. On the adjoining facade, Jorit represented Being Human, a mural with the face of a child in the foreground that symbolizes the most innocent Neapolitan population.
The spectacular nature of the artist's works does not end here. Another hallmark of his portraits are, as we have already seen, the hidden messages that they contain: words as a signature, phrases that are hidden between the skin tones of his characters as a claim. All of them were collected by the photographer Vicenzo de Simone in the project The People of Naples . And it is that Jorit's art is steeped in symbolism, increasing the meaning and artistic value of his work.
Street paintings have transformed Naples
STREETS WITH A LOT OF ART IN NAPLES
In the historic center, specifically in Via Tribunali, urban art has taken over every corner to give it a new life . Cyop & Kaf, Arp or Diego Miedo are some of the authors who have named the walls of the old street.
At the end of Via Tribunali, in Piazza dei Gerolomini, awaits one of the most revered works: Madonna with a Gun. It is the only preserved work of Banksy in Italy, in which a pistol replaces the crown of the Virgin linking religion with the crime that the city has suffered.
Madonna with Gun has gone from being ephemeral to protect yourself with glass as part of the artistic heritage of Naples. They have also added a plaque indicating the authorship and that the work is guarded by the nearby Pizzeria Dal Presidente and by Agostino O Pazz, an antique dealer who runs the adjacent antique shop. Things that could only happen in Naples.
Two steps away, in Piazza Cardinale Sisto Riario Sforza, San Gennaro and Caravaggio are camouflaged among the locals. The former holds the 24 Ore newspaper, while the Caravaggio reads The New York Times and rests his foot on a ball . A work full of Neapolitan meaning that, under the title Possible Mission, created Roxy in The Box . The most curious of all is that it is located next to the Pio Monte della Misericordia Church, where Caravaggio painted the seven works of mercy. Once again, modern art meets classic.
Kisses are also famous Adriana Caccioppoli , templates of figures in a loving pose that the artist has pasted on the walls of the city, recreating beautiful feelings with simple gestures. They belong to the set of the work entitled We found the way back but most have been disappearing.
Ten minutes from the Museo metro stop, the former state hospital for the mentally ill now occupied by the student group Ex OPG Occupato, exhibits another famous graffiti. The artist BLU used the building to represent the despair that one day people lived here, using the window to transform it into a mouth and the wall into the arm of one of the four characters drawn.
The Merola de Ponticelli Park, also known as the Parque de los Murales, is another of the places that hosts large exhibitions by artists such as Zed1, CDO, Jorit, Rosk and Loste . And ptro of the essential canvases that graffiti lovers should explore is the Spanish Quarter.
The Quartieri Spagnoli they had their origin when, during the Bourbon rule, they welcomed the Spanish troops. For years, they were an area where few risked setting foot, despite being next to the busy and elegant Via Toledo.
Currently, they have been occupied by students, and in its streets you can sniff the most authentic Naples, that of the aroma of freshly baked pizzas intermingled with that of laundry detergent.
In addition to gentrification, the mutation of this area is due to artists such as Diego Fear, Roxy in the Box or Cyop & Kaf. The latter are the creators of most of the works, more than 200. They are two young people who, in 2009, began to decorate doors, shops, locks and buildings with surreal characters in all reds and blues, colors that reflect life daily life of the neighborhood in which they are found.
The number of paintings that dot the streets of Naples is as infinite as the imagination of their creators. The best way to immerse yourself in this world full of inspiration will be getting lost in the messy streets of the city.
Maradona, myth in the Quartieri Spagnoli