Contemporary art at Sansevero Chapel: Darren Almond's rags among ancient marbles

Naples welcomes British artist Darren Almond (Wigan, 1971) with a double exhibition interweaving art and history in the heart of the city’s ancient center. The solo show Rags is hosted in the striking Sansevero Chapel, famous for Giuseppe Sammartino’s Veiled Christ, starting Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. At the same time, the artist will also be featured in the exhibition “Songbirds and Willows” at the Alfonso Artiaco Gallery, a short walk from the Chapel, in Piazzetta Nilo. This double exhibition allows the public to explore Almond’s latest research through an artistic journey that blends photography, sculpture, painting and video.

The exhibition Rags in the Sansevero Chapel stems from a unique experience of Almond’s: photographs taken in the London studio of Lucian Freud, one of the greatest painters of the 20th century. The shots focus on an unusual but meaningful element: the dirty cloths of color used daily by Freud during the creative process. “I found myself in Lucian’s studio scrutinizing the folds and shapes of the accumulated rags with which he had cleaned his brushes for the last time, details that I photographed and enlarged, producing sweeping mental landscapes,” Almond says. “But that was not enough, I felt there had to be an awakening of consciousness, in the same way that the veil of Sanmartino’s sculpture can activate inner narratives. I also applied a kind of shroud, spreading a veil of paint and color over the canvases of rags.”

These “rags,” which give the exhibition its name (in English, rags), become textural landscapes under Almond’s lens. The streaks of color, dried residue and stiff folds of the fabrics evoke a plastic and sculptural energy that the artist amplifies through painterly interventions, transforming them into large-scale works.

Among the marbles of the Sansevero Chapel, Almond’s works dialogue with the Baroque masterpieces that make it unique in the world. The soft and delicate folds of the marble veils of the Veiled Christ and the Modesty, or the colorful draperies of the perspective vault, find a fascinating resonance in Almond’s paintings, creating a game of cross-references that invites the viewer to immerse himself in the material and the space.

Rags intends to envelop visitors in a journey that stimulates the senses and imagination, leading them to reflect on the relationship between matter, creative gesture and art history. The space of the nave becomes a place where past and present meet, between formal harmonies and conceptual suggestions.

Access to the exhibition is included in the Sansevero Chapel Museum entrance fee, with reservations required.

Alongside Rags, Galleria Alfonso Artiaco is hosting the exhibition Songbirds and Willows, which completes Almond’s visual narrative with new works. The proximity between the two exhibition spaces creates a unique itinerary in the heart of Naples, allowing the public to enjoy a complete and immersive artistic experience.

Darren Almond: a career across languages and media

Born in Wigan, England, in 1971, Darren Almond works in a variety of media, including photography, sculpture, painting, and video. A finalist for the Turner Prize in 2005, Almond has exhibited in prestigious international spaces, such as Tate Britain, Museum Folkwang, and Kunsthaus Graz. His works investigate time, memory and landscape, interweaving personal and collective narratives.

His solo exhibitions include those at SITE Santa Fe, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire and MUDAM Luxembourg, while his group participations include the Venice Biennale, the Berlin Biennale and the Triennial Tate in London.

Contemporary art at Sansevero Chapel: Darren Almond's rags among ancient marbles

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