Naples, inaugurated the. FISH FISH. And there is controversy

Inaugurated yesterday in Naples, amidst controversy, the work Tu si ’na cosa grande, a public art installation conceived by Gaetano Pesce (La Spezia, 1939 - New York, 2024) for the Naples Contemporanea program, desired by Mayor Gaetano Manfredi and curated by Vincenzo Trione. The work, located in Piazza Municipio, is a personal and artistic tribute to the city and its roots, and in particular to the figure of Pulcinella. The work, composed of two sculptures, is Gaetano Pesce’s latest creation. One sculpture represents Punchinello’s suit, 12 meters high and lit from within, while the other is a 5-meter red heart pierced by a metal arrow. The heart symbolizes the artist’s affection for Naples, while Punchinello’s robe evokes the Neapolitan city’s irony, courage and capacity for change.

The installation, curated by Silvana Annicchiarico, reflects the central themes of Pesce’s work: the aesthetics of the imperfect, attention to the body, and the feminine as a creative force.The work is intended to summarize many of the central themes in Pesce’s work: the feminine, represented by thecolored dress that replaces the traditional white one, as a creative engine, the aesthetics of the imperfect and discarded, the use of contemporary materials, and attention to the human body not only in ergonomic terms, but also in sensory and emotional terms. The heart, a traditional symbol of lovers, is reinterpreted in the installation as a symbol of emotional attachment to a place, in this case Naples. Pulcinella, an iconic figure of the city, is represented through his shirt, a symbol of ingenuity, courage, and openness to change. In short, for Pesce it was meant to be a tribute to the city, an encounter between the personal and the collective, between history and contemporaneity.

However, the work has not failed to stir controversy: partly because it clashes with the context of the square, partly because of its unquestionable phallic shape (so much so that in Naples the work has already been renamed ... Pesce’s fish), and partly because of its cost(180,000 euros of which 160,000 euros were made available by the Campania Region through funds for the cultural promotion of municipalities). And of course, it did not fail to raise ironic comments. But also critical: among them, the remarks of former mayor Luigi De Magistris , who posted a long reflection on his Facebook profile: “Pesce’s work, in the way and where it was exhibited by the Manfredi administration has achieved one of its goals: that of unleashing the best of irony, humor and satire of Neapolitans. I haven’t laughed alone in quite some time. Better than they did I think was difficult. And I do not dispute the artistic merits first of Pistoletto and today of Pesce. I turn now to some less ironic but more bitter reflections. When I was mayor of Naples and it was the era of rebirth, removed the garbage, finally street art, culture, events, beautiful tourism, every initiative we wanted to do was an obstacle race. [...] Pistoletto and Pesce alone cost about ONE MILLION euros of Neapolitans’ money. During our tenure all works without a euro of public money, and indeed the private person who made installations paid for the occupation of public land and then the City collected. And so if you want to find beauty with the identity of Naples go and find Lello Esposito’s Pulcinella that we placed in 2012 in Vico Fico al Purgatorio, a side street of via Tribunali, near the late Michele Del Grosso’s Instabile theater, where we removed the garbage forever and with the culture and the Neapolitan people we placed the Pulcinella that today is one of the most beloved and photographed destinations. For free.”

The current first citizen, Gaetano Manfredi, of course defends the work, “Initially when I saw it I thought what others have thought as well. I think it is a thought that has reached everyone and it is a very Neapolitan thought. We should also take it as a good-luck thought, but the idea of the work is of a stylized representation of the relationship between Pulcinella and the hearts of Neapolitans. And then contemporary art has to make people discuss, the debate is a sign of a living city.”

For curator Annicchiarico, “to intervene on Punchinello’s iconography, to enhance the female part, to make it evolve, to make it available to take on new faces and new identities, as Gaetano Pesce has done, is not a desecration, but rather the consecration of his fluid and transformative spirit. Pulcinella enters into dialogue with a gigantic heart pierced by an arrow: not a sign of death or suffering, but and heart struck by Cupid, symbolizing love, passion and energy for a city at once chaotic, creative and deeply human. But it is also the feeling we should all always cultivate: love for art, history, and even what is different from us.”

According to the artist’s wishes, the work will remain in Naples after its initial display in Piazza Municipio (where it took the place of another much-discussed work, Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Venus of Rags in an extra-large version). Will the inhabitants accept this presence...? ?

Naples, inaugurated the. FISH FISH. And there is controversy

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