Pompeii@Mother: in Naples, the myth of Pompeii from the 18th century to the present day

Away at the MADRE museum in Naples, from November 19, 2017 to April 30, 2018, is the exhibition Pompeii@Madre, an exhibition project that aims to present to the public the relationship between the archaeological heritage from Pompeii and artistic research: the exhibition, curated by Massimo Osanna (director general of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii) and Andrea Viliani (director general of MADRE), in fact provides an unprecedented dialogue between extraordinary archaeological finds arriving from Pompeii, some of which are rarely exhibited, and works of modern and contemporary art. The exhibition also represents the occasion of a collaboration, also new and never before experienced, between the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and MADRE in Naples.

There are two sections into which the exhibition is divided: Pompeii@Mother. Archaeological Matter and Pompeii@Mother. Archaeological Matter : The Collections. The first, we read in the presentation of the exhibition, “is conceived and structured as a circular walk among works, artifacts, documents and tools related to the history of the various excavation campaigns in Pompeii-materials documenting the daily life of the ancient city ancient city and the role the arts and sciences played in it - compared with modern and contemporary works and documents,” which come from various Italian and foreign institutions, from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples to the Goethe House in Rome, from the National Museum of Capodimonte to the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

The itinerary aims to document the “rediscovery” of the myth of Pompeii since the 17th century (in the exhibition the works start precisely from the 18th century and reach the present day), with paintings, sculptures and installations by artists such as Andy Warhol, Friedrich OVerbeck, Robert Rauschenberg, Roberto Cuoghi, Luigi Ghirri, Le Corbusier, Fausto Melotti, Pierre-Jacques VOlaire, Betty Woodman, Mark Dion, Nan Goldin and documents on the activity of scholars, men of letters, and critics such as Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, and Madame de Staël. A total of ninety modern and contemporary artists and intellectuals are part of the project. The second section, on the other hand, aims to juxtapose artifacts and objects from Pompeii with the historical collections of MADRE, the museum of contemporary art in Naples. Thus, works by Daniel Buren, Domenico Bianchi, Francesco Clemente, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, Giulio Paolini, Sol LeWitt, Jeff Koons, Richard Serra, Rebecca Horn and others will dialogue with Pompeian archaeological finds.

The project, which also includes site-specific interventions by international artists, will see in 2018 the launch of a memorandum of understanding between MADRE and Pompeii Archaeological Park to establish a joint working method between Pompeii Park and the world’s leading contemporary art museums.

The exhibition can be visited during the museum’s opening hours: Monday through Saturday (except Tuesday, closing day) from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (ticket office closes one hour before). Admission: 8 euros full, 4 euros reduced. The museum can also be visited with the Campania ArteCard, but that’s not all: it is possible to purchase the new Pompei@Madre card, specially designed for the exhibition, which lasts two days from activation and includes a visit to the MADRE, a visit to the Park of Pompeii, the possibility of using regional transportation for both days of validity, as well as all the benefits of Campania ArteCard (it costs 22 euros full, 14 reduced for young people between 18 and 25 years old). Catalog published by Mondadori Electa (which is also a technical sponsor of the event). All information at www.madrenapoli.it.

Image: Andy Warhol, Vesuvius (1985; acrylic on canvas, 230 x 300 cm; Naples, Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte; Photo © Luciano Romano)

Pompeii@Mother: in Naples, the myth of Pompeii from the 18th century to the present day

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