Street art, water and archaeology. Blub takes center stage at the MANN in Naples with Art Can Swim

The exhibition L’arte sa nuotare (Art Can Swim ) by street artist Blub, whose art consists of depicting the greatest icons of all time with a diving mask, opened May 29 at the MANN in Naples: from Botticelli ’s Venus to Andy Warhol, from Giuseppe Verdi to David Bowie, from Leonardo da Vinci to Marcello Mastroianni, from the Girl with a Pearl Earring to Totò there are many characters that, between reality and fiction, have been represented by Blub.

MANN Director Paolo Giulierini said, “Toward Thalassa, we could only meet Blub: while planning our major exhibition on underwater archaeology, we crossed paths in the streets of Naples with the distinctive mark of this mysterious artist, famous for his beautiful portraits of illustrious figures in diving masks. It happened last April when, in one night, Blub wanted to disseminate his paintings also in our city, always with respect and care, aiming at the redevelopment of degraded corners and giving, for example, new life to old metal doors. Her message won us over with its spontaneity and simplicity: #Lartesanuotare reads the hashtag she chose, and we add that ’for art one swims’, for example, toward the discovery and enhancement of the Mediterranean relics resurfaced from antiquity, the ones we will recount in our Thalassa exhibition next fall. And so, after being won over by an extraordinary marine Carlo Di Borbone, we asked Blub for a ’special’ production on the iconic works of the MANN. To all the fun of discovery in the room of the Plastic of Pompeii.”

Curated by artist Carla Bru and journalist Maria Paternostro, the exhibition will remain open until next Aug. 31: Blub creates a number of original works, which dialogue with the MANN artifacts, accompanying the visitor into an underwater dimension of blurred colors; trait d’union of the works is theprimordial element of water, which defines the suggestions of a never-before-seen Sappho, plays with an underwater version of Terentius Neo and his wife, and makes contemporary some masterpieces of ancient statuary (among them, bronze Apollo from the House of the Citarista; bronze Ephebus from Via dell’abbondanza; bronze bust of Artemis from the Temple of Apollo in Pompeii; marble bust of Jupiter Ammon; marble Venus Marina and Venus Lovatelli from Pompeii).

In this way, the Hall of the Plastique of Pompeii becomes a true immersive setting, in which the site-specific installation and the artist’s video, with a special sound effect created thanks to director Riccardo Sansone, allow the visitor to dive, literally, into an evocative dimension balanced between past and present.

“Although we may find ourselves in a sea of difficulties, in life we always have the resources to learn how to swim. Art is one of those resources,” Blub comments, “Water is my element. From water comes life; it is the hidden side of matter. When you are immersed, the moment stops and there is no weight, while thoughts flow in a suspended dimension. Therefore, I re-propose the characters who conveyed an example of greatness that can still survive today, right under the water, timelessly.”

For all information you can visit the official MANN website.

Pictured: blub, Terentius

Street art, water and archaeology. Blub takes center stage at the MANN in Naples with Art Can Swim

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.