Do you all know the famous street artist Banksy, famous and mysterious, as no one knows his identity? Well, in these last days of 2024 and until 4 May 2025, an exhibition dedicated to the Bristol artist is underway in Naples at the Arena Flegrea, full of reproductions of his murals and traditional paintings, so to speak.
The exhibition is titled The World of Banksy. The Immersive Experience and has already been set up in over 10 countries. The organizers also declare that the exhibition is 100% unauthorized, in homage to Banksy's statement that "copyright is for losers", which is why the artist was not involved in its organization at all.
Let's read this text contained in one of the posters at the beginning of the exhibition:
Nobody knows who Banksy is, yet everyone knows his name. He is probably the most famous and mysterious graffiti artist this world has ever seen. Some consider him a prankster while others see him as an artistic genius. From Bristol to Barcelona, Sydney to San Francisco, one thing everyone agrees on is that its popularity cannot be denied. In 2010, Time magazine selected the British artist for its list of the hundred most influential people in the world, along with Barack Obama, Steve Jobs and Lady Gaga. Millions of people know him and his works sell for millions.
Let us then see a selection of images taken in the exhibition, with the English titles of the works, the meaning of which can be grasped with a careful look at the details, beyond the language; however, more or less complete catalogs can be found online with detailed explanations of the individual works:
A few words about the structure that hosts the exhibition, which can be accessed by car with our badge from Viale Kennedy 54:
The Arena Flegrea represents, with its 5,500 seats, the largest Arena in Southern Italy. It is the first and last work of the architect Giulio De Luca, who at a very young age built, from 1938 to 1940, the largest building of the First Triennial Exhibition of Italian Overseas Lands: an open-air arena inspired by Greco-Roman theaters and designed to host shows, concerts and mass gatherings.
The Arena was inaugurated as the summer venue of the San Carlo Theater only in 1952, years after its design due to World War II. The first show was Giuseppe Verdi's Aida, which opened a cycle of highly prestigious opera performances. Some important jazz concerts were held during the National Festival of Unità in 1976, with artists such as Max Roach and Don Cherry. Closed to the public in 1980, it was rebuilt starting in 1990 by De Luca himself, reopening its doors in 2001 with simplified and updated shapes and styles. Since its reopening, the structure has hosted international artists such as Bob Dylan, Sting, Andrea Bocelli and many others.
As regards the needs of those traveling in wheelchairs, in the photo below you can see on the left the access ramp to the exhibition, passing through a rich bookshop; In the square there are four parking spaces reserved for disabled people:
UNTIL NEXT TIME!!
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