Isgrò at Capodimonte until 29 September, Maria Lai at the Madre until 12 October, Jodice at San Gennaro, Colbert at Pompeii: hours, prices, when to go.
September is the month when the summer exhibitions in Naples close and the autumn ones haven't opened yet. This week the lights went out on OBEY at the Gallerie d'Italia and on Carlo Maria Mariani at Capodimonte, both of which ended on 6 September. Four are left that are worth the ticket, plus one you can put off without feeling guilty.
1. Emilio Isgrò, “Canto Napoli”, Capodimonte (until 29 September)
Isgrò is the artist of erasures: he takes a text and blacks out almost every word, leaving visible only the ones that count. For Capodimonte he worked on twenty-five scores of Neapolitan songs. The result is a kind of silent score that anyone who knows the songs can still sing. The Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte is open 8.30am-7.30pm, closed on Wednesdays; the exhibition is included in the museum ticket.
2. Maria Lai, “Essere è tessere”, Madre (until 12 October)
Sixty years' work by a Sardinian artist who used thread, fabric and sewn books to talk about memory and community. It's the most complete retrospective in town, at the Museo Madre, the contemporary art museum on via Settembrini, alongside two other exhibitions that close on 5 October: “Gli anni. Capitolo 3” and “Living Collapse”. Hours: 10am-7.30pm Monday to Saturday, until 8pm on Sundays, closed on Tuesdays. Tickets €8 full price, €4 reduced.
3. “Il colore di Mimmo Jodice”, Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro (until 10 January 2027)
Jodice is the photographer who told the story of Naples in black and white for half a century. This exhibition shows the other half of his archive, the colour half, inside the museum next to the Duomo. It's the one you can put off, but 19 September, the feast of San Gennaro, is the best day to go: you'll be there anyway.
4. Philip Colbert at Pompeii (until 30 November)
Colbert's pop lobsters, planted among the Roman houses of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. They divide opinion: some find them brilliant, others out of place. Either way the show is included in the ticket to the ruins, so forming your verdict costs nothing.
And in the evening: MANNight
It isn't an exhibition, but if you like looking at art without the crowds it beats most exhibitions. The National Archaeological Museum opens in the evening, 7pm-11.30pm, on Thu 17 September and then on 1, 8, 15 and 22 October; tickets €10. On Sat 26 September, for the European Heritage Days, it costs €1.
If you'd like to see art with someone who explains it, the Art section has guided tours of Capodimonte, the catacombs and the Cappella Sansevero, with places you can book.
- exhibitions
- art
- capodimonte
- madre
- san gennaro
- pompeii
Who wrote this
Gianluca Scanni
Founder @ Cose Fighe
