Piazza Municipio finds no peace. Still hot with controversy under the ashes (literally) of Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Venus of Rags, and here comes a new show of criticism and mockery with Gaetano Pesce’s latest installation.
We are not at Heidegger’s ear or Michelangelo’s hand, but rather at their antipodes: Gaetano Pesce’s new work appears weak in aesthetics and coarse in execution, poor in concept and vision. The intentions of the artist, who passed away on April 3, 2024, seem lost, unrecognizable and distant from his story. Perhaps, this detachment is due to the fact that Gaetano Pesce could not personally follow the realization of the sketches for this installation, which he had been working on since 2022 and which was particularly close to his heart. The unintentional irony makes it a true ‘puffin,’ even though it is far from the distinctive vision of the world-renowned artist, architect, and designer. Making the work without Pesce’s input was like entrusting an Iron Maiden lyric to Elio e le Storie Tese: the result seems quite different from what was imagined. Family, curator and fabrication studio have been inundated with questions, but alas, the answers are not convincing.
The work, on display until Dec. 19, could not fail to cause discussion because of its allusive form. Like Pistoletto’s Venus, this Punchinello has already been met with criticism, but it has also caught curious and amused glances from tourists, who between a selfie and a joke did not miss the opportunity to immortalize the installation. Luca Bertozzi, Pesce’s collaborator, confirmed that the work was made faithfully following the instructions left by the artist, despite some remarks on the missing “buttons” and, of course, on the now famous “phallic profile” that has made the web go crazy.
“Tu si ‘na cosa grande,” unveiled in Piazza Municipio, immediately caught the public’s attention, sparking comments between sarcastic and amused. Curated by Silvana Annichiarico, the work, part of the Napoli Contemporanea project, is Pesce’s latest tribute to the city. Composed of two sculptures in dialogue, the installation fuses Neapolitan tradition with his unmistakable aesthetic: on one side a 12-meter-high metal cylinder, a stylized reinterpretation of Punchinello’s dress, and on the other a 5-meter red heart pierced by an arrow. The love for Naples that the work was meant to express? Visitors are not to blame if they cannot find it.
There was also no shortage of controversy over the cost: 225,381 euros for 71 days of exhibition. It seemed too much to some, but perhaps the original sin is that the work … cost too little! Pesce’s latest work would have deserved much more, not only in terms of budget, but also in terms of artistic care, attention to detail, and fidelity to the poetics of the creative mind, which has unfortunately disappeared.”
The article This time it wasn’t the usual puffin came from TheNewyorker.
