"Napoli metafisica", the work of Mimmo Jodice in dialogue with de Chirico

The surreal that transpires from reality, from the way of observing that transcends the moment, immediacy and the everyday, drawing universality from them: Mimmo Jodice's gaze confronts that of Giorgio de Chirico, in a natural dialogue, in that same metaphysical universe that seems to be reflected between the photographer's images of Naples and the painter's works.

"Mimmo Jodice. Napoli metafisica" is the title of the exhibition hosted (until 1 September) between the Palatine Chapel, the Chapel of the Anime del Purgatorio and the Armoury of Castel Nuovo in Naples, promoted by the City of Naples, in collaboration with Studio Mimmo Jodice and Fondazione Giorgio e Isa de Chirico: a journey through fifty-six views (including five previously unpublished ones) of the city, created by an artist born in the Neapolitan capital, which he never wanted to leave, managing to photograph and describe it in an unprecedented and profound way. And in this exhibition, curated by Vincenzo Trione and which is part of the project "Contemporary Naples 2025", the images - as we were saying - are put in relation with some paintings by Giorgio de Chirico (such as "Metaphysical Interior with Workshop and View of the Piazza"), in a sort of mirror, of conversation, between a metaphysics and a surreal and concrete language at the same time, which characterises the poetics of both.

The peculiar angles, diagonals, statues, architecture and monuments, with the past reflected in a modernism whose decadence, the loneliness of man and society is grasped: a precise trait that goes beyond the documentary aspect to make the object of the portrait speak, with rare power. An aspect that connotes the black and white of Jodice's works, as well as the colour and disruptive force of De Chirico's. As in a whole: the places change, but the essence of the interpretation, of the gaze, seems to transcend time and the means used, merging into a single art. Thus, the vintage photographs - printed directly by the author - follow one another through the rooms of Castel Nuovo, through eight chapters "inspired by some archetypes of the metaphysical imagination" ("Apparitions", "Void", "From afar", "Monuments", "Statues", "Arches", "Columns", "Shadows"), bringing out "Jodice the spiritual artist": a vision that is also emphasised in the documentary that Mario Martone dedicated to the Neapolitan photographer ("A portrait in motion. Homage to Mimmo Jodice"), and in the unpublished poem "For Mimmo Jodice" signed by Valerio Magrelli, works included in the same exhibition.

A spiritual vision of a city, therefore, captured not - as mentioned - in actuality, but in a sort of transcending of space and time, in a dilated moment, in an image of silence. A metaphysical image, in fact, that manages to communicate, to transfer a sensation, in a different form, its own, becoming universal.

"Mimmo Jodice. Napoli metafisica", curated by Vincenzo Trione, Castel Nuovo, Naples, until 1 September 2025