Paper sculpting: the Art of cartapesta in NAPOLI

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The Neapolitan artisans who make crib figures are famous all over the world, but not all of us have had the surprise of coming across life-size figures. The characters of the Neapolitan theater like Eduardo De Filippo, overlooking a balcony in Via dei Tribunali and the famous soccer Diego Armando Maradona walking in the street; or ordinary people walking through the city: a beautiful woman walking through Piazza del Gesù, a man with an umbrella in the wind in Piazza San Domenico Maggiore.

These marvelous figures seem to be made of wood or even marble, but this is not the case because the material used by the craftsman who makes them with passion is papier-mâché: it can be very strong but also very lightweight. What is papier mâché or cartapesta? The Italian tradition of Cartapesta dates back to the late 1600’s. It had its origins in Naples with presepe (nativity) figures as well as the life-size models of saints made for Holy Week processions, lighter to carry than wooden statues. If you want to see these life-size figures you can go to Claudio Cuomo’s laboratory, one of the best Neapolitan artists. His masterpieces are exhibited in many art galleries, but you can also find them around the city.

“The technique is very simple – says Claudio Cuomo- I start with giving volume with the paper and some sheets soaked in the glue, then I work with my hands. It’s a job that you learn by doing it. I also learn from mistakes, which are part of the creative process “. And so he invented the child with the balloon, the colorful fish, revisited the classic horns to wish good luck to friends.

claudiocuomosculpturesdrawings

Tonia Limatola

My blog tonialimatola.wordpress.com/

 

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Tales about Naples:

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Old clothes become works of art for the project “Nuages – morbidi approdi”

Going around the Neapolitan markets is a fascinating experience. You will like the contact with the popular soul of the city and the colors of the most beautiful, those Poggioreale and Resin, where you can find everything. Mostly the precious vintage-style clothes and the old clothes and jeans.

In common they will have an explosion of colors and the typical embrace of  the sinuous and sensual fabrics, which under the expert hands of two Neapolitan artists take the form of beautiful paintings.

Don’t you believe it? It’s possible thanks to the long work experience of Fabio and Paolo Lastrucci in the field of sculpture for theater and television, an activity that has been the engine of their research into materials and techniques for working them. Thus in 2012 the project “Nuages – soft landings” was born, unique works in polyurethane foam and fabrics.

Their sculptural-painting inlays are a borderline between art, scenography, advertising and furnishing design from which they draw techniques, styles and suggestions. “An almost unlimited palette that using upholstery, old curtains, vintage clothes, recovers everything that is textile as a pre-existing and” worn-out “shape that lends itself to significant returns by designing new routes”, says Paolo Lastrucci. Their works are    present in the homes of various collectors in Italy, France, Spain, England, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Canada.

“The aesthetic references are nomadic and embrace a wide range of areas of visual communication, from painting to fashion, to advertising and comics, claiming a freedom of inspiration without constraints that echoes the bombardment of media images”, adds Fabio Lastrucci. In short, an eye turned to artists like Robert Kushner and another to the lesson of Pop Art to transform old clothes into true works of art.

  

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Tonia Limatola

My blog tonialimatola.wordpress.com

 

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Handmade books, covers are made with the sand of the places they tell

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Do you have your own collection of sand at home? Glass bottles filled here and there, to remind you of having been lying down in the heat once. Or keep dear in the bookshop “La collezione di sabbia” by Italo Calvino. Good. These are the prerequisites for entering the magical world of “ilfilodipartenope”   and meet Lina Marigliano and Alberto D’Angelo in via Costantinopoli, in Naples. Good. This year the project of these two artisan publishers is 15 years old. Books are precious objects, those who love reading know it well. But the little treasures that Lina and Alberto propose us steal the material from the earth.

Alberto & Lina

“Collection of sand”, for example, (the reference to Italo Calvino is shameless) collects texts on Italian coasts and seas (thirteen titles until now), with covers made with sand from the places to which the verses are inspired. It’s incredible, is not it? “We wanted to create a poetic geographic atlas, we wanted to tell the places through fragments of writing and covers of the matter of the places they tell,” explains Lina. Minor limited editions, small masterpieces.

“Books are born from books – Lina continues -We always read, ours is a continuous reading exercise. There are those who do it through the photos and who through the written word. The result is a continuous cultural growth. The result is beautiful, but for us the path through which the project develops is more interesting”. Their store is more like an art gallery than a bookshop.

Eighty projects in book form. From the first “Tufo” by Erri da Luca with an etching by Vittorio Avella, to the last “365 Il giorno del pane” with original photographs by Antonio Biasiucci and a novel by Stella Cervasio, in competition for the prestigious “Fedrigoni Top Award 2019”  www.fedrigonitopaward.com

And Lido Mappatella with a handmade paper cover kneading cotton fibers with sands and ragged pieces. The text is by Enza Silvestrini printed on straw paper and with a unique copy portrait made by Enrico Pulsoni.

Then, “CUM GRANO SALIS” with texts by Luigi Trucco from a literary tale extracted by Nico Orengo and with 7 serigraph plates by Vincenzo Rusciano.

Tonia Limatola

My blog tonialimatola.wordpress.com

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