253. Contemporary Neapolitan Art @ Madre

After all that death and destruction and dark underground magic mumbo-jumbo, it is time to rise to the surface and seek out some contemporary Neapolitan art … and in the historical heart of Naples is the Madre - museo d’arte contemporanea Donnaregina. Occupying three floors of the 19th-century Palazzo Donnaregina ( from which the Museum takes its name ). 

Like all the surrounding area, the building owes its name to the Monastery of Santa Maria Donnaregina ( founded by the Swabian order in the 13th century - and then expanded in the 14^th century by Queen Mary of Hungary, wife to Charles II of Anjou ).

The building was purchased in early 2005 by the Campania Regional Council to be turned into a contemporary art museum and was leased free of charge for use by the Donnaregina Foundation. The building was restored and refurbished as a museum to a design by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Veira.

On June 10, 2005 the Madre inaugurated its spaces with the opening of site-specific installations in the rooms on the first floor; between 2005 and 2006 the whole building was completed, and the rooms on the second floor were opened to the public. These rooms host part of a permanent collection ( which unfortunately cannot be photographed ), while the rooms on the third floor are used for temporary exhibitions ( which should not have been photographed, but as there were no guards to be seen, I clicked away to record my visit ).

The current exhibition is of a series of works by American artist Wade Guyton – ( the gallery describe him as a post-conceptual artist ) – and his works for this "untitled" show are digital paintings on canvas using scanners and digital inkjet technology. Not every body’s 'cuppa' – but curated in this great white minimalist space, I found the works enjoyable and the gallery visit quite refreshing ...

Then, wandering about and a bit "whited out", I came across a mysterious closed door marked Terrazzo ( terrace ) and as there were no guards around, quietly opened it, slipped through and followed the steps upwards into the daylight ...

... and came out on the roof-top terrace ... 

with an interesting view of the crater of Vesuvius over the tiled roof-tops ...

 

 ... once back down in the Gallery - I did some photographic artworks of my own - through the windows to the outside world ... and some might say - slightly more interesting than-that-what-is-hangin' on the walls ...

 

 

 

The permanent collection had several interesting pieces, particularly 3D works - and included  this interesting installation ... but as the guards with their "no-photography-thank-you-signore-policy"  followed close on my heels as I moved around the chambers, I had only one brief space in which I could record this one piece ( and then not enough time to record the artist before the guard looked up from checking his smart phone - my apologies to the artist ) ...

 

... then - having spend the pasty hour or so by myself in the Museum - it was down the steps and out into the narrow laneways packed with noisy tourists ...