“I have no regrets, I would do all the aperitifs I had again”. In the bar area of the Gallery Hotel Art of Lungarno Collection, in the heart of Florence, Emanuele Napolitano, aka Druid, seduces customers with the written word, the key to accessing his aesthetics where the theater of memory merges with real life.
In the hotel in Vicolo dell’Oro 5, the creative dialogue between contemporary art, the Florentines and the hotel spaces takes place through Druid’s first solo exhibition in Florence entitled And still they don’t believe it, curated by Valentina Ciarallo and free entry. The title is freely taken from a famous song by The Smiths in the early 1980s.
The visual artist, Roman by birth, painter, video-maker and director presents an original project until 6 October, in the spaces of the Gallery Hotel Art, characterized by around twenty works plus a collection of over thirty plates of various sizes, and even small works scattered throughout the space alongside unpublished works, such as the series of paintings dedicated to the twelve signs of the zodiac. It is a horoscope in images where symbols and faces are reflected in a suggestive dualism of colors and shapes. Each painting is accompanied by a prediction about the individual’s destiny, expressly formulated by the artist. The illusion is that the position and movement of celestial bodies significantly influence one’s personality to the point of influencing one’s mood and meaning of the day.
“The idea of the exhibition – explains the curator Valentina Ciarallo – was born from the Gallery Hotel Art’s desire to hold two exhibitions a year. We try to always give a new proposal. In past exhibitions we have tried to give space to photographic language and artificial intelligence. With this project, however, we thought that the combination of words and images, characteristic of Emanuele, could dialogue with the spaces and guests of the hotel, with tourists and with the citizens of Florence. With the artist we built the exhibition starting from the idea of also exhibiting unpublished pieces, in particular the series dedicated to the zodiac. Therefore, acrylic paintings with images of the zodiac signs were created. Druid uses bright colors and a flat application that is very reminiscent of the post-impressionist Matisse and Cocteau. The incisive line recalls the unfinished, a sketchy drawing in progress. This of the zodiac signs is a rewriting of the horoscope that Emanuele himself has reworked and in which everyone can recognize themselves. The painting is immediate, easy to read and aesthetically attractive, the strong colors harmonize well with the context”.
And in fact all Druid’s works are scattered throughout the common spaces, inside the Library, in the Fusion Bar & Restaurant, in the breakfast room. In the latter the entire wall was covered with over thirty vintage ceramic plates, coming from various Florentine manufacturing houses such as Richard Ginori. The series of pottery with unusual shapes, which covers the entire wall, transforms the breakfast room into a familiar environment, similar to grandmother’s kitchen, in which the word was at the center of the hearth. Each bottom of the plate features an ironic phrase or drawing in full “Druid” style.
“Welcome home, filthy animal”. It’s still “It’s called Karma, it is pronounced ha ha ha”. Don’t worry, it’s Druid.
“The exhibition, which playfully accompanies customers but also passing visitors – continues Ciarallo – is the result of a careful study of interpersonal relationships, of the relationship between men and women, of the female universe. The predominant colours, red and blue, Druid’s favorite colours, the colors of arterial and venous blood, as well as a legacy of the school, such as the red-blue pencil used by the teacher to correct homework, mark a common thread that accompanies the whole exposure. Blue is also associated by the artist with the figures of French sailors, to whom he is very attached. Another distinctive symbol is the asterisk. A few quick strokes that become immediately recognisable.”
The sentences invite reading. “Don’t chase those who know where to find you” recommends one of the expressions that accompany the pencil illustrations. And finally, impossible not to notice “I have to take you there.” The most beautiful love phrase ever.
