statement

Statement

Naples is often portrayed with stereotypes that simplify its multi-faceted nature and prevent newcomers from perceiving the complexity of this city. For this reason, and in line with the identity and interest of those who experience it daily, we depict and convey a contemporary, innovative, continuously evolving Naples. A city which is tied to a strong and clear identity that all its inhabitants feel strongly about, but nonetheless remains constantly perched between tradition and evolution, an “open-air” museum of the real and immaterial which speaks a popular language to relate to the contemporary age. A city which, even when its beauty turns it into a leading tourist attraction, never yields to becoming a glossy postcard, but stays true to itself and to its thousand contradictions.
And therefore, through cultural activities, events and its receptive structure, SuperOtium offers new points of view and perspectives to admire Naples and its surroundings, and to stimulate the possibility of building new meanings around what we observe every day. The context is the journey, which gives us a chance to observe things from different angles, to make new experiences and encounter new cultures. The tool is the encounter between individuals, a steadfast exchange and dialogue between travelers, artists, curators and creative talents in residence, local artists, curators and creative talents, and the museums and independent bodies and organizations working with culture and creativity which share this vision.
residency-program

Residency program


The program of art residencies at SuperOtium was conceived to support Naples’ natural inclination to be a place of inspiration for new creative and artistic projects. Our interest lies in making these views hybrid, acting as a link between different points of view to create new tales of the city.
The residency theme is the point of view and how artistic and creative practices can act upon it. The context is the journey and the condition by which, as we exit our daily lives, we open up to the discovery of whatever is different or simply unknown.
Our program for artists and creative talents is articulated into several calls found below. The calls are periodically updated as we establish new partnerships and objectives. Some calls focus on research and others on production.

We ask all artists and creatives in residence to interact with the city trying to observe it from unusual points of view and to speak with our guests to discuss their work and their views on the city or to leaving a trace of their passage with, for instance, a work on consignment. Throughout their stay the SuperOtium team commits to providing them with different keys to access the city and aids them in their search for encounters, places, information and suppliers and anything else they may need to develop their research project.
GET A LOOK AT THIS PDF
events

Events

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artists

Artists in residence

HyperEden

The first residency at SuperOtium welcomed Hypereden, a collective of architects, designers and installation designers who curated the interior design project for SuperOtium. A refurbishing project with a strong focus on detail and on the recovery of its nature and surroundings which made SuperOtium into a perfect place to combine traditional hospitality with events, exhibitions, dinners with artists, workshops, and more. The interior decoration, conceived and executed by Hypereden, sought to find a mediation between the the feeling of being elsewhere and the search for the familiar, which is the typical connotation of the traveler. Its goal is therefore to offer a type of hospitality capable of creating a sense of belonging but at the same time turning the stay into an emotional and personal experience.

Gianluca Panareo

As a cultural partner of the project Aperture designed by Riot Studio and Tecnosistem with the aim of inviting contemporary artists to reinterpret the city’s bond with historical and culturally significant locations, SuperOtium hosted Gianluca Panareo as an in-residence guest. Panareo is the author of the performative installation “Memini” curated by Marco Izzolino, and his residency coincided with SuperOtium’s inauguration. By working closely with the artist, the curator, and Riot, we were able to experiment our residency format and explore how we could create a dialogue between it and Naples. “Memini” is structured as a path, a Dantesque ascent through the characteristic aspects of the city, from the darkest and most infernal to the most sublime and enlightened. An investigation centered on the city, on its intrinsic characteristics that make this city unique, alive, volcanic, resistant to gentrification and depersonalization.

Kensuke Koike

Part of SuperOtium’s art residencies program, in collaboration with Ciocca Arte Contemporanea and in conjunction with the new call for art residencies, Kensuke Koike will be our guest from May 2 to 14, 2018. Kensuke is a Japanese artist who uses the analogical and visually illusive re-elaboration of images taken from postcards, photos, magazines to induce the observer to question his sense of reality. Kensuke uses paper to create sculptures which disregard the sense of the third dimension undermining the stability of the observer’s visual imagination. By means of a meticulous and highly accurate process, he transforms real images by cutting them into pieces and repositioning them in a plausible design within the same image to imbue it with new meanings.
The choice of inviting Kensuke in residency is based on the strong coherence between his work and the theme underlying the residency calls to be launched in mid-May, which will be focused on the exploration of the point of view. The idea is to lead artists and guests to reflect upon the possible new perspectives from and through which Naples can be observed.
artworks

Artworks

Our home gallery is enriched with every encounter, residency and collaboration with works on consignment or for viewing. The common denominator between all the selected works is the attempt to stimulate the observer to search for new perspectives from which to contemplate Naples and more.

Memini

Author: Gianluca Panareo

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The five photographs constitute the final – but not conclusive – act of an artistic research experience that took place in Naples during the first half of 2017. It was a project, titled MEMINI, conceived by the artist Gianluca Panareo, which was part of the first pilot and experimental act of an artistic event called APERTURE. This event, designed by Riot Studio in Naples, has been designed to trace unpublished paths in the city of Naples through the eyes of artists and their peaceful invasion of historical (or culturally significant) spaces with site-specific interventions able to attract citizens and visitors for visit them with “new eyes”.
To know more: aperture.riotstudio.it
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Portable ground

Author: Simona Da Pozzo

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photography, Mis UT7 carbon print on Hahnemuhle Pearl 320g paper mounted on aluminum |edition 1/5 | dimensions: 75×120 cm.
Pau> Paris > Milan is part of Portable Grounds project that Simona Da Pozzo runs since 2009. She shifts pieces of ground from a place to an other to build Ubiquity Access Points: little portions of somewhere else, spots enabling passers-by to be in different places at the same time. The passers-by are called to interact with the Portable Ground during its displacements: the artist ask people to help her caring the Portable Ground and sharing the “weight of belongin”, thus opens reflections on issues, such as feeling foreign, the concept of frontier and citizenship. A transparent container shows the composition of the ground (asphalt) and the coordinates of its original location, allowing for a constant re-contextualization of the object and reinterpretation.
Pau>Paris>Milan is a pic realized in the frame of this intervention and outlines the contrast between soil, as a here and now, and horizon as weltanschauung.
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Little Gatekeeper

Author: Kensuke Koike

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Little Gatekeeper – 2013 – switched vintage photo – 11.5 x 7 cm – ©Kensuke Koike
Little gatekeeper (small gate guardian) portrays a child who practices the art of the guardian of a dimensional door. The work is born from the idea of a world where there are various dimensional doors for other worlds guarded by as many guardians who help to pass them. This work expresses clearly and ironically Kensuke’s thought – “When you have an image you have all of them” – where the doors allow you to move from an image to its infinite transformations. In the work of this work, respecting the rule to include only elements already present in the image with analogue cut and paste, Kensuke has sought the way out of the rectangle thus creating the circular element that escaping from the image can include the vacuum in full.
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Un Maiale e un Elefante

Author: Isotta Bellomunno

A pig and an elephant – 100 numbered and signed copies
“A pig and an elephant” is a collection of dreams, stories and personal thoughts. Sixty brightly colored tables that do not need words so that everyone can rediscover themselves in one of the characters, recognizing in their actions, their own story, their own life. Stories made of aggression, complex relationships, and communication difficulties, but at the end, they always have a happy ending.

Masquerade

Author: Kensuke Koike

Masquerade – 2014 – switched vintage photo – 13.5 x 8.5 cm
Masquerade (masked) constructs a mask that covers the face of the person portrayed in the image. This mask not only hides the face but alters the physiognomy of the person completely. Behind the photo, however, there are traces of its true identity as the mask is created by cutting and reversing the front and back of a portion of the image. A transformation that, by hiding a part of the body, makes a “normal” person “strange”. Through the geometric research, the perspective and the shadows the normal physiognomy of the people is hidden. A partial censorship, such as that practiced by mass media communication, that manages to transform the perception of reality ..
artists

activities

Activities

Discover our activities designed to discover Naples through its sites, itineraries, activities, and through the eyes of the locals who experience it every day and will make your journey truly special

The Insider Path

The Insider Path

A cura di: In Side Here

The Insider Path is a journey “adrift”, designed while keeping in mind the needs, curiosities and interests of the visitor, never following a fixed itinerary – only vague points of reference. The itinerary takes shape along the way and becomes a special way of getting acquainted with the city. “Tell me what you like and I’ll lead you”, this is the philosophy behind the walk which will guide visitors through the discovery of places dear to those who inhabit and study the city. Art galleries and studios; clubs and hidden museums; ethnic restaurants; fast food places, and untraditional traditions are just some of the input you can use to start discovering a Naples you didn’t think existed. For information and booking project@superotium.it.

Artistic Paths

Artistic Paths

A cura di: In Side Here

Artistic Paths are itineraries resulting from the longstanding project Nomicosecittà, which for the past four years has guided numerous groups of people on the discovery of the city of Naples through a privileged perspective – the perspective of several artists who have chosen to live and work here. The material and work collected through the years allowed us to build a series of itineraries that lead the visitor to unusual locations throughout the city, all related to the life and imagination of the various important artists who operate in it. For information and booking project@superotium.it.

Itinerario Food&Art

Itinerario Food&Art

A cura di: In Side Here

Food is one of the most immediate representations of a population’s culture. A community’s culinary habits are a cultural product just as much as its artistic heritage. Visiting a monument savoring typical products is one of the most effective and fascinating ways to explore a city. With this purpose Food&Art was born, an itinerary which emphasizes our culinary and artistic heritage. The itinerary was designed to associate every monument visited in a specific area to a tasty typical local dish. For information and booking project@superotium.it.

Your own souvenir

Your own souvenir

A cura di: SMMAVE

In the fantastic setting of SMMAVE, a center for contemporary art located inside the church of Santa Maria della Misericordia ai Vergini (from 1730 – with an underground area dating back to 1530), SMMAVE’s artists will host a sculpture workshop. After a visit inside the church, its underground, and a brief theoretical introduction, participants will be invited to create their own souvenir. Each group will work on a customized theme. For information and booking project@superotium.it.

Cooking class

Cooking class

A cura di: Gusto Sano Napoletano

Gusto Sano Napoletano invites us into their home, in the characteristic area of Montesanto, to discover countless new flavors. By means of cooking classes, guests will learn to combine recipes from the local tradition to obtain the perfect balance between nutrients and prepare healthy but above all tasty dishes. The class will end with a group dinner. For information and booking project@superotium.it.