Madre Museum presents the exhibition "The Years. Chapter 1"

The Years, curated by Eva Fabbris, initiates a dialogue between the Madre museum collection and significant public and private collections, primarily from the city of Naples. Through iconic works, the exhibition evokes key moments and artistic productions that took place in this region, narrating a collective story and celebrating shared memory.

For this first chapter, the museum features Carlo Alfano's work Delle distanze dalla rappresentazione (1968-1969), originally displayed in 1969 at Lucio Amelio’s Modern Art Agency gallery and acquired by the Madre collection with funding from the Campania Region in 2013. Also on display is Nord, Sud, Est, Ovest giocano a Shanghai by Luciano Fabro, conceived and presented in 1989 at the Capodimonte Museum, which now collaborates in this exhibition as a lender. The Archaeological Park of Pompeii also contributes with a photograph taken by Luisa Lambri at the Casa di Giulia Felice in 2020, part of the Pompeii Commitment project. Another highlight is a collection of photographs by Nan Goldin, taken between Naples and the Sorrento coast from 1986 to 1996, with three of these works on loan from the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art. Through these collaborations, the Madre reinforces its pivotal role in promoting research and fostering partnerships within a distinguished inter-institutional network.

Equally significant is the focus on private collections and galleries in Naples, which have profoundly contributed to the presence of artists in the region and the creation of internationally acclaimed works.

The title of the exhibition is inspired by the renowned novel by Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize laureate for literature in 2022. In her book, the depiction of photographs and personal memories transforms into an autobiographical fresco and a collective, historiographical chronicle. In Les Années, Ernaux reflects on how private images and memories are destined to vanish in the flow of history. This exhibition proposes considering works of art as an antidote to the process of forgetting described by the author. The disappearance of images evoked in the poetic opening pages of her book served as a starting point for developing the exhibition's logo, created by the graphic design studio Left Loft.

The exhibition narrative, structured in moments and episodes, follows a non-chronological format to reflect the fluid nature of human memory. This approach offers the audience a dynamic vision characterized by leaps and connections. To emphasize the ongoing research underpinning The Years, additional exhibition rooms and artworks will be integrated after the opening, with subsequent chapters to follow this first installment.

The exhibition is accessible with the Campania>artecard pass.