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“A dialogue between tradition and contemporary art, artist Lello Esposito’s iconic pictorial and sculptural works, often revolving around the Pulcinella, a famed character from classic Italian theatre, are the centrepiece of the curated Ashfields Experience in Italy, celebrating his art in the context of its origin and inspiration in Naples.”

“I wanted the sculptures and paintings that I have created over the years to be containers of the roots and traditions, that starting from the innermost recesses and the roots of Naples, became universal, but always remained recognizable.”

How does your Neapolitan identity inform your artistic practice, particularly in relation to exploring themes of identity and origins?

My being is strongly linked to the identity of my city, and it has totally formed all my artistic exploration. An exploration that has been based on signs and symbols, that in one way or another have absorbed from the roots of my city and represented in new forms.

Could you share with us how you got started as an artist back in the 1970s, and how your work has evolved since then?

My work began in the 70s when I was a boy thanks to an encounter with one of the masks of the commedia dell’arte – that of Pulcinella, a mask from around the 1600’s. With its dialect it strongly represented a regional identity and characterized the territory. I started from the street and created my first puppet with the appearance of the Pulcinella when was about 16 years old. And this started my journey in search of my personal artistic path alongside this new travel companion.

How has Naples cultural identity evolved over the course of your career, and how has this influenced your art?

There is no doubt that the long journey of Pulcinella has somehow also marked an evolution of the city itself. Despite having a great history, the signs and symbols of tradition and a history across centuries were something very local. But at some point, they evolved, becoming recognizable to everyone and starting to have many new artistic representations, from works of art to souvenirs. They started traveling the world.

How has your art been received both in Italy and abroad, and have you noticed any differences in how it is perceived in different cultural contexts?

In this journey that began mainly with the figure of Pulcinella - who for me had become a universal container which behind the mask collected every emotion, I began to welcome people from all over the world to my studio and to travel and work abroad. All this was very important [in allowing me] to open my mind and grow, because comparison and diversity are always opportunities for growth.

I always say that behind the mask of Pulcinella there is the world. I wanted the sculptures and paintings that I have created over the years to be containers of the roots and traditions, that starting from the innermost recesses and the roots of Naples, became universal but always remained recognizable.

What role does materiality play in your art, and how do you decide which materials to use in a given piece?

I have worked with many materials starting with clay, the idea of creating with the earth is always very exciting, it is the closest there is to the idea of life. From there began my journey to experiment with plaster, bronze, wax and then to all the less traditional materials widely used by contemporary artists such as aluminum, resins and marble powder. Everything can be used, and I am always enriched by experimentation with different materials, individual works or installations. The choice of material for me is endless and goes as far as new technologies and the use of video and lights.

You have worked with a range of mediums in your career, from sculpture to installation art. How do you approach each medium, and can you give an example of a piece that challenged you in a particular way?

Creation is always a challenge. The challenge also lies in imagining that a work can be eternal. Thinking of bronze for example, takes us back over the centuries to archeology. Today, art is also something different, immediate and fast: a temporary installation, scenography or an illuminated work of art. It is always a challenge for an artist who has the task of transmitting an emotion. Even if a work is not always immediately understood or perceived as beautiful, it must at least make you reflect, just as the artist reflects before creating it.

Your work often explores the tension between tradition and contemporary art. How do you navigate this? have always defined myself as a cult artist because have always represented the tradition that belongs to the strong identity of my land. The challenge set for myself was always to answer the question “How can you change something that has always existed? And how can you make something traditional, contemporary?”

In my paintings or sculptures there is my DNA as an artist through the research of materials and the choice of representation and size; that is the sign that makes it recognizable. There is the “skin” of the work that in my case is even more recognizable (often without even signing my works) because I paint and model with my hands.

How does context shape the way your art is experienced, whether it is exhibited in museums or public spaces?

Very often, when one of my works is created it is not already destined to be in a precise place or space. Everything is generated in the depths of the city in the studio situated in the stables of Palazzo Sansevero. This is a large space submerged below one of the most significant historic buildings in Naples. Here breathe the air of 3,000 years of history, I perceive the stratifications of different eras, touch the archeology of the city being surrounded by ancient throughs from the 1500’s and a watering hole from the second century CE. This ancient place, where horses were once fed, is now nourishment for me. In this place I challenge tradition to always create something new and I work on ancient symbols, giving them a new exterior.

This is the challenge for me; that memory becomes new research. Therefore memory, that is the past, becomes the future. The challenge is to create a piece that comes from the roots, from history, from tradition and that becomes a work that adapts to the contemporary: to a museum, a house, a public place, a prison, or a hospital. am never conditioned by the destination of my work, [I am] always thinking that art must be for everyone.

The symbols of Vesuvius, the horn, the skull, the egg, Pulcinella, the mask, and San Gennaro are prevalent in your work. Could you discuss the symbolic meaning behind these images and how you incorporate them into your art? How do you decide which symbols to use and how to transform them?

The first symbol I used in my history as an artist was Pulcinella. This masked actor that put in many different spaces under different shapes and materials and which I made into a pile of masks, a wall of masks. I made it colorful or monochromatic and it was always able to change to almost manifest all the different feelings which it carries. A container of all the contradictions of our life, carrying the weight and other symbols of my city: Vesuvius, the horn, the eggs, and the skulls.

My main artistic project for Naples has been a complete success: it was in fact to transfer to everyone (craftsmen, artists, artisans) the cult of these symbols and to show my work so that others could also experience the use of these symbols of tradition. Over the years, they have established themselves as “characteristics” of Naples, assuming various forms down to that of souvenirs, demonstrating that tradition and contemporaneity are no longer two opposite and irreconcilable concepts. Pulcinella and I, as travelers of the world and citizens of Naples and the world, we brought pizza and spaghetti. In turn we were enriched with other traditions, learning to eat Lebanese Baba Ganoush, Korean, Japanese and Mexican, enriching us at every meeting.

Experimenting, grew, and growing up also changed my art. And so, for example, my skulls, my horns and my masks became many things: large works of different materials, graphic signs and illuminated signs.

Behind the mask of Pulcinella there is the world, the double, the contrasts, the meeting point of black and white, as [is found] in his costume.

The Pulcinella sculpture in Vico Fico al Purgatorio is the most photographed works of art in Naples. What does it mean to you to have created such an important part of the city’s cultural landscape?

I’ve linked my art to many cities, and to Naples in particular, offering myself as “nourishment”, repeatedly creating works that are exhibited in squares, streets, public buildings and alleys.

[As you say,] the Pulcinella bronze sculpture located in Vico Fico al Purgatorio (the historical center of Naples) is today the most photographed work of art in the city.

A 40-ton mask made of lava stones stands out on the slopes of the Vesuvius volcano.

A sculpture of mine is present at “Salvator Rosa” metro station with a bronze Pulcinella that figuratively represents a globetrotter.

Very popular and loved is also the Pulcinella named “Il Dubbio dell’uovo”; the piece is in Parco Mascagna [a public park and playground in Naples - ed.] and had imagined it as a gift to the children of the Vomero district, placing it on the ground, therefore at their height. This Pulcinella, whose hands were stolen and replaced with a heart, accompanied the growth of many children, now the men and women of Naples.

These are just a few examples, dear to me, of my works that are placed around the city, but I have also made many awards for literature, cinema, sport, and others. What drives me to do it is the desire to leave signs, seeds, giving something back to Naples, a city that has given me a lot.

What, in your opinion, is the role of contemporary art in keeping cultural traditions alive and relevant in modern society?

The role of tradition is very important because the more viscerally we are linked to an identity, the more we can be universal. But on the contrary, the more we think we are universal the more we are nothing. The art I try to tell contains the story of a child who wanted to be an artist, who grew up with this dream, who started at 16, selftaught, making a puppet, and then realized the dream. Today my workshop is visited by people from all over the world and go around the world in search of continuous growth to improve what am. As a 65-year-old, I say that now I can start being an artist with my feet firmly rooted in the earth and with my head in the clouds. With only the rules of freedom, of exploration and with the commitment to remain oneself. ■