CORPO AUREO
Corpo Aureo is the title of the project conceived by Maziar Mokhtari specifically for the spaces of the Church of San Giovanni Battista, in the San Giovanni a Teduccio, Naples.
The Iranian artist’s intervention is an unprecedented site-specific installation that aims to bring the language of contemporary art into a non-conventional and peripheral context, activating a participatory and engaging process with the community. The highly evocative project layers personal memories and collective symbols, comprising a series of sculptural and pictorial elements distributed throughout different points in the church, finding a balance with the existing architecture and decorations.
The works by Mokhtari that make up the installation are interconnected through the use of allegorical, architectural, and ornamental forms drawn from Iranian history and culture, which find both material and immaterial connections with the culture and traditions of the city of Naples.
The installation features a series of precious Persian carpets, both circular and rectangular, on which the artist intervenes using burns made with a hot iron. The result is a stratification of decorative motifs symbolizing both the millennia-old culture from which these objects originate and the scars of wounds that interweave disparate stories and worlds. In Iranian homes, carpets transcend mere functionality; they are custodians of ancient visual symbols and cultural archetypes. Their intricate patterns embody collective memory, connecting past and present, art and life. The burn marks emerge from the arabesque designs, serving as metaphors for the fragility of cultural heritage and the irreversible consequences of human intervention on nature and history. The carpets used by Mokhtari are made with traditional motifs called Shamseh, a fundamental element of Islamic art that expands into geometric forms such as circles, stars and hexagons, evoking the infinite, the macrocosm and the microcosm. The hot iron burns disrupt the harmony of the decorative motif, challenging its beauty and order, much like human actions disturb the balance of nature. The installation also includes a female sculptural presence, enclosed in a display case like a relic, whose identity remains hidden; in this way, the representation invites endless interpretations, both Eastern and Western, merging with the local culture and distant traditions. Above the sculpture, the artist places an egg-shaped painting, an element that fuses symbols from different histories and cultures. Specifically, the work intertwines the history of Naples with Persian script and with the motif known as Muqarnas, a typical decorative element in Islamic architecture generally used for ceilings and domes, whose rhythmic composition multiplies the effect of three-dimensionality. The Muqarnas motif is also the protagonist of a geometric canvas in yellow tones, typical of Mokhtari’s work. This large painting, with strong imaginative and meditative power, enters into dialogue with the existing pictorial elements of the church.
Corpo Aureo is completed and enriched by the presence of an environmental sound installation that sensitively connects the works displayed in the church.
The audio element was specifically created by Iranian composer Saba Alizadeh, invited by Maziar Mokhtari to engage in a dialogue with the artworks. The sound piece is accompanied by a series of Persian poems, edited and recited by Kayvan Tahmasbian; the result is the creation of a warm and immersive atmosphere that further deepens the layered suggestions proposed by the installation.
Maziar Mokhtari’s intervention evokes myths and historical essences but also manages to connect with the present and with current issues in a precise, poetic and powerful way. The artist chooses to intervene in the space with respect and attentiveness, in a gesture that, as is characteristic of his practice, is strongly tied to the exhibition site both in form and content.
Chiara Pirozzi
CORPO AUREO
Corpo Aureo is the title of the project conceived by Maziar Mokhtari specifically for the spaces of the Church of San Giovanni Battista, in the San Giovanni a Teduccio, Naples.
The Iranian artist’s intervention is an unprecedented site-specific installation that aims to bring the language of contemporary art into a non-conventional and peripheral context, activating a participatory and engaging process with the community. The highly evocative project layers personal memories and collective symbols, comprising a series of sculptural and pictorial elements distributed throughout different points in the church, finding a balance with the existing architecture and decorations.
The works by Mokhtari that make up the installation are interconnected through the use of allegorical, architectural, and ornamental forms drawn from Iranian history and culture, which find both material and immaterial connections with the culture and traditions of the city of Naples.
The installation features a series of precious Persian carpets, both circular and rectangular, on which the artist intervenes using burns made with a hot iron. The result is a stratification of decorative motifs symbolizing both the millennia-old culture from which these objects originate and the scars of wounds that interweave disparate stories and worlds. In Iranian homes, carpets transcend mere functionality; they are custodians of ancient visual symbols and cultural archetypes. Their intricate patterns embody collective memory, connecting past and present, art and life. The burn marks emerge from the arabesque designs, serving as metaphors for the fragility of cultural heritage and the irreversible consequences of human intervention on nature and history. The carpets used by Mokhtari are made with traditional motifs called Shamseh, a fundamental element of Islamic art that expands into geometric forms such as circles, stars and hexagons, evoking the infinite, the macrocosm and the microcosm. The hot iron burns disrupt the harmony of the decorative motif, challenging its beauty and order, much like human actions disturb the balance of nature. The installation also includes a female sculptural presence, enclosed in a display case like a relic, whose identity remains hidden; in this way, the representation invites endless interpretations, both Eastern and Western, merging with the local culture and distant traditions. Above the sculpture, the artist places an egg-shaped painting, an element that fuses symbols from different histories and cultures. Specifically, the work intertwines the history of Naples with Persian script and with the motif known as Muqarnas, a typical decorative element in Islamic architecture generally used for ceilings and domes, whose rhythmic composition multiplies the effect of three-dimensionality. The Muqarnas motif is also the protagonist of a geometric canvas in yellow tones, typical of Mokhtari’s work. This large painting, with strong imaginative and meditative power, enters into dialogue with the existing pictorial elements of the church.
Corpo Aureo is completed and enriched by the presence of an environmental sound installation that sensitively connects the works displayed in the church.
The audio element was specifically created by Iranian composer Saba Alizadeh, invited by Maziar Mokhtari to engage in a dialogue with the artworks. The sound piece is accompanied by a series of Persian poems, edited and recited by Kayvan Tahmasbian; the result is the creation of a warm and immersive atmosphere that further deepens the layered suggestions proposed by the installation.
Maziar Mokhtari’s intervention evokes myths and historical essences but also manages to connect with the present and with current issues in a precise, poetic and powerful way. The artist chooses to intervene in the space with respect and attentiveness, in a gesture that, as is characteristic of his practice, is strongly tied to the exhibition site both in form and content.
Chiara Pirozzi